ART BASEL ARTISTS TO WATCH

NEXTGEN CREATORS:

ARTISTS TO WATCH

What artistic talents are going to be responsible for creating the next masterpieces of our generation? We’re putting the Spotlight on three rising-star artists who have cutting-edge craft and are leaving their mark on the art world. BY SYDNEY SADICK

Forrest Kirk WHO: FORREST KIRK WHAT: This talented artist spent time studying classical painting techniques in an atelier in Paris after graduating from California State University, Los Angeles. The bold chromatic diversity of Kirk’s paintings are achieved using a variety of media ranging from oils and acrylic to bubble wrap, fabric, and Gorilla Glue. His images often reference psychological uncertainty and anxiety arising from underlying power structures, specifically those experienced in contemporary urban settings. WHERE: Los Angeles

Forrest, how did you land in the art world?

It’s cliché, but I’ve always been an artist from as early as I can remember. I used to lie in bed as a kid and just look at the walls in my room and imagine beautiful paintings. Since then I just kept going, always pushing forward, getting better and better at execution of the work.

Describe your art aesthetic.

Sensual with silhouettes. I want the viewer to feel something— happiness, goose bumps, or a shiver—when they see my work.

Proudest career accomplishment?

The first time a museum purchased my work. The Hammer Museum was the first, years ago, but I always remember seeing them putting the work into their permanent collection.

Favorite Basel memory?

It’s kinda nerdy, but I like going to Basel and attending the talks. I usually go on a day when there are a couple of talks from other artists, curators, or someone interesting I’d like to hear and ask a few questions.

Where can people check out your work at Art Basel?

I’ll have work in the Art Basel main fair with Vielmetter gallery. I’ll also have work at NADA with Rebecca Camacho Presents. [After Basel] I have two upcoming exhibitions. I have my show titled “Beneath No One” coming up in January 2023 with Rebecca Camacho’s gallery in San Francisco. Then I have my show called “The Owl of Minerva Flies at Dusk” coming up in February 2023 with Vielmetter in Los Angeles. Each show utilizes a different color palette. Also, the first show is more small-scale works, and the latter show will have large-scale works.

Jason Seife

WHO: JASON SEIFE WHAT: Seife’s work references vintage Persian carpets, an art form that is often taken for granted in modern times. Carpets were a big part of his childhood growing up with immigrant parents of Middle Eastern descent. Seife re-creates these antique weavings by tediously painting them on canvas in colors and mediums that were not normally used in their origin. He presents the pieces in a new and exciting way. The creation of these works is both a therapeutic and a spiritual process; being able to channel his obsession with detail into the intricate geometry and compositions of the carpets allows him to find himself working hours on end without lifting his brush. WHERE: Miami

Jason, what’s the backstory on how you became an artist?

I fell in love with art at a very young age. When I was in elementary school, my art teacher realized I drew well and suggested I apply for a magnet school with an art program. Upon attending this school, it opened my eyes to the possibilities of new mediums in art that I didn’t have access to previously. While no career path, especially in the arts, is linear, I’ve had my ups and downs and moments where I almost gave up, but I always kept coming back to it. I’m fortunate to be able to do what I love for a living and create art full-time.

What are you currently working on?

I’m currently working on my largest exhibition to date, which also happens to be my first U.S. solo show and will take place at the Pérez Art Museum Miami from May 2023 to January 2024. The Pérez Art Museum was also the first museum I ever attended, back when it was at its previous location and called the Miami Art Museum. I visited it on a field trip with the school I mentioned. It’s pretty surreal to have an exhibition there, considering the impact it had on me while visiting as a young artist. During Basel, I’ll be hosting private studio visits.

How do you describe your work?

My work is heavily influenced by the Middle Eastern side of my heritage, which undoubtedly informs the aesthetic in my work. I draw inspiration from textile design, Islamic architecture, and even ceramics. I have a strong interest in utilizing ancient art forms to create modern art.

Allison Zuckerman

WHO: ALLISON ZUCKERMAN WHAT: Zuckerman is an American contemporary artist. Her work takes art historical paintings and Internet culture as a point of departure, utilizing both paint and digitally manipulated images to create acerbic hybrid portraits brimming with cultural and societal critique. These colorful pop collages are created from fragments of Zuckerman’s past work, imagery of iconic paintings overlaid entirely with paint. Shortly after receiving her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Zuckerman attracted the interest of the influential art patrons Don and Mera Rubell, who offered her a residency at their Miami museum. WHERE: Brooklyn

Allison, how do you describe your aesthetic as an artist?

I describe my work as “pop surrealism.” Harnessing a maximalist spirit and hypersaturated approach to image making, I represent and update the centuries-old art historical narrative of the submissive feminine subject as an empowered, intimidating, and autonomous protagonist.

You’ve been showing your work at Art Basel since your career began. What have been some of your best memories?

It has to be the memory of opening my solo exhibition, “Stranger in Paradise,” at the Rubell Museum in December 2017. It featured four large-scale billboardsize paintings that reimagined immense nude muses as commanding authors of their own stories. I created these paintings during my residency at the Rubell Museum, working on a scale so massive that I needed a scissor lift to reach the top corners of each canvas! However, last year, the first Art Basel since COVID, I had a solo exhibition at the Versace Mansion presented by The Ranch. This exhibition of paintings illustrated how the epic aesthetic of both Versace and his venerable establishment playfully interacted with my work, creating a theatrical and exuberant exhibition. In one room, the wallpaper merged seamlessly with the background of my painting, while the ancient

Greco-Roman-inspired fountains of the entrance created a dramatic framing device of my paintings in the main hall.

What do you hope people take away from your Basel exhibition?

I hope for viewers to feel connected to my work, further an appreciation for art history, and experience how beauty can manifest itself in unpredictable, impactful, surprising, and gratifying ways.

Where can we find you and your work?

My work is on view in the Rubell Museum, specifically at Leku restaurant, and with Ross + Kramer Gallery. T