Pessimism Prevails at Art Basel Unlimited 2025

At Hall 1, Art Basel Unlimited features works too large for regular booths. This year, however, there are no interactive installations with sexual undertones like in the past. Instead, the tone is somber. From Jaume Plensa’s corridor of 21 doors engraved with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – a forgotten dream in today’s world – to Carl Andre’s contemplative cedar wood blocks titled Thrones, the message is clear: hope is in short supply.

Visitors are welcomed by a 34-meter-long textile installation by Marinella Senatore, We Rise by Lifting Others, which opens with Walt Whitman’s quote “I Contain Multitudes.” It feels both theatrical and self-aware, reflecting the contradictions within the art world and society itself.

Danh Vo’s In God We Trust shows the American flag disintegrating piece by piece – a prophetic image of instability. The largest installation, The Voyage. A March to Utopia by Atelier van Lieshout, resembles a dark, carnival-like procession of 160 grotesque objects. From mummified figures to soldiers and syringes piercing skulls, it’s a grim tale of human history.

Nicola Turner’s towering textile sculpture Danse Macabre closes the show – another stark symbol of decay. Despite all the darkness, a careful eye might still catch glimpses of irony, color, and playfulness among the gloom.

We Rise by Lifting Others, Marinella Senatore, 2023.