BMW Art Guide by Independent Collectors

Peter Bläuer

Director at LISTE

Peter Bläuer. Photo: Daniel Spehr
Peter Bläuer. Photo: Daniel Spehr

Tell us a little bit about the history of the fair

LISTE was founded in 1996. At that time there was a new self-confident generation of young galleries that were not admitted to Art Basel but they wanted to have a presence in Basel. Eva Presenhuber and Peter Kilchmann contacted me and asked if I was interested in founding a fair for new, young galleries. I knew the great potential and importance of these galleries and their artists, therefore we founded LISTE. In this sense, it was not just another fair, it was an addition to Art Basel which has dedicated itself to promoting new galleries representing young artists. We have consistently pursued this dedication in the following years and presented every edition the most interesting new galleries from all over the world. This is how we have become a very important promotion and discovery fair. We are a not-for-profit-oriented fair and try to keep the expenses for the galleries as low as possible. We can say today that there is almost no gallery that was founded after 1996 that today belongs to the top ten, whose path did not go through LISTE.

How do you, as fair director, ensure that the event stays contemporary and current in the fast-paced world that is the art market?

Being well informed, knowing what is happening in the art market, being in contact with many people involved and being able to listen! This is an important part of engaging in the pulse of time and reflecting this at our fair.

Installation view at LISTE 2017. Photo: Daniel Spehr
Installation view at LISTE 2017. Photo: Daniel Spehr

After twenty-three years, this edition of LISTE will be your last as Fair Director. How has the role of art fairs changed since LISTE began?

In the past twenty-three years more and more art fairs have been founded. When we started in Basel, for ten years there was only Art Basel and LISTE. Today there are ten fairs taking place in Basel during the Art Basel week. Apparently, there's a need for this? And apparently you can earn money as an art fair owner! We are one of the few art fairs that’s not-for-profit-oriented. It is a phenomenon of our time that more and more people are "rushing" to events. The galleries tell us that fewer and fewer people visit their gallery spaces and rather meet them at art fairs. Which I think is a great pity. From that point of view, art fairs have become more and more important and "powerful". As I said, it seems to be a sign of the times.

What do you hope to see for the future editions of LISTE?

I always hope that I will discover interesting artists who are still little known and that we can help them to gain a foothold in the art market. That's always very exciting and keeps me young. The artists need to earn a living and the galleries have an important task there. We like to forget that many artists cannot live from their work. From this point of view, promotional fairs such as LISTE are very important, where it is not only a matter of earning huge sums of money, but also of doing something for the next generation.

Is there something in this year’s program that you are particularly looking forward to?

More then one-third of the galleries are showing solo presentations. I am always particularly looking forward to this, because there you can get a better understanding of an artist's work. This has more to do with a gallery exhibition - and less with a "sales stand". Also more performances or even a concert will take place directly at the stands. This is something we particularly promote with the "Friends of LISTE", newly founded in 2017. This year’s performance project shows several performance artists every day - we started showing performances 14 years ago, at a time when performance was not yet "fashionable" like today.

Installation view at LISTE 2017. Photo: Daniel Spehr
Installation view at LISTE 2017. Photo: Daniel Spehr
Installation view at LISTE 2017. Photo: Daniel Spehr
Installation view at LISTE 2017. Photo: Daniel Spehr

What do the artworks being presented at this year's fair reveal about the current trends and market?

I only get a clear picture overview when I visit the fair personally. But I think that there is going to be an interesting development in painting, which will result in a counter-pool to the digital world of images that floods us every day. There is an interesting text on this subject by Elsa Himmer, a young art historian which is published in our catalogue and on our website. But of course, our time lives on pluralism, everything exists (almost everything). But of course, I also especially follow what the digital image world newly produces, a world that belongs to us like bread on the table.

What advice do you have for the collectors that will be attending the fair this year?

Look what appeals to you and buy what irritates you. I have often bought works that I don't quite understand, where something else can happen between the work of art and me and therefore my world is stretched a bit. In recent years I sometimes have the impression that more is bought with the ears and less with the eyes. Buy what interests you, a piece where something happens to you.

Installation view at LISTE 2017. Photo: Daniel Spehr
Installation view at LISTE 2017. Photo: Daniel Spehr

In addition to LISTE, what exhibition or event is on your “must-see” list?

You know Basel is a great art city! It has 200 000 inhabitants and offers a museum landscape like a metropolitan city. Of course, I never miss any exhibition dealing with young art, so I regularly go to the Kunsthalle, the Kunsthaus Baselland, the HEK – House of Electronic Arts, the Salts and many more. Certainly nobody will miss out on the impressive retrospective of Bruce Nauman at Schaulager or Francis Bacon and Alberto Giacometti at the Beyeler Foundation. Everyone runs to special exhibitions with the big superstars of the art scene. I recommend to check out the collection of the Kunstmuseum for example, it's just great.

