La Galerie Charlot présentera une sélection d’oeuvres d’Antoine Schmitt, Flavien Théry & Fred Murie.
VOLTA 13 _ MARKTHALLE, BASEL _ Du 12 au 17 juin 2017
Galerie Charlot Booth will show recent artworks by contemporary French artists Antoine Schmitt and Flavien Théry. Through screen-based works, sculptures and installations, the booth would like to show a new approach to abstraction. Galerie Charlot chooses to focus on moving forms of abstract images, as a continuation of the concepts advanced by kinetic and early algorithm-based art.
Artist Antoine Schmitt creates artworks in the form of objects, installations and situations to address the processes of movement and question their intrinsic problematics, of plastic, philosophical or social nature. Heir of kinetic art and cybernetic art, nourished by metaphysical science-fiction, he endlessly interrogates the dynamic interactions between human nature and the nature of reality. Originally programming engineer in human computer relations and artificial intelligence, he now places the program, a contemporary artistic material and unique by its active quality, at the core of his artworks, to reveal and literally manipulate the forces at stake.
Flavien Théry explores the principles behind optical illusions that lead to color perception of light. He brings into question the mechanisms of human perception and the optical illusion of color and light with his installations. He refers to scientific experiments and often connects them to mystic elements of different cultures. On the one hand, his installations seem plain and technical, yet on the other they evoke a mysterious and secretive side, hiding the true function of the work. By an artistic approach, Flavien Théry redefines our understanding of time, space and reality.
VOLTA, Basel’s art fair for new international positions, debuted in 2005 as a collaboration between dealers and friends. The aim was to secure a platform for international galleries beyond young art stalwart Liste and market heavyweight Art Basel. Concerns and aspirations of the exhibiting gallerists have been first and foremost since VOLTA’s inception; in combination with the curatorial mind of Artistic Director Amanda Coulson, eclectic and dynamic presentations with a strong focus on solo presentations find a stage as refined as at the main fair.
VOLTA has already created a brand known and respected for its strict selection of exhibiting galleries and artists, including a growing list of alumni who have graduated to the main fairs. Former exhibitors like espaivisor (Valencia), A Gentil Carioca (Rio de Janeiro), STEVENSON (Cape Town / Johannesburg), Taro Nasu (Tokyo), One and J. Gallery (Seoul) and bitforms gallery (New York) ascended to Frieze and Art Basel after exhibiting at VOLTA. Likewise, artists including Theaster Gates, Tiffany Chung, Zilvinas Kempinas, Cameron Platter, Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, Cevdet Erek, and Adrian Williams have shown in prestigious events like the Venice Biennale, the Orangerie (Paris), dOCUMENTA, Art Basel’s Art Parcours and Art Unlimited, following their featured showings at VOLTA.
Encouraged by the response of collectors and institutional representatives to the fair’s solo presentations and curated booths, VOLTA continues to highlight single-artist projects and dynamic configurations of two or three artists in dialogue as the backbone to its program. In doing so, VOLTA returns the focus of the art fair atmosphere back to its most crucial component: the artists and their works.
Situated within Basel’s landmark cupola venue Markthalle in the city center, VOLTA confirms its position as a mature player in Basel’s art week, elevating its exhibitors’ respective platforms for an experience mutually beneficial to fair visitors and the galleries alike. Showcasing the highest calibre of new art — from rediscovered historic works to recent commissions alike — bearing salient positions within an elegant environment: this is VOLTA’s mission.