Calder Foundation President Sandy Rower's 5 Favorite Works From Art Basel 2015

William Monk’s art captivates with its striking contrasts and poetic gestures, inviting viewers into a liminal space between vision and feeling, memory and dream. His improvisational process often revisits a single image through multiple iterations, turning painting into a contemplative ritual akin to a mantra. His latest limited edition lithograph, Mount Atom, 2025, exemplifies this approach, presenting a surreal, glowing coral form above a textured mound, crafted through intricate layers that evoke timelessness and otherworldliness. With a career marked by prestigious exhibitions worldwide and recognition for his psychologically charged works, Monk shares insights into his creative trance-like process, the significance of visual scale and placement, and the intimate dialogue between paintings within his studio and exhibitions. Mount Atom, 2025, paired with Phaidon’s first comprehensive monograph on Monk, offers a rare, intimate encounter with his evolving oeuvre.

Cerith Wyn Evans, one of the UK’s leading contemporary artists, was profoundly influenced as a teenager by Michael Craig-Martin’s conceptual work, An Oak Tree, an experience that sparked his lifelong fascination with art’s transformative power. From early encounters with Mark Rothko’s paintings to studying at Saint Martin’s School of Art, Evans’ trajectory spans experimental filmmaking, collaborations with iconic musicians, and innovative installations. His diverse artistic practice incorporates neon lights, fireworks, sound, and glass, drawing on an eclectic mix of influences—from John Cage and Marcel Duchamp to particle physics and Japanese theater. Notably recognized for works like the backwards-exit sign neon sculpture TIX3 and ritualistic film Pasolini Ostia Remix, Evans crafts art that resists simple interpretation, inviting viewers into spaces of meditation and sensory experience. As he explores energy, perception, and parallel realities, Evans’ pieces unfold as intricate, multilayered “rendezvous of question marks,” encouraging deep reflection and reverie.

Michael Raedecker’s paintings evoke a timeless sense of presence within absence, capturing edge-of-consciousness moments through ambient scenes of domestic spaces like swimming pools, huts, and parked cars—empty of people yet pulsating with humanity. Blending muted, washed-out colors with intricate embroidery, Raedecker’s works create layered, textured worlds where voids become inhabited spaces, inviting viewers to explore unseen narratives. His unique process, informed by a background in fashion and inspired by accidental discoveries and influences such as Winston Churchill’s unpretentious art and contemporary painters like Luc Tuymans, challenges traditional notions of painting by incorporating non-art techniques like thread and digital pigment transfers. Over a 30-year career, Raedecker has developed a distinctive artistic vocabulary that plays with memory, psychology, and the intersection of craft and fine art, culminating in major retrospectives and celebrated museum collections worldwide.

Jim Hodges' latest installation, *Craig's Closet*, at the New York City AIDS Memorial, is a powerful and intimate sculpture that invites reflection on memory, loss, and resilience. Crafted from granite and bronze, the piece replicates a domestic bedroom closet, symbolizing both personal and collective histories tied to the AIDS epidemic. Positioned near sites central to the crisis, the work honors those lost while celebrating the activism and care that continue to shape the community’s legacy. Hodges’ delicate balance of durable materials with the fragility of life creates a poignant dialogue on remembrance, encouraging visitors to see the piece as a living tribute to love, loss, and hope.

Italian artist and designer Gaetano Pesce revolutionized mid-century design by embracing unconventional materials like polyurethane resin, rejecting the rigid International Style in favor of colorful, playful, and figurative creations. Educated in Venice under Carlo Scarpa and influenced by the avant-garde Gruppo N collective, Pesce explored kinetic art, interior design, and city planning, blending art and function with a bold refusal of sameness. After moving to New York in 1980, he captured the city's vibrant spirit in iconic works like the Sunset In New York sofa, while advocating for diversity and individuality in design. His influence resonates today, inspiring contemporary artists and earning prestigious exhibitions, where his vibrant, socially engaged pieces offer joy and a spirited alternative to modernist monotony.

Ugo Rondinone has enjoyed an exceptional year marked by soaring auction prices, international exhibitions, and widespread acclaim. His vibrant sun paintings and evocative Mattituck series captivated audiences at Frieze London, while major institutions like the Petit Palais in Paris and the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt showcased his diverse, evolving oeuvre. From monumental sculptures in Seoul and Busan to powerful installations in Mexico City and Kosovo, Rondinone’s reach is truly global. Known for his seamless reinvention across media, he continues to let his work guide his creative journey, embodying a rare and inspiring artistic energy. Highlights include his stirring public sculptures in London and Qatar, alongside his heartfelt support for Ukraine and the LGBTQ+ community, making 2022 a year of artistic triumph and meaningful engagement—a momentum set to continue with an upcoming major outdoor presentation in Germany.

