1. Courtesy of Art Basel, 2025
Art Basel. V. 2025
In its 2025 edition, Art Basel returned once again to Messeplatz in the heart of Basel, bringing together over 280 galleries from 40 countries across its main sectors: Galleries, Feature, Statements, and Unlimited. Yet this year’s edition unfolded with a different kind of gravity. While the 2023 and 2024 fairs suggested a post-pandemic stabilization, 2025 marked a deeper recalibration of what collectors seek, how galleries present, and what art is being asked to confront in a world where the pace of crisis has become a given.
2. Courtesy of Art Basel, 2025
Galleries in focus: Strategy over spectacle
Inside the central hall, the Galleries sector at Art Basel 2025 took a more thoughtful turn. Instead of relying on huge, flashy installations to catch attention, many galleries chose to present quieter, more focused displays.
Hauser & Wirth brought together works by Philip Guston, Louise Bourgeois, and Michaela Yearwood-Dan. Guston’s late painting, with its heavy brushwork and strange, cartoon-like forms, felt dark and personal, touching on themes of fear and politics. Nearby, a hanging sculpture by Bourgeois, delicate and raw, offered a reflection on the body and memory. In contrast, Yearwood-Dan’s colorful paintings added energy and warmth, speaking to self-expression, identity, and healing. Together, the works created a calm but powerful atmosphere.
At Gagosian, a similar approach was felt. Known for showing bold, eye-catching works, the gallery chose instead to focus on fewer, more carefully selected pieces. A painting by Cy Twombly, made late in his life, stood out with its faint scribbles and faded marks, giving a sense of poetry and loss. A new painting by Albert Oehlen, bold and layered, brought a different energy, full of controlled chaos.
David Zwirner’s booth was one of the most talked about at the fair. A haunting painting by Michaël Borremans was sold within the first few hours for $2.6 million. Its quiet tension and sharp detail held viewers in place. The gallery also showed an early portrait by Alice Neel, which was bought by a private foundation from Scandinavia. Her honest, unpolished way of painting faces still speaks strongly today. Also on display were two recent photographs by Wolfgang Tillmans, which played with light and perspective, both were acquired by a major museum in Asia.
Across the fair, many booths echoed this more careful and balanced energy. Galleries didn’t try to shock or overwhelm; instead, they gave space to serious, reflective works. There was a sense that both artists and collectors were asking harder questions, about what matters, what lasts, and what kind of art speaks to the present moment. It wasn’t just about making sales. It was about making meaning.
Unlimited's monumentality
3. Marcelle Alix, in collaboration with Lyles & King, Courtesy of Art Basel, 2025
Art Basel’s Unlimited sector has long been a stage for ambitious, large-scale works that challenge traditional fair formats. In 2025, this space offered an extraordinary mix of monumental sculpture, immersive installations, and deeply personal reflections, expanding the boundaries of what contemporary art can communicate in physical and emotional scale.
Swiss artist Claudia Comte’s contribution to Unlimited stood out for its presence and playful materiality. Comte’s practice often blurs the lines between sculpture, painting, and architecture, using geometric patterns and vibrant colors to engage viewers in physical and perceptual dialogue.
For this edition, she presented a monumental wooden installation that combined hand-carved, organic forms with sharp, minimal geometric shapes. The work, while abstract, felt alive, its curves and angles inviting viewers to walk around and through it, creating shifting shadows and perspectives. Her technique merges traditional craftsmanship with contemporary aesthetics, drawing from a diverse range of influences, from Minimalism to folk art.
Mira Schor’s contribution was intimate yet intellectually charged. Known for her feminist and politically engaged practice, Schor’s work at Unlimited focused on the politics of sexuality and pleasure. Her project, inspired by ongoing dialogues about the representation of female desire and autonomy, took shape as a painting installation exploring the language and imagery of sexual pleasure. Using painterly gestures alongside text fragments, Schor’s piece challenged cultural taboos and invited viewers to consider the intersections of power, body, and expression.
One of the most visually striking elements of Unlimited was the massive mural by Oscar Murillo. Known for his dynamic, process-driven practice, Murillo blends painting, performance, and social engagement. The mural burst across the wall with energetic, swirling brushstrokes layered over collaged fragments of fabric and paper. Murillo’s work is deeply connected to issues of globalization and displacement, his layered surfaces evoke the frenetic energy and fragmentation of contemporary life, as well as the interconnectedness of different cultures and histories. Often incorporating materials sourced from his native Colombia and the places he travels, his work in Unlimited was no exception, it embodied a vibrant, chaotic vitality that mirrored the complexity of our times.
Echoes that will resound
More than any single artwork, artist, or high-profile sale, what lingered long after Art Basel 2025 was its overall tone, a fair that pulsed with a quiet urgency rather than overwhelming spectacle. Unlike many previous editions defined by grand gestures and headline-grabbing auctions, this year’s event felt measured and intentional. Booths resembled thoughtful mini-exhibitions, inviting visitors to pause and engage deeply rather than skim or scroll past. This mood of contemplative rigor was mirrored across Basel’s parallel fairs and platforms happening simultaneously.
In an age dominated by rapid digital consumption, where images and ideas compete fiercely for immediate attention and fleeting engagement, Art Basel 2025 pushed back against this flattening of experience. It demanded time, curiosity, and presence. It rewarded those willing to slow down, to walk the floors with care, and to dwell with works rather than simply glance. The fair reminded everyone: collectors, curators, critics, and the casually interested alike that the essence of art lies not only in visibility but in sustained encounter.
Informations about the fair
Place: Messeplatz 10
CH-4058 Basel
Switzerland
Ticket: Available on the website of Art Basel and on-site.