
<p>He tells Laura McLean-Ferris about his vision for Art Basel, and&nbsp;why you should always let artists lead</p>
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Laura McLean-Ferris

Get to know Vincenzo de Bellis, Director of Fairs and Exhibition Platforms

<p>Vincenzo de Bellis has worked across Europe and the US in a variety of different contexts and at many different scales. In Milan, he simultaneously directed the Peep-Hole Art Center and the Miart Modern and contemporary art fair. In Minneapolis, he served as Curator and Associate Director of Programs, Visual Arts at the Walker Art Center, organizing major exhibitions by the likes of <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/7609/Jannis-Kounellis">Jannis Kounellis</a> and <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/8341/Mario-Garc%C3%ADa-Torres">Mario García Torres</a>. Now, some months into the newly created role of Director, Fairs and Exhibition Platforms at Art Basel, he shares his background, inspirations, and vision for the future of Art Basel’s fairs. </p>

<p><strong>Laura McLean Ferris: I’d like to start with your background as a curator. Which exhibitions influenced you when you were starting out?</strong></p>
<p>Vincenzo de Bellis: My first job was working as a gallery assistant at the Fondazione Prada, invigilating artworks. <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/7443/Andreas-Slominski">Andreas Slominski</a> had an exhibition there, curated by Germano Celant. The first time I saw Celant, he was talking to the artist, discussing where the artworks should go. Growing up, I was obsessed with cinema and wanted to be a film director. Then I saw this man installing the works as a director would direct the actors on set. I was inspired and I fell in love with a profession, which at the time, I was only learning about. That’s how it all started for me. </p>
<p><strong>It’s interesting to understand your association between curating and movie directing. Considering the scale of operations at Art Basel, there also seems to be similarities in terms of the vision and the amount of people that you're working with here.</strong></p>
<p>I agree. I also would say that my role at Art Basel is much more like the curating roles I've had in the last few years than one might think. There's a misconception about what an art fair director does, which has very little to do with the market <em>per se</em>. It’s much more about ensuring the presentation of art is at the highest level possible and putting together a show; but instead of showing artists, you present galleries. And then it’s up to the galleries to show the best art possible. I'm stretching the concept a little bit here, but the way you structure the floor plan is not very different from what you would do for a very large group exhibition.</p>

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<p><strong>How have your years at the Walker influenced your approach at Art Basel? </strong></p>
<p>At the Walker, I was shaping the program with my colleagues, but I also had a lot of responsibility for board cultivation and collection growing. My work at the Milan fair readied me to do that type of work in an American museum, which is a very different beast from the European model. I always felt that if I had had a straightforward curatorial trajectory, maybe I would not have been able to see things from so many angles. And the same thing would apply now in my current position at Art Basel, where I am overseeing the four shows. These are the biggest events in the art world among those that have a market-level of influence. What I learnt at the Walker both as a curator and as a wider institutional mastermind really helps me think through what I'm doing at Art Basel. </p>
<p><strong>How distinctive are the four different iterations of Art Basel in Paris, Hong Kong, Basel, and Miami? How do you intend to shape the distinctive character of those fairs in relation to each of the cities?</strong></p>
<p>Right now, my job is to understand what each of those contexts is and what the differences are. It’s clear that Art Basel is a global organization. At the same time, being a global organization also means being very respectful of the local contexts in which we work and making every effort to contribute to the local ecosystem. We know that each city is very specific and that art is truly global and intercultural – that it can communicate messages that speak to everybody. We live in a very different context globally than a few years ago. In a very short span, we've had a pandemic, the first European war in decades, and a huge financial crisis. Every day there is something new to be considered. </p>
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<p><strong>On that note, can you tell us what is changing about Art Basel in Switzerland in June? </strong></p>
<p>Art Basel in Basel is the foundation of all. It's the largest show we have; the most diverse in terms of art history because it has the largest Modern sector of all our fairs; and it offers platforms unique to Basel. One of these is Unlimited, our sector dedicated to monumental artworks, which usually predicts what you’ll find in museum shows in the years to come. </p>
<p>This year, there's a renewed collaboration with the city and its many institutions. In Basel, you can cross the whole city in 20 minutes and see some of the best art in the world. And the fair is at the center of it all. What’s more, in 2023, we’ll have the largest ever number of Parcours projects dotted around town and we’ll also have one of&nbsp;the largest editions of Unlimited since 2016. Latifa Echakhch and Luc Meier will present a major project on Messeplatz, the plaza adjoining the exhibition center, which will involve six days of public performances. This will be a sculpture that is a set of stages, activated by a lineup of artists that Latifa is curating. Furthermore, we will present the inaugural edition of Kabinett, where galleries curate artworks in a separate section of their booth, including thematic group exhibitions, art-historical showcases, and solo presentations. </p>
<p>We wanted to make a real gesture that really shows that we are all back together. The city will be offering free public transportation, not only to all VIP cardholders, but also to ticket buyers at the fair: that's a new thing. All our partners are doing new projects. The ecosystem is really thriving, and this will be very noticeable. </p>

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<p><strong>Finally,&nbsp;how has working with artists shaped your thinking, and how will you apply this to your work at Art Basel?</strong></p>
<p>Working with the artist is the most inspiring thing we do in our world. Whatever you do – whether it's a show or a biennial or a festival – if you want to be truly ambitious, you need to follow the artists. I've been inspired many times, and I’ve changed my mind multiple times thanks to artists. There are enough curatorial structures and ideas in the world, what we need more of is the artist’s voice. I'm a big believer in that. </p>
<p>My last two exhibitions at the Walker were a group show&nbsp;titled <em>The paradox of stillness: art, object, and performance</em>  and a retrospective of Jannis Kounellis. Unfortunately, Jannis passed away before the show opened. But the way he talked about ‘liveness’ inspired both the group show and his own exhibition.&nbsp;What I'm trying to say is that literally every conversation I've had with artists has inspired me, and every show I've done has left me with something that enriched my life and I then applied in following projects. One of the reasons&nbsp;I am at Art Basel is to look at the organization through different and hopefully unexpected lenses – and I want to look through the artist’s lens. The bottom line is that they are the reason why all this exists.</p>
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<p>Laura McLean-Ferris is a writer and curator based in Turin and New York. She is curator-at-large at the Swiss Institute, New York.</p>
<p>Published on April 27, 2023.</p>
<p>Caption for full-bleed images, from top to bottom: 1. Paris+ par Art Basel 2022, photograph by Aliki Christoforou for Art Basel.&nbsp;2. Art Basel Miami Beach 2022, photograph by James Jackman for Art Basel. 3. Art Basel Hong Kong 2023.&nbsp;4. Art Basel in Basel 2022.</p>

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Curator Alexie Glass-Kantor on learning from artists

He tells Laura McLean-Ferris about his vision for Art Basel, and why you should always let  artists lead

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