Favorite 2D Works from Art Basel 2022, Part 1

"Hot, Cool and Vicious" by Bisa Butler (2022)

With approximately 240 booths at this year's Art Basel, there was a lot of art to be seen. So for a work to make an impression -- even enough for me to snap a picture -- it had to be a standout. Read on for a few of the 2D works that captured my attention. 

I was fortunate to see a Bisa Butler exhibit at the Chicago Art Institute last year. Her quilted images of Black men, women and children are nothing short of incredible. Once you've seen Butler's work, you can always identify it. This quilt caught my eye from several booths away. It wasn't just its large size (8' x 10') or the shimmering material on which it was made. It's the attitude of these fabulous women. 

Butler looks to old photographs for her inspiration. In this case, the reference was the 1986 cover from Salt-n-Pepa's debut album called -- you guessed it -- "Hot, Cool and Vicious." (Just in case you don't know, Salt-n-Pepa was a female hip hop band.) What else can I say? Butler is one artist whose work truly speaks for itself. For a short article about this work that includes Butler showing some attitude of her own, click here. And for my post about Butler's exhibit at the Art Institute, click here. 

"Our Hair has always been the Problem"
by Arghavan Khosravi (2022) 

"Our Hair has always been the Problem" by Arghavan Khosravi got some press in advance of the show. How could it not given how topical it is? As I'm sure you know, a 22 year old woman was arrested in Iran in September for wearing her hajib improperly. What does that even mean? Perhaps she was showing too much hair or maybe she took her hajib off after getting into a car. She died while in police custody, officially from a heart attack. Protesters took to the streets, where they've remained for the past three months. The Iranian soccer team supported the protesters by standing silent during Iran's national anthem before a World Cup match. The players were informed that their families were in danger if they failed to sing during their next match. 

Just this week Iran's president disbanded the Morality Police (more formally called the Guidance Patrol), a group of primarily undercover officers who enforce Islamic dress code. Men can be warned/arrested for wearing their beards too long but it is primarily women who are targeted. The Morality Police were also charged with duties like raiding and shutting down businesses and concerts where people were acting in an un-Islamic manner. But let's be clear. The laws which the Morality Police were enforcing remain firmly in place.  

In Khosravi's work, she shows a young woman taking some steps to make her life more manageable by severing her long hair. The use of a guillotine to do so is a reference to a method of execution associated with the uprising of the masses against the privileged classes. (Think French Revolution.) Khosravi knows about the culture reflected in her work. While she lives in the United States now, she grew up in Iran. "Our Hair has always been the Problem" is a work that gave me pause in the midst of the bustling Miami Beach Convention Center. For more on Khosravi and her work, click here.  

From Judy Bowman's "Detroit Cat Eye Series" (2022)

I absolutely LOVED Judy's Bowman's "Detroit Cat Eye Series." The series is comprised of 16 collages of characters who, as the artist says, "give off a feel-good elixir reminiscent of Detroit's Black Bottom and the Harlem Renaissance." It was incredibly hard to decide which of the works to include here. 

Bowman's work is often compared to that of Romare Bearden, an artist who lived and worked during the Harlem Renaissance and is best known for his collages. Both artists' work celebrates African-American culture in their communities. Bowman calls herself a "visual griot," a term that recalls West African storytellers, poets and musicians who tell the stories of their people.

And here's an astonishing tidbit about Bowman. She turned to her art in earnest in 2008 after raising 10 (yes, 10) children and working as an educator in the Detroit Public School System. For Bowman's website, click here. Prints of her fabulous collages are surprisingly affordable. Hmm...  

"Untitled" by Lita Albuquerque (2020) 

I'll leave you with this gorgeous work by Lita Albuquerque. (Surprise -- it's non-figurative!)  Even my picture of this painting shimmers right off the page. 

When I saw the work from across the way, I thought it was one of Anish Kapoor's fabulous reflective sculptures. (Kapoor is perhaps best known for creating "Cloud Gate" -- or the Bean -- that's in Chicago.) Instead, I discovered that "Untitled" is a painting in which Albuquerque used white gold leaf. Who even knew that was a thing? The 60" x 60" work is mesmerizing. 

I am not alone in being enthralled with Albuquerque's work. Her Liquid Light exhibit, which explores "a living, functional cosmology for 21st century culture," was on display at the 2022 Venice Biennale. Albuquerque works in a variety of mediums, including film, sculpture and glass, and is part of both the Land Art and the Light and Space movements. To understand more about what it means for a work to be "land art," click here and watch the video on Albuquerque's home page. Her "Stella Axis: Antarctica" is shown there, a work that combines sculpture and performance art. It is stunning. I hope to get the chance to experience more of her art first hand in the future. For more on Albquerque's work at the Biennale, click here. 

Next up: More of my favorite 2D works from this year's Art Basel. Stay tuned!