Joan Semmel
Art Basel, Unlimited
June 13–16, 2019
Messeplatz 10, 4005
Basel, Switzerland
The Gallery’s participation in the Unlimited presentation at Art Basel 2019 further exemplified a dedication to pushing the boundaries of contemporary art both conceptually and physically.
Joan Semmel’s Skin in the Game, measuring eight feet high and twenty-four feet across, is a summation on a monumental scale of Semmel’s five-decade painting career. Featuring six figures of varying size, it draws on painting styles and techniques from the encyclopedia of Semmel’s work to date. Trained in Abstract Expressionism during the 1950s, she has adopted abstraction’s formal vocabulary and expressive color for the representation of human form. The title Skin in the Game evidences Semmel’s wit while simultaneously summarizing the stakes of her long career — foregrounded by both her position as a woman painter and her struggle for recognition in a field long dominated by men.
About Unlimited
Curated by New York-based curator Gianni Jetzer, Unlimited is Art Basel’s pioneering exhibition platform for projects that transcend the classical art-show stand, including massive sculpture and paintings, video projections, large-scale installations, and live performances.