Gunia Nowik Gallery
at Basel Social Club
solo presentation of Iza Tarasewicz
Bruderholz-Basel
Switzerland
June 9 – 16, 2024
June 9 – 15 11 am – 11 pm
June 16 11 am – 3 pm
Opening Day, Sunday, June 9:
2 pm Jean Tinguely’s Klamauk (1979) will arrive at the Basel Social Club, inaugurating the week
4 pm Paulo Nazareth’s performance procession Moinho de Vento / Windmill
The opening day’s live program continues until 11 pm
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Iza Tarasewicz's presentation at Basel Social Club is located near Predigerhofstrasse 172, Bruderholz-Basel, Switzerland → see map here
Iza Tarasewicz's work titled Chain II (2021, copper, grass, 75 x 40 x 40 cm) is on view on the wall of Predigerhof Restaurant. On the wall of the barn next to the restaurant, you can find Convivial Assemblages (2023, oxidized steel, Ø 175 x 5 cm). Revelation of Powers (2022, oxidized steel, dimensions variable) is placed just two minutes away on the plain field of Bruderholz-Basel.
Read about Basel Social Club in the article No One Told the Cows Not to Lick the Artwork by Thomas Rogers in The New York Times, which features Iza Tarasewicz's work.
Iza Tarasewicz's travel to Basel Social Club 2024 was supported by funding from the Adam Mickiewicz Institute under the 'Polish Culture in the World' program.
If you are interested in a preview of the presented works, please do contact us via info@gunianowikgallery.com.
Basel Social Club is a non-for-profit organization founded in spring 2022 by a collective of artists, gallerists and curators with the intention of creating social spaces for art. After the success of the past two editions, Basel Social Club returns this year for its third edition in a new location and new format: a week-long event in the midst of nature on farmland fields behind the residential neighborhood of Bruderholz, extending into Baselland.
Sprawled throughout the 72 hectares of farmed land between a forest and the border of the city, Basel Social Club 2024 will bring together an all-encompassing exhibition of artworks by a diverse list of local and international artists. Adapted to the environment and respectful of the local activities, Basel Social Club 2024 is accompanied by a dynamic music and performance program, an outdoor cinema, and exclusive culinary offerings.
This year's event integrates the landscape, agriculture, and farm animals into the artistic framework, with host farmers actively participating. Artistic interventions, including the large-scale sculptural works of Iza Tarasewicz, are strategically positioned throughout the properties—on the fields, in the barns, and amongst the trees. Displayed in a vast outdoor setting, Tarasewicz's works foster a dynamic interaction between art and the natural environment, offering visitors a unique way to experience both the ecological scope of the project and the merging of art with the agricultural landscape.
Basel Social Club will run from Sunday, June 9th until Sunday, June 16th, and will be accessible to all and free of charge.
In Chain II (2021, copper, grass, 75 x 40 x 40 cm) Tarasewicz has returned to the metaphor of the body. These forms are human-like: with discernable four-fingered hands. And yet, these figures are more machine-like than human, as in this piece, where a chain is formed by almost robotic-looking hands. Whether they're dancing together, working and creating together, or comforting one another, the fingers grasp each other in a gesture of aid, creating a sense of togetherness. This grouping of hands also holds pieces of grass, further referencing the rural context. Drawing from the daily bustle of village life, Tarasewicz transforms simple materials through complex processes, creating works that act as conduits for substances, energies, locations, temporalities, and concepts, reflecting a continuous series of material and symbolic interactions.
Iza Tarasewicz's sculptural installation, Revelation of Powers (2022, oxidized steel, dimensions variable) comprises 32 pieces that collectively form a barricade, reminiscent of those used in agricultural protests, with each element channeling themes of collectiveness and resistance. Through its reference to a clock, the installation delves into the cyclical nature of time and its transformative possibilities, juxtaposing the roles of arms in dance choreographies with their use in acts of attack, defense, or rebellion. This contextualizes these elements within the war in Ukraine, offering a homage to collective resistance and solidarity. The installation includes 20 pieces measuring 110 x 68 x 8 cm, 12 pieces measuring 78 x 84 x 84 cm, and 10 foldable tripods, showcasing Tarasewicz's ability to blend form with function in a meaningful display.
In Convivial Assemblages (2023, oxidized steel, ⌀175 x 5 cm) Tarasewicz continues to explore themes deeply rooted in the physicality and rhythm of rural life, particularly through the lens of the mazurka—a style of folk dance from her native Poland. This piece captures the dynamic essence of pairs of dancers arranged in circles, spinning around their own axes while traveling the circumference, akin to machine parts or celestial bodies in motion. This imagery not only reflects the mechanical and astral realms but also embodies the multiplicity of meanings associated with circles and spheres in her artistic practice.
