Art Basel OVR Pioneers Returns with 800 Works by Pioneering Artists

Art Basel has launched the 2021 edition of OVR Pioneers, an online viewing room dedicated to artists who broke new aesthetic, conceptual, or socio-political ground from the 20th century onward. After a year-long hiatus due to lockdowns, the fair is restructuring its calendar with digital events preceding physical editions: Art Basel Hong Kong (May 19–23), Art Basel Basel (September 21–26), and Art Basel Miami Beach (December 1–5). The OVR features galleries that have participated since 2016, presenting solo or group shows with up to eight works each, totaling 800 pieces. Highlights include Jean Fautrier (Applicat-Prazan, Paris), Ha Chong-Hyun (Kukje Gallery, Seoul), Sonia Delaunay-Terk (Galerie Zlotowski, Paris), Alighiero Boetti (Ben Brown Fine Arts, London), Mira Schendel (Bergamin & Gomide, São Paulo), Theaster Gates (Gagosian), and Gordon Parks (Alison Jacques Gallery, London). New media pioneers include Miao Ying (Galerie nächst St. Stephan Rosemarie Schwarzwälder, Vienna), Trevor Paglen (Altman Siegel, San Francisco), Tony Oursler (Lisson Gallery, London), and Gretchen Bender (Metro Pictures, New York). A new feature allows users to create and share collections. Noah Horowitz, Director Americas of Art Basel, stated the event celebrates how artists expanded boundaries and fosters dialogue with the present.