Art Basel

Joan Semmel
Art Feature Sector | Booth G4
Messe Basel, Hall 2.0
Basel, Switzerland

Alexander Gray Associates announced the Gallery’s participation in Art Basel 2013 art fair. The Gallery’s exhibition features works by Joan Semmel, broadly introducing the pioneering feminist painter to a European audience for the first time since 1969. Spanning Semmel’s groundbreaking 40 year career, the presentation focuses on Semmel’s formally experimental paintings, exploring themes of gender identity, sexuality, and aging.

During the height of First-wave Feminism, Semmel began the first Erotic Series, an investigation of figuration depicting couples in coital positions. The artist’s training in abstraction is apparent in her masterful use of expressive lines and color, evident in Untitled (1971). Moving away from figurative abstraction, Indian Erotic (1974), from Semmel’s second Erotic Series, assumes a more voyeuristic perspective, marking a pivotal shift towards photography-driven images. In works from the mid to late 1970s, Semmel turns the camera onto herself. On the Grass (1978), a nude self-portrait, embodies Semmel’s command of the female gaze, pushing against idealized representations of the female body.

In decades since, the artist has incorporated a variety of tools to render images that question perceptions of female representation. In Knees Together (2003), Semmel uses the camera lens and mirrors, subverting traditional depictions of the aging process; Crossed Legs (2011) showcases Semmel’s formal skills with overlay, line, and rigorous composition.

About Art Basel
The world's premier international art show for Modern and contemporary works, Art Basel features nearly 300 leading galleries from North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. More than 2,500 artists, ranging from the great masters of Modern art to the latest generation of emerging stars, are represented in the show's multiple sections. The exhibition includes the highest-quality paintings, sculptures, drawings, installations, photographs, video and editioned works.

With its world-class museums, outdoor sculptures, theaters, concert halls, idyllic medieval old town and new buildings by leading architects, Basel ranks as a culture capital, and that cultural richness helps put the Art Basel week on the agenda for art lovers from all over the globe. During Art Basel, a fascinating atmosphere fills this traditional city, as the international art show is reinforced with exhibitions and events all over the region.