For ‘Choir,’ Katharina Grosse Makes Art Basel Her Canvas

Summary

Katharina Grosse is the featured artist for this year’s Messeplatz Project commission at Art Basel’s marquee Swiss fair.
Titled CHOIR, the immersive artwork wraps the fair entrance in blooms of magenta spray, presenting a powerful meditation on freedom and control against the clamor that awaits inside.
On view through June 22, the piece revels in the ephemeral and otherwordly — “as if a vast painting has flown through, landed briefly and left its residue behind,” the artist described.

Katherina Grosse has consistently been a significant presence at Art Basel, and this year, her work is not just a must-see attraction – it’s almost impossible to overlook. For the 2025 Messeplatz Project, the fair selected the renowned German artist to redesign the pavilion with “CHOIR”, her largest urban intervention yet.

Using a spray gun, Grosse covers the Herzog & de Meuron-designed area with broad strokes of magenta, transforming the well-known architecture and making it anew. The surfaces seem to melt into vivid expanses of color, disrupting and reinventing the familiar space. This artwork by Grosse, curated by Natalia Grabowska from London’s Serpentine, fully envelops the venue, turning it into a piece of art in itself. It creates an immersive environment that piques curiosity about what lies inside the exhibition hall.

According to Grosse, the art piece CHOIR explores human tendencies towards controlling their environment and yearning for liberation, drawing an analogy with a polyphonic choir – a blend of voices that harmonize at different moments. The textured, paint-splattered surfaces serve as a break from the orderly interior, encouraging spontaneity, transience, and a disruption of routine daily life.

In a recent post, the artist expressed that “CHOIR” is fleeting and unique, similar to a breathtaking moment frozen in time. It’s like a magnificent piece of art swooped down, alighted for a while, and then vanished, leaving behind its lingering essence. It’s a shared yet individual experience.

You can currently see the exhibit at Switzerland until June 22nd. For further information about the CHOIR project at the Messeplatz, as well as this year’s edition programming, please visit Art Basel’s website.

Messe Basel
Messeplatz 10
4058 Basel
Switzerland

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