Basel Art Week: 5 Unmissable Highlights

A Week of Art in the Swiss City

Basel Art Week is almost here — and with it, a city-wide celebration of contemporary and historical art that extends far beyond the halls of Art Basel. This year, over 290 of the world’s top galleries will descend on the Swiss city, joined by a programme of museum shows, site-specific installations and satellite fairs worth building your itinerary around.

Here are a few standout moments we’re excited about:

KATHARINA GROSSE: The Sprayed Dear. Stuttgart: Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. Photo: courtesy of Staatsgalerie Stuttgart.

Art Basel Messeplatz Project 2025: Katharina Grosse | 16 - 22 June

Katharina Grosse has been commissioned to create a large-scale, site-responsive installation. Renowned for her immersive works that saturate architecture, interiors and landscapes with bursts of sprayed colour, she’s set to transform the city’s Messeplatz into a striking chromatic spectacle (and we can’t wait to see the result!).

Steve McQueen, Bass, 2024. Installation view, Dia Beacon, New York, 2024–25. © Steve McQueen. Photo: Bill Jacobson Studio, New York

Steve McQueen: Bass, Fondation Laurenz Schaulager | 15 June - 16 November

The world-renowned artist and filmmaker returns with his most abstract work to date. ‘Bass’ is largely inspired by McQueen’skeen interest in the effect of light, colour and sound on our physical perception of space and time. Get ready for a truly immersive experience!

Photo: courtesy of VOLTA fair.

VOLTA’s 25th Anniversary Fair | 19 - 22 June

This milestone edition brings together 70 galleries from 28 countries. On our radar is the Middle East North African Pavilion, curated by Beirut-based writer and curator Randa Sadaka. The exhibition spotlights the rich artistic narratives, cultural heritage and contemporary practices emerging from the MENA region.

Exhibition view. Vija Celmins. Works 1964-96, 1997.

Vija Celmins, The Fondation Beyeler | 15 June - 21 September

Our partner museum will present the most significant exhibition of Latvian American artist Vija Celmins’ work in Europe in nearly two decades. The show spans from the 1960s to today, tracing her meticulous depictions of natural surfaces and celestial scenes. Expect new works and rarely seen sculptures that reveal the quiet power of her practice.

Meret Oppenheim: Das Auge der Mona Lisa (The Eye of Mona Lisa). © 2025, ProLitteris, Zurich.

Meret Oppenheim, Hauser & Wirth | 5 June - 19 July

German-born Swiss artist Meret Oppenheim was associated with Surrealism and Dada yet resisted categorisation, working across painting, drawing, sculpture and design. Curated with Josef Helfenstein, this major exhibition highlights her playful, thought-provoking explorations of identity and sexuality, with rarely seen works from the 1930s to the 1970s.