All images courtesy LISTE – Art Fair Basel

More Information on LISTE

Insiders (67)

Wilhelmina Jewell Strong - Sparks

Founder of BiTHOUSE Projects - BAAR Art Journey

MATTHIAS ARNDT

Collector behind the ARNDT Collection

Sandra Guimarães

Director of Museum of Contemporary Art Helga de Alvear

Grazyna Kulczyk

Founder of Muzeum Susch

THE FAIREST

Interview with Georgie Pope and Eleonora Sutter, Co-founders

Kamiar Maleki

Director at VOLTA

Gallery Weekend Berlin 2022

Tokini Peterside

Founder and Director, ART X Lagos

Poka-Yio

Founding Director of the Athens Biennale

Boris Ondreička

Artistic Director of viennacontemporary

Maribel Lopez

Director of ARCO

David Gryn

Founder and Director of Daata

Fondation Beyeler Audiovisual Broadcast

Fondation Beyeler and Nordstern Basel present Dixon x Transmoderna

Gary Yeh

Founder of ArtDrunk and Young Collector

WATCH: The Best of the BMW Art Guide

Where will you travel next to explore art?

Maike Cruse

2020 Gallery Weekend Berlin

Touria El Glaoui

Founding Director of 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair

Johann König

Messe in St. Agnes

PArt - Producers Art Platform

A crisis initiative to help artists directly affected by the pandemic

Barbara Moore

CEO of Biennale of Sydney

Unique Collector’s Item

by Independent Collectors

Alix Dana

Fair Director at Independent

When Collectors are Able to Commission

by Nicole Büsing and Heiko Klaas

Juliet Kothe and Julia Rust

Initiators of Collection Night, Berlin

Marie-Anne McQuay

Curator of Wales in Venice, 58th Venice Biennale 2019

Dorothy and Herb Vogel

Two extraordinary art collectors

Heather Hubbs

Director at NADA

Every Art Collection Needs Space

by Nicole Büsing and Heiko Klaas

Collecting Art with François Pinault

Rudolf Stingel at Palazzo Grassi

A Common Ground

by Silvia Anna Barrilà

Caroline Vos

Director at Amsterdam Art Weekend

Hidden Collections

by Nicole Büsing and Heiko Klaas

Nicole Berry

Executive Director of The Armory Show

Daniel Hug

Fair Director at Art Cologne

The Role of the Art Fair

by Silvia Anna Barrilà

A Brush Against Nature

by Nicole Büsing and Heiko Klaas

Ilaria Bonacossa

Director of Artissima

Excessiveness, the Latent Danger of Collecting Art

by Independent Collectors

Jo Stella-Sawicka

Artistic Director at Frieze

Florence Bourgeois

Director at Paris Photo

Where Artists Can Work More Playfully

by Christiane Meixner

Specifically Commissioned

by Silvia Anna Barrilà

Manuela Mozo

Executive Director of UNTITLED, ART Miami and San Francisco

Important Museums and Private Collections

by Christiane Meixner

Susanna Corchia

Director of the Barcelona Gallery Weekend

Emilia van Lynden

Artistic Director at Unseen, Amsterdam

Carlos Urroz

Director at ARCOmadrid

Shoe Smudges Streaked Across the White Walls

by Christiane Meixner

Amanda Coulson

Director at VOLTA Basel

Douwe Cramer

Director at Singapore Contemporary

Art and Architecture – Attractive Allies

by Nicole Büsing and Heiko Klaas

Jo Baring

Curator of Sculpture Series, Masterpiece London

Bidders and Buyers

by Christiane Meixner

Anne Vierstraete

Managing Director at Art Brussels

Nanna Hjortenberg

Director at CHART

The Crucial Role of the New

by Independent Collectors

Makers and Believers

On Art History’s Most Famous Patrons

The Past is Back

And collectors are buying it up

Are Artists the Better Curators?

On the diminishing boundary between professions in the art world

The Digital Museum

On the importance of the museum’s web presence

The Man in the Middle

On the curator’s private and public engagements

A Private Matter?

On the importance of physical space for the value of art

Off the Wall

How museums contribute to the worth of artworks

Where to Go Next?

The fragmentation of Manhattan’s gallery scene

To Buy or Not to Buy

Collectors on their experiences of letting an artwork slip away

How to Pass On a Passion

On long-term challenges for new private museums