Among New York City's most accomplished collectors of work by emerging artists, Michael and Susan Hort have proven remarkably adept over the last several decades at spotting major talents at early points of their careers—an ability that has helped them amass important pieces by artists like Chris Ofili, Adrian Ghenie, Richard Prince, and John Currin. Today the Horts restlessly keep their eye on the vanguard, often collecting rising artists from more experimental galleries in New York and abroad. They also provide them with grants and other critical support through their Rema Hort Foundation, a charitable organization named in honor of their late daughter, who died of cancer at the age of 30 in 1995.
This week, the Horts toured the fairs in Basel to scout the latest work coming out of the international contemporary art scene. Below are a few of Michael Hort's favorite works at Art Basel and Liste.
1. Oscar Murillo's At Times Everything Hits You in the Face — And I'm Like This Shit Just Needs to Work (2013) at Isabella Bortolozzi Galerie, Art Basel
2. Tomás Saraceno's illuminated spider-web sculptures (2013) at Esther Schipper Gallery, Art Basel
3. Billy Childish's Through the Ice (2013) at neugerriemschneider, Art Basel
4. Jakub Julian Ziółkowski's Untitled (2013) at Foksal Gallery, Art Basel
5. Armin Boehm's Morphin (2012) at Meyer Riegger, Art Basel
6. Joe Pestoni's Pinned Down (2013) at David Kordansky, Art Basel
7. Idris Khan's Untitled, London (2013) at Sean Kelly Gallery, Art Basel
8. Jonas Wood's Still Life With Two Tables (2013) at Anton Kern Gallery, Art Basel
9. Rafał Bujnowski's Untitled (2013) at Raster, Liste
10. Matt Saunders's Rose Hobart series (2013) at Harris Lieberman, Liste
11. Alex Olson's Proposal 18 (2013) at Laura Bartlett Gallery, Liste