Cahn’s Quarterly 2/2023 English Edition
Editorial Dear readers When I look back on the year, the wonderful project with Portuguese artist Francisco Tropa, staged this summer during Art Basel, stands out as a highlight (see pp. 5-7 of this issue). In this project, the collaboration between the artist and myself was particularly close and I even visited him at his studio in Lisbon. The idea of the gaze and its relationship to the other world in analogy to Plato's Allegory of the Cave emerged in the course of numerous conversations. In Basel, Francisco selected three ancient heads onto which he projected polished crystals. We noticed that the gaze of the two Roman private portraits was directed into the other world, into the cave. We set up these heads in the skylight room of the Cahn Kunstraum. In contrast, the Herm of Dionysus from the Greek Classical period fixes the viewer with its gaze. We placed this sculpture in the dark, windowless room below, with a chair in front of it, so that people could engage in a silent visual dialogue with the god.
ed at the Treasure House Fair in London. Like Masterpiece before it, the fair was held in the park of the Royal Chelsea Hospital. The logistics, set-up and atmosphere were very pleasant. Summer in London is simply wonderful! Furthermore, the organisers worked a minor miracle: the fair visitors were once again the educated, curious British public that we got to know many years ago at the Grosvernor House Fair.
Thus encouraged, we have started a collaboration with Pierre Sugier, the former curator of the Fondation Fernet-Branca. A first exhibition with works by French photographer Jean-Christophe Ballot and Iranian artist Saba Niknam was staged this autumn at the Cahn Kunstraum. We will feature this show in the next issue of Cahn's Quarterly. Further exhibitions will follow, to which you will be invited in due course.
In September, we took part in the OPUS Art Fair in Paris. This specialised archaeology fair took place in a beautiful, slightly rundown industrial building in the Marais. The charming, collegial atmosphere reminded me of the fairs of my youth. Good, international exhibitors with a lot of idealism took part and we were able to achieve a Our stand at OPUS Art Fair, Paris. surprisingly good result. The fair is still new, but it is well on the of animals in Antiquity at our gallery on way to establishing itself as THE salon for Malzgasse, Basel. It is always a pleasure to archaeology. It aims to reach such a level be able to welcome long-standing, loyal that it will be worth travelling to Paris for customers and collectors “at home," so to the sole purpose of visiting it. speak. While this issue of Cahn's Quarterly is being finalised, we are still at the last In October, we exhibited at Munich High- fair of the year, FAB in Paris. I wish you a lights. This art fair in the Munich Residenz joyful festive season. If you are still lookis organised along the same lines as a ma- ing for a Christmas present, you may find jor trade fair, but is unable to develop and something suitable in the sales catalogue at expand due to a lack of understanding on the end of this issue! the part of the state authorities. As a result, it is very cost-intensive. It would be desirable for Munich Highlights to grow, because Munich is absolutely the right location for a fair featuring ancient art, classical modern art and contemporary art in Germany.
We took part in numerous art fairs this summer and autumn. In July, we exhibit-
After so many trips abroad, I really enjoyed our traditional November exhibition
The exhibition was well attended and had an impressive finissage, in which a sculpture by Francisco Tropa, consisting of hanging pieces of meat cast in bronze, was turned into a resonating body. The experimental music group Osso Exótico, to which the artist belongs, created a soundscape that was quiet at first and then became increasingly intense. There was a large audience, which thanks to the involvement of Michi Zaugg, a well-known figure in the Basel music scene, included many young people.
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