Criticism of the application process at Art Basel: “Whole body photos don’t work at all”

«Past application procedure»

Art history students sought for supervision at Art Basel have so far had to apply with three photographs: a headshot, a “length view” and a photograph meant to express personality.

Art Basel stressed that applicants to SonntagsBlick were “selected solely on the basis of their skills and abilities for the task.” The procedure was put into practice years ago on the basis of “standards customary at the time”. The art fair announces that it will review the procedure.

MeToo controversy hit the art market in 2017

Art Basel emphasizes that “harassment of any kind” is not tolerated. Anyone who misbehaves is threatened with being banned from the house. There is an ombudsperson who takes care of the events during the fair. “The Ombudsperson is an external expert who advises those seeking assistance on their rights and possible next steps and reports to the trade fair management.”

The company does not want to explain why Berlin’s König Galerie did not attend Art Basel this year. Star gallery owner Johann König has been criticized for months with allegations about the MeToo complex, and he denies the allegations.

In 2017, the MeToo controversy reached the art market. At that time, the American Knight Landesman had to leave the art magazine “Artforum” after major allegations. The open letter “We are not surprised” denouncing the abuse of power in the industry has gone viral.

French director Aurélia Rouvier shot the documentary “I’m Not Surprised” about it. Italian gallery owner Chiara Repetto says: “I was harassed by clients at art fairs. They came and kissed my neck. I didn’t say anything because they were customers. But one after another it eroded my image as a business woman.”

There was already an imbalance of power among the assistants.

Ursina Roesch spoke to SonntagsBlick for the first time about personal experiences with related events in Switzerland. “As a young woman, I was constantly presented with indecent proposals. In the 1980s and 1990s, it was considered normal for gallery owners to tell women: go to bed with me, everything will be fine. Holding, holding your butt, involuntarily kissing your mouth—all of this was normal for some men, even if we women didn’t want to. It all happened to me. Not only in France, but also in Switzerland.”

The power imbalance has already made itself felt among the gallery assistants. “They wanted to have fun before they let you see the boss.” There was no education for women, no complaints bureaus, no shopping with like-minded people. “The subject was just taboo. In the vernisages, you immediately noticed whether you were taken seriously as an artist or if you were simply invited to a meat inspection.”