Basel Profile: Nicolai Wallner Gallery

What is your artistic profile here at the fair?

We have chosen the artists we represent in the gallery and we thought would work well here. We could have chosen to show solely Danish artists but I didn’t think that was interesting – I’d rather have a bigger representation. We would like to provide a more international perspective to it. At an art fair you don’t show single artists – that is what the Art Unlimited is for where we have chosen to represent the Danish artist Peter Land. We chose to apply for the Unlimited with Peter Land because we thought he had a good project and a project that would fit in well with the concept of Art Unlimited, which is a base for showing works at a larger scale and works that have a character that couldn’t be shown at a regular fair stand.

Stand view.		Stand view. Works by Jonathan Monk		Stand view. Works by Jeppe Hein (sculptures) and David Shrigley

An art fair seems to be much of an art supermarket – do you have any problems with that?

It is a supermarket. This is where all the collectors come and where all the buyers are. It is where you sell art. It is not, however, like selling computers or anything else. It is an art scene where you see all the new art. An art fair is not to be mistaken for a regular museum exhibition or gallery show. Here you can buy a Picasso for 13 million € or you can choose to buy a young artist’s work for $1000

Do you spot any new tendencies at the fair?

Well, about ten years ago photo was much hyped and very exposed at the fair and then came painting, but that changed as well. In general I do not see a particular trend at the fair this year. Most artists seem to choose what is right for their given project and is not confining themselves to a single media. The artist does not limit themselves - everything is permitted now – there are no limits. That goes both for the works shown here at art fair but also for the art world in general.