In 2022, Mickalene Thomas made remarkable strides across the art world, from participating in LACMA’s Black American Portraits exhibition to producing the critically acclaimed Broadway revival of Ntozake Shange’s *For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf*, which earned seven Tony nominations. She also co-curated the dynamic group show *Set It Off* at the Parrish Art Museum, showcasing diverse artistic voices. Thomas’s work received enthusiastic acclaim at Art Basel, while her mentorship program at Pratt Institute launched its first in-person sessions, nurturing emerging talent. Her market presence surged with a notable auction sale in London and an acquisition by the Newark Museum of Art. A highlight was her inaugural museum exhibition in France, *Avec Monet*, blending large-scale collages, paintings, and immersive installations inspired by her residency at Claude Monet’s home. Looking ahead, Thomas is excited to explore Black beauty pageants—spaces of resilience and empowerment—in her upcoming projects, continuing her vibrant celebration of Black joy and identity.

In 1988, Ugo Rondinone faced a profound personal tragedy when his boyfriend, Manfred Weisner, died rapidly from AIDS. This loss, instead of plunging him into despair, became a pivotal moment that transformed Rondinone’s outlook on life and art. Seeking solace and inspiration in nature’s mystical interplay of the sacred and mundane, he channeled his grief into a creative journey spanning over three decades. From the vibrant, monumental stone stacks of Seven Magic Mountains to the poignant Night Rainbows celebrating resilience and identity amid the AIDS crisis, Rondinone’s work resonates with themes of transformation, spirituality, and the human condition. His explorations of gender and presence in the photographic series I Don’t Live Here Anymore further reflect this complex engagement with identity and reality. Through his art, Rondinone invites us into a world where time and space are both familiar and labyrinthine, encouraging a deeper reflection on existence and perception.

Mickalene Thomas’s work is a vibrant fusion of personal history, Black radical tradition, and a visionary queer utopia that redefines contemporary art. Drawing on diverse influences—from 19th-century French masters to mid-century decor and African-American cultural icons—her art is both deeply autobiographical and boldly forward-looking. Born in Camden, New Jersey, and shaped by early artistic exposure and key moments of self-discovery, Thomas creates richly layered collage prints that celebrate Black identity, resilience, and beauty. Her newest editions, Jet Blue #11 and Left Behind, showcase her signature style blending hand-cut prints, silk fragments, and acrylic pochoir, all presented in luxurious, handcrafted packaging. Rooted in history yet brimming with hope, Thomas’s work invites us to envision a world beyond present limitations, embodying strength and genuine character inspired by her mother’s Buddhist teachings.

Salman Toor’s paintings poignantly explore the lives of gentle, introspective queer Asian men navigating feelings of isolation and resilience. Born in Lahore and now based in New York, Toor draws from his own experiences in a conservative environment to create works brimming with nostalgia, humor, and vulnerability. His piece "Blonde and Brunette," featured in the upcoming Christie’s sale benefiting the New York City AIDS Memorial, reflects on friendship as an empowering form of resistance. Toor connects the art and the cause through references to iconic works that evoke the chaos and tenderness of the AIDS crisis, highlighting his thoughtful engagement with both personal and collective histories.

Lisa Yuskavage, renowned for her lush and vibrant paintings, shares a poignant personal experience from the height of the AIDS crisis, reflecting on her deep friendship with fellow artist Jesse Murry. Despite the brightness and sensuality in her art, Yuskavage was profoundly shaped by the illness and loss she witnessed, particularly during her years supporting Murry through his final days at St. Luke’s Roosevelt’s AIDS ward. She recalls a moving night helping Jesse provide comfort to another patient, capturing a moment of extraordinary love and tenderness amid tragedy. Yuskavage's story highlights the human connections that underpinned her early career and her ongoing commitment, including her participation in the Unquestioning Love auction benefiting the New York City AIDS Memorial.

The Haas Brothers, known for their otherworldly, anthropomorphic sculptures blending materials like bronze, porcelain, and faux fur, explore themes of freedom, identity, and self-expression in their striking Beasts series. Though born after the height of the AIDS crisis, twins Nikolai and Simon Haas have personally felt the lingering stigma and social challenges surrounding the epidemic, particularly through Simon’s experience growing up gay in Texas. Their poignant piece, Biggy Stardust, carries a bittersweet nostalgia, reflecting a moment of transition amid the pandemic. As artists with works in prestigious museums, the brothers see their involvement in the Unquestioning Love auction at Christie’s—a fundraiser for the New York City AIDS Memorial—as a vital way to give back and honor the lives and legacies affected by AIDS, inspired by figures like Keith Haring and Freddie Mercury whose creative potential was tragically cut short.