Most Art Basel booths are occupied by a single gallery, but collaborations enable surprising synergies and conversations. Four gallerists discuss their collaborative booths: Fabian Lang (Zurich) and Espacio Valverde (Madrid), who will show a joint presentation of Spanish artist Elena Alonso’s large-scale wall panels, sculptures and paintings. Soft Opening and Emalin, both from London, will show bronze sculptures and mosaics by Russian artist Evgeny Antufiev and the work of Ebun Sodipo, a multidisciplinary artist in London who excavates visual material to probe possible trans futures.

Antonia Marsh, founder of Soft Opening
Lucy Cowling, head of exhibitions of Emalin

Why did you decide to pursue a joint booth? I like that you’re also answering these questions with one voice.

It’s essential that the character of each gal­lery comes through distinctly, while a clarity of vision is maintained. As two galleries from the same city, it felt exciting for us to bring our programs together in a way we haven’t yet had the opportunity to, considering our close physi­cal proximity to each other in London and ways in which our approaches relate – an ethos of mutual support, attention to detail and commit­ment to supporting artists with utmost care.

Tell us a little bit about who and what you’ll be showing.

Emalin’s presentation of Evgeny Antufiev includes new vessels cast in bronze, encrusted with semiprecious stones, and mosaics that draw from ancient craft and stone setting techniques. Antufiev’s laborious treatment and sourcing of materials leaves a tactile trace on the objects, like bronze caked with his fingerprints. In his critical engagement with mosaics, Antufiev explores the entanglements of imagined imperial aesthetics with Soviet identity-building and the violence of contemporary expansionism.

Soft Opening plans to present a group of wall-based assemblages by Ebun Sodipo. The images are made from an extensive visual archive of still and moving digital imagery sourced online. Building these into large-scale collages arranged across reflective Mylar, the artist then coats the works in a layer of clear resin and frames them in thick crystalline acrylic and mirror-backed boxes. Sodipo’s composi­tions at once allow a restoration of neglected figures from the past and plot a trajectory for trans futures.

Antufiev and Sodipo might appear to have very divergent practices. Do they share more in common than meets the eye?

Both Antufiev and Sodipo mine material culture for alternative and critical histories of image-making, and in doing so, explore an archaeol­ogy of representation, narrative, nostalgia and adornment. Of course, while the practices are very distinct, when seen in relief, they will illuminate each other materially, conceptually and critically.

Fabian Lang, founder of Fabian Lang
Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart, director of Espacio Valverde

What are the unique benefits of presenting a joint booth at an art fair – especially for two galleries in different geographies?

FL: Well, for one, it’s cheaper! [Laughs] Which is not insignificant in today’s market. It makes a difference to be able to share costs, especially on shipping.

JS: Coming together to promote a single, powerful proposal significantly enhances our ability to spotlight Elena Alonso, who we believe is one of the most intriguing artists on the European scene. This collaboration also brings about a mutual enrichment that, for lack of a better term, we might call ‘spiritual,’ like when two pilgrims meet on the road and share stories around the fire.

Can you share specifics about Alonso’s presentation?

FL: We will show a new, major triptych from her ongoing series ‘Kind and Sharp’, and reliefs from her series ‘Formula’, set in a three-dimensional wall installation of spheres. Painted faces, wrinkles, brows, curves, nipples or other body parts begin to emerge. But one thing is never just one thing with Elena. Soon one recognizes the terrain as much more complex.

JS: To truly feel and understand Alonso’s work, experiencing it in person is essential – photography cannot capture them.

What sorts of dialogues are happening between Madrid and Zurich right now, or between you both as gallerists?

JS: Comparing the artistic landscapes of two cities is inevitably a simplification. However, it can be said that while Madrid’s art scene is passionate and narrative-driven, Zurich’s tends to be more conceptual and minimalist. These differences create a fertile ground for artistic exchange.

FL: I honestly love working with Jacobo. He is someone I feel like I am having a truly fruitful exchange with. The standard in both Madrid and Zurich is very high, and so they carry similar values, I feel. Of course, they wake up much later and have the siesta in the afternoon, which makes it difficult to reach Jacobo sometimes [laughs].

JS: Siesta and fiesta are the two poles of the Spanish battery – fortunately, there is a lot to discover in between.