Alex Kayser @ Photo Basel 2023 – Special Exhibition

Alex Kayser

Photo Basel 2023

13 – 18 June, 2023

ALEX KAYSER

The dance with Helen, 1974

ALEX KAYSER

Salvador Dali kranz

ALEX KAYSER

Canvas Meret Oppenheim, 1977

In collaboration with Galerie Esther Woerdehoff (Paris + Geneva) and the Alex Kayser Foundation, photo basel 2023 present the special exhibition "Alex Kayser".

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The Basel born photographer ALEX KAYSER (1949-2015) completed an apprenticeship in photography at Hugo Jäggi before moving to Essen in 1970 to study photography with Professor Otto Steinert at the Folkwang School. 

As he began his studies, Alex Kayser increasingly explored experimental photography and the related field of photographic sequences. 

While initially working in narrative black-and-white photographs, Alex Kayser changed his approach starting 1974 and began increasingly coloring his photographs by hand. From this point on, the interest in coloring continued throughout a variety of his work series. 

At the same time, Alex Kayser began to work with photography in a cross-media and performative way. A found plastic toy poodle named Zak supported him in these endeavors and is emblematic of the humorous approach of Alex Kayser's work.0

 In 1978 he relocated to New York, where he carried out his "Artists' Portraits" series over several years, the protagonists of which were always drawn from New York's artistic environment. 

Alex Kayser pursued this serial approach increasingly in the following years and can be seen in particular in the series "SX-cult", "Heads" and "Swiss Federal Councillors", which show the constantly repeating process of taking portraits of a thematic group.

Galerie Esther Woerdehoff

www.ewgalerie.com

Alex Kayser Foundation

www.alexkayserfoundation.org

PHOTO BASEL

Volkshaus Basel

Rebgasse 12, 4058 Basel

www.photo-basel.com

Pure Photography @ Photo Basel 2023 – 20th Century Floral Masterworks – Special Exhibition

Pure Photography

20th Century Floral Masterworks

Photo Basel 2023

13 – 18 June, 2023

Ansel Adams

«Leaves» (1942)

© Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust. 

All rights reserved

Don Worth

Agave victoriae reginae, 1975 

© Don Worth Photography Trust

All rights reserved

Wynn Bullock

Child in the Forest, 1951

© Wynn Bullock Photography LLC

All rights reserved

In cooperation with WBB GALLERY (Zurich), photo basel 2023 presents the curated special exhibition "Pure Photography. 20th Century Floral Masterworks" with photographs by Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, Brett Weston, Edward Weston, Don Worth and other photographers. The works are from a Swiss private collection.

The term "Pure Photography" was shaped by the legendary Group f/64, which was active in the greater San Francisco area from 1932. The photographers of this grouping opposed the prevailing pictorialism, which attempted to bring the "artist's hand" into photographs through elaborate printing techniques and the manipulation of negatives and photographs, in order to establish the medium of photography as a fully-fledged means of artistic expression. The representatives of the Group f/64 wanted to free black-and-white photography from the pictorialist approach and manipulation. Their goal was authenticity and purity, as well as technical perfection in the darkroom. The creation of the finest grayscales and deep blacks led to a photographic language whose aesthetics often took on abstract features and made the smallest details visible. The pioneers of the time fundamentally changed the perception and understanding of photography. Their contribution inspired generations of photographers, even today, and led to photography as a medium being elevated to the status of art for the first time.

Photographers exhibited in «Pure Photography»: Imogen Cunningham (1883 – 1976) • Edward Weston (1886 – 1958) • Ansel Adams (1902 – 1984) • Wynn Bullock (1902 – 1975) • Willard Van Dyke (1906 – 1986) • Brett Weston (1911 – 1993) • Morley Baer (1916 – 1995) • Don Worth (1924 – 2009) • Paul Caponigro (*1932) • Bob Kolbrener (*1942) • Robert Mapplethrope (1946 – 1989) • Michael Miner (*1949) • John Sexton (*1953) • Roman Loranc (*1956)

PHOTO BASEL 2023

Volkshaus Basel

Rebgasse 12, 4058 Basel

www.photo-basel.com

Photo Basel 2015 - New Photography Art Fair in Switzerland

Photo Basel 2015

New Photography Art Fair

June 17 - 20, 2015

Photo basel is Switzerland’s first art fair, solely dedicated to art photography. The unique concept contains that galleries only show works of artists younger than 40.

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The first edition of photo basel takes place during Art Basel week from June 16th to 20th, 2015.

Approximately 30 galleries from around the globe will show contemporary and also  classic works. Furthermore, the fair’s program will contain curated exhibitions and themed program around the topic of photography. 

The exhibition location is the historic Ackermannshof, a complex of medieval buildings in the old town of Basel, a stone throw off the Rhine river and a five minute taxi ride or a twelve minute walk from Art Basel.

“Photography is the most popular medium of our time. Within the last two decades, it has established itself in the art market and museums. Switzerland and in particular Basel has a long history in regards of photography. As of today, photography as medium has not yet reached its full potential during Art Basel week in regards of its exposure, we would like to change that,” says one of the co-founders, the Basel local, Sven Eisenhut who together with a team of several professionals acts as organizers of photo basel fair.

Photo basel is not your ordinary “me too satellite fair” but a valuable and important addition to it’s famed neighbour, Art Basel and other several players in the art fair market. “Photography needs its own spaces, it’s own forum and platform within the context of contemporary art, that is why we are creating photo basel.”

PHOTO BASEL 2015

Ackermannshof, St. Johannsvorstadt 19-21, 4056 Basel

www.photo-basel.com