Exhibitions to see during Art Basel, from Steve McQueen to Ser Serpas

By Matthieu Jacquet.

Steve McQueen’s concert without musicians at Schaulager

Just a few weeks ago, visitors to the renowned Dia Beacon Foundation could observe a striking installation by Steve McQueen. A bass concerto without musicians, solely played thanks to a system of loudspeakers synchronized with a ballet of colored lights coming from luminous panels. Created in 2024, this large-scale work titled Bass is now on display at Schaulager near Basel. The artwork fully embraces the architecture and large scale of the space.

This installation pays tribute to Black music and marks a new phase in the Oscar-winning artist and filmmaker’s increasingly immaterial and sensory production. Behind the scenes, the bassists and double bassists gathered by the British artist – all from African descent – reveal the beauty of an instrument that has illuminated African diaspora and cultures, thus contributing to their emancipation.

Steve McQueen, “Bass”, exhibition open until November 16th, 2025, at Schaulager, Münchenstein.

Ser Serpas’ new solo exhibition at Kunsthalle Basel

Disturbing poems and performances, sculptures that repurpose objects found on the streets, or paintings depicting imperfect bodies… The works of Ser Serpas echo a fragile world, exposing its fractures while eluding classification. At just 30, the winner of the 2023 Reiffers Art Initiatives Prize is now given the space of Kunsthalle Basel for her new solo exhibition. It follows other exhibitions at the Swiss Institute in New York and at the Bourse de Commerce in Paris.

For the exhibition Of my life, the American artist brings together two aspects of her practice – painting and performance. Visitors can discover the new canvases she created by pressing them against one another in order to retain mutual impressions. Ghostly silhouettes of anonymous bodies, painted in diluted hues, overlap on the surfaces like spectral presences. Amidst this pictorial body of work, Ser Serpas presents a series of performances in collaboration with the Margo Korableva Performance Theatre from Tbilisi. Four of the theater’s historical productions are broadcast by the artist, who stages a series of everyday movements performed in slow motion surrounded by the screens.

Ser Serpas, “Of my life”, exhibition on view through September 21, 2025, at Kunsthalle Basel, Basel.

A retrospective on Vija Celmins and a VR installation by Jordan Wolfson at the Beyeler Foundation

This summer, the Fondation Beyeler dedicates a major retrospective to an artist whose work has spanned the past six decades. Vija Celmins, the 86-years-old American painter and drafter from Latvia, has been depicting the world around her with realism and precision since the 1960s. She started out with everyday objects and gradually moved toward the vastness of nature, sky, and our universe.

Mainly based on photographs and newspaper clippings – characterized by their very limited color palette close to black and white, and a near-toal absence of human figures – the artist’s paintings and drawings explores the “macro” and “micro” scales. She depicts both ocean expanses, deserts, celestial bodies seen through NASA telescopes and snowflakes or spiderwebs. At Beyeler, nearly 90 works offer a poetic journey that invites contemplative silence.

At the same time, visitors can immerse themselves in a brand-new installation by Jordan Wolfson at the institution. Known for his provocative sculptures, uncanny animatronics, and biting humor, the American artist is also deeply interested in new technologies, especially virtual reality. His ambitious new piece proves it. Visitors enter in pairs to experience an alternate dimension where their bodies are transforming and moving through shifting virtual landscapes. A must-see exhibition. 

Vija Celmins, exhibition open until September 21th, 2025. Jordan Wolfson, “Little Room”, exhibition open until August 3rd, 2025, at the Beyeler Foundation, Basel-Riehen.

The mysteries and dangers of seabeds explored by Julian Charrière at the Tinguely Museum

Last fall, Julian Charrière presented his powerful videos and installations of palm plantations and erupting volcanoes at the Palais de Tokyo. After delving into the terrestrial and subterranean forces of our planet, the French artist fascinated by nature has turned his focus to the aquatic world.

In his exhibition at the Tinguely Museum, he unveils his recent film shot in Greenland beneath the icebergs. Another work focusing on deep-sea mining in the Pacific is also featured.

Julian Charrière, “Midnight Zone”, exhibition open until November 2nd, 2025, at the Tinguely Museum, Basel.

Contemporary art flies to the airport with Lo Brutto Stahl

Bringing contemporary art into a airport in Basel… That was the original idea launched by the Parisian gallery Lo Brutto Stahl last year. For the previous edition of Art Basel, its two founders, Pablo Stahl and Vincent Lo Brutto, took over the premises of Air Service Basel, a private airport dedicated to business flights, with a rather disconcerting exhibition. From jet hangars to lounges, waiting rooms, and offices, nearly every space in the venue hosted paintings, photographs, and sculptures. The whole created compelling dialogues that eventually led the gallery to open a permanent space on-site.

For this new edition of Art Basel, the young gallerists are repeating the experience with a presentation of no less than 29 artists. While some of them are represented by Lo Brutto Stahl, such as Manon Wertenbroek and Philip Seibel, this new curatorial project also includes many other artists. Among them are names familiar to the French audience, like Rafik Greiss, Benoît Piéron, and Philipp Timischl. A unique opportunity to enjoy their artworks surrounded by remarkable aircrafts.

Air Service Basel 2025, from June 16th to 22nd, 2025, organized by the Lo Brutto Stahl Gallery at Basel’s private airport.

The Basel Social Club is back in a bank

In just three years, the Basel Social Club has established itself as a must-see event during Basel Art Week. Previously held in a 1930s villa, in a former mayonnaise factory, and in a 50-hectare crop field, this event brings together works presented by galleries and project spaces. It also introduces a refreshing alternative to the art fair typical format, one that values creativity, diversity, and discovery over competition.

For its fourth edition, the Basel Social Club takes over a former bank in the city center. The history of the venue inspired the curatorial theme – finance, trading, commerce. As usual, the event features not only physical artworks but also a series of performances throughout the week, including those by Anthea Hamilton and Juli Wang. Plus a lineup of artist films curated by Martha Kirszenbaum and daily DJ sets in the basement until midnight.

Basel Social Club 2025, from June 15th to 21st, 2025, at Rittergasse 25, Basel.