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Art Basel is seen by many to be the most prestigious art fair of the year and the 49th edition is set to be no exception. Opening with preview days on 12 and 13 June, and running until the 17th, this year’s fair includes over 290 leading international galleries and is expected to welcome around 100,000 visitors.

The most prominent galleries are bringing out their best and the fair will show works by many of the biggest name artists of the 20th century. Interesting highlights include Hauser & Wirth’s stand which features Arshile Gorky’s Still Life from 1929 while Pace is showing Robert Rauschenberg’s Soaring Dribble Glut (1992) created from petrol station signs and scrap metal and priced at $3million. Fans of photography should enjoy Hamilton’s exhibition of 30 rare works by Irving Penn of shopfronts and signage from New York and the American South. Described as the Belle of Basel this year, the fair will show at least nine works by Abstract Expressionist artist Joan Mitchell priced collectively at more than $70million.

For something a little more unusual visit Halo, the immersive installation by Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt who make up the duo Semiconductor.  Halo was inspired by the Large Hadron Collider at the Cern laboratory in Geneva and the 10metre wide cylindrical structure will be in an underground space below Basel’s central Messeplatz, surrounded by vertical piano wires, the interior is covered with a screen where visitors can observe kaleidoscopic data projections

And don’t miss the Parcours sector with 23 site-specific artworks in public and private spaces throughout Basel’s historic center.  ‘Telling stories for the Future’, it is curated by Samuel Leuenberger and features artists including Jessica Stockholder, Keren Cytter and Mark Manders.

You’ll need several days to really do justice to all that’s on offer.

Artbasel.com