Digital Editions
Newsletters
Subscribe
Digital Editions
Newsletters
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Technology
Adventures with Van Gogh
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Technology
Adventures with Van Gogh
Fairs
news

Art Basel creates new director role and appoints Walker Art Center curator Vincenzo de Bellis

Marc Spiegler remains global director of the Swiss fair and will oversee De Bellis—but will take on a more “strategic” position

Anny Shaw
7 July 2022
Share
Vincenzo de Bellis Courtesy of Art Basel

Vincenzo de Bellis Courtesy of Art Basel

Art Basel today announced it has appointed Vincenzo de Bellis, currently a curator at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, to the newly created position of director of fairs and exhibition platforms worldwide.

Marc Spiegler remains the Swiss fair’s global director, continuing to lead all departments including VIP relations and partnerships—though his role will become more “strategic”. He tells The Art Newspaper: “I will always be closely involved in the shows, which remains the core of our business. Vincenzo coming in to help manage the fairs allows me to devote myself more fully to the strategic development of our organisation.”

In addition to recruiting a new director of Americas (Noah Horowitz resigned last July, taking up a new position with Sotheby’s), there are longer term plans to appoint a director for the Basel show. “Coming out of the pandemic, we now have a fourth fair in Paris in addition to new initiatives—both physical and digital—that extend our engagement beyond the fairs, so it is only natural that we need to strengthen our leadership team,” Spiegler says. Clément Delépine, the former co-director of the edgy Paris Internationale fair, was appointed the director of Paris+ par Art Basel in March.

De Bellis, who takes up his new job in August, comes to Art Basel with experience in the fair world. Prior to his role at the Walker Art Center, he was the artistic director of Miart, the Milan International Fair of Modern and Contemporary Art, between 2012 and 2016, during which time exhibitor numbers doubled. “I’m excited to expand the spectrum of exhibition platforms to further explore ways in which Art Basel can provide opportunities of exchange between local and global art scenes and communities of artists, gallerists, collectors, art institutions, as well as present and future art lovers,” De Bellis says in a statement.

So what exactly are the “exhibition platforms” referred to in De Bellis’s job title and how are they distinct from art fairs? Spiegler explains: “They are not fairs but physical exhibitions drawing upon our art world network and relationship with galleries.”

Art Basel

Is Art Basel eyeing up a new fair location?

Georgina Adam

The global director also rules out a revival of Art Basel Cities, which aimed to spark year-round programming in certain places, though, Spiegler adds, “we do see the possibility of working with cities besides those where we are already doing fairs”. In this vein, Art Basel is already pursuing collaborations with Art Week Tokyo and SEA Focus in Singapore.

Such moves tally with Art Basel’s parent company MCH Group’s renewed investment in live exhibitions and (most) fairs. A spokesman for MCH told The Art Newspaper last month that Florian Faber, the group’s new chief executive, “wants to leave Baselworld [watch and jewellery fair] aside for the time being”.

Meanwhile, another planned capital increase by MCH, which will see its two anchor shareholders—the canton of Basel-Stadt and Lupa Systems—invest between SFr27m and SFr34m (€26m-€33m) each, has been approved by the canton of Basel-Stadt. The decision is subject to a 42-day referendum period.

FairsArt fairsArt Basel
Share
Subscribe to The Art Newspaper’s digital newsletter for your daily digest of essential news, views and analysis from the international art world delivered directly to your inbox.
Newsletter sign-up
Information
About
Contact
Cookie policy
Data protection
Privacy policy
Frequently Asked Questions
Subscription T&Cs
Terms and conditions
Advertise
Sister Papers
Sponsorship policy
Follow us
Instagram
Bluesky
LinkedIn
Facebook
TikTok
YouTube
© The Art Newspaper

Related content

Art fairsnews
30 November 2022

'Art Basel has to keep changing': after 20 years, what is next for the fair juggernaut?

Noah Horowitz and Vincenzo de Bellis discuss their visions for the global fair brand and its flagship US fair in Miami

Torey Akers and Helen Stoilas
Fairsnews
7 July 2022

Art Basel creates new director role and appoints Walker Art Center curator Vincenzo de Bellis

Marc Spiegler remains global director of the Swiss fair and will oversee De Bellis—but will take on a more “strategic” position

Anny Shaw
Art marketnews
4 May 2023

Art Basel appoints Maike Cruse as fair director

The current head of Gallery Weekend Berlin will start in the newly created role in July and oversee the 2024 fair

Anna Brady
Art marketnews
1 June 2023

Art Basel prepares for first fair under new team, while Volta Basel searches for a new director

New structure at Art Basel will see separate directors assigned to each show, while Volta Basel is without a leader after Kamiar Maleki’s departure for Photo London

Kabir Jhala