For 17 years running, Netjets has partnered with Art Basel to welcome fair visitors with a dedicated lounge space, a celebration of the private aviation company’s commitment to art and design. It has traditionally commissioned artists to create site-specific works for its spaces – and this year was no exception as it called upon painter and street artist Oli-B to create a work inspired by air travel.
The Belgian artist’s signature style features graphic compositions of bold colours created through a variety of media, from spray paint to digital and screen-printing techniques. His works to date have included commissions for public spaces, sculptures and products.
For Art Basel this year, Netjets tasked Oli-B with illustrating the experience of traveling on one of its aircrafts. The artist created a large triptych of paintings – hung at the lounge’s entrance – and a series of smaller figures that adorn a corner of the space.
Oli-B’s installation may seem entirely abstract at first sight, but the artist has incorporated recognisable elements among the colourful shapes, such as a cockpit, or the nose and of airplane – but most of the sinuous forms are open to interpretations.
Oli-B create a small series of geometric paintings to accompany the larger triptych in the NetJets VIP lounge
There is no right or wrong here: Oli-B keeps this visual playground free of boundaries to let viewers imagine their journey through the images. Some visitors may see outlines of countries and geographic morphology; others might find stylised birds and clouds.
‘It’s a call to a dreamy journey,’ explains the artist. ‘When you fly, you can also dream, and to capture this quality I took inspiration from the design of a plane in the sky and the evasion of reality. The painting will invite visitors to travel in it, and bring them good feelings, serenity and positive energy.’
INFORMATION
Art Basel 2018 runs 14-17 June. For more information, visit the Net Jets website and the Art Basel website
ADDRESS
Messe Basel
Messeplatz 10
4005 Basel
-
‘120 years of artistry, of character’: How Paula Gerbase is breathing new life into historic Danish design house Georg JensenPaula Gerbase, the newly instated creative director of Georg Jensen, speaks to Wallpaper* about bringing the 120-year-old silversmith into a new era
-
For designer and craftsman Kodai Iwamoto 'good design should be able to speak for itself'In a rapidly changing world, the route designers take to discover their calling is increasingly circuitous. Here we speak to Kodai Iwamoto about the interconnectedness of design, communication and culture
-
Wallpaper* and Cartier’s guide to Miami
-
Love, melancholy and domesticity: Anna Calleja is a painter to watchAnna Calleja explores everyday themes in her exhibition, ‘One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night’, at Sim Smith, London
-
Out of office: what the Wallpaper* editors have been doing this weekA snowy Swiss Alpine sleepover, a design book fest in Milan, and a night with Steve Coogan in London – our editors' out-of-hours adventures this week
-
What to look out for at Art Basel Miami Beach 2024Art Basel Miami Beach returns for its inaugural edition under new director Bridget Finn, running 6-8 December, with 286 international exhibitors and a packed week of parties, pop-up, and special projects
-
Henni Alftan’s paintings frame everyday moments in cinematic renditionsConcurrent exhibitions in New York and Shanghai celebrate the mesmerising mystery in Henni Alftan’s paintings
-
Inside Jack Whitten’s contribution to American contemporary artAs Jack Whitten exhibition ‘Speedchaser’ opens at Hauser & Wirth, London, and before a major retrospective at MoMA opens next year, we explore the American artist's impact
-
Miu Miu’s Women’s Tales film series comes to life for Art Basel ParisIn ‘Tales & Tellers’, interdisciplinary artist Goshka Macuga brings Miu Miu’s Women’s Tales film series for Art Basel Paris to life for the public programme
-
Art Basel returns to Paris: here is everything to see and doArt Basel Paris 2024 (18 - 20 October 2024) returns, opening at the newly renovated Grand Palais
-
‘This blood that is flowing is my blood, and that should be a positive thing’: Tracey Emin at White CubeTracey Emin’s exhibition ‘I followed you to the end’ has opened at White Cube Bermondsey in London, and traces the artist’s journey through loss
