Out of the Convention Center and Into the City: In Basel’s Parcours Section

On Wednesday night, Art Basel’s Parcours section, which places artworks throughout a different part of the city every year, opened to the public. On Thursday afternoon, it rained steadily, as it did for much of the fair’s run, and most of the Münsterplatz, where it was held this year, was pretty much deserted. That made for a pretty pleasant viewing experience. You could wander into an old school and have some Michaela Meises to yourself, linger (under the cover of an awning) to take in Ugo Rondinoe’s monumental sculpture in the main plaza, and then head to the back of the Basler Münster church to see a mysterious new piece by Alicja Kwade, a trio of large gramophone-like sculptures with small clocks ticking within them. This year’s show was curated by Florence Derieux, the director of the FRAC Champagne-Ardenne in France. Below, a look at some of it. (Also, as a quick addendum, I want to go on record to say that I have to disagree respectfully with my colleague Nate Freeman about Davide Balula’s ice cream piece: to my tongue, all four flavors were delicious, particularly the “river” flavor, which tasted of all sorts of herbal liqueurs—like a luxurious, earthy, boozed-up mint.)