Conceptual artist Agnes Denes has reprised her iconic project Wheatfield – A Confrontation for Art Basel 2024. Originally staged in Lower Manhattan in 1982, the environmental artwork featured two acres of wheat planted in the shadow of the Twin Towers, highlighting issues of money, politics, global trade and ecological indifference.
The 2024 adaptation, entitled Honouring Wheatfield – A Confrontation, transforms Basel’s Messeplatz into a wheat field. Curated by Samuel Leuenberger, the installation occupies some 1,000 square meters of the concrete square. It includes Euro pallets loaded with seeds and soil, a billboard of the original wheat field from 1982, and a large monitor showing Denes discussing the project’s themes.
The Basel iteration will be harvested at the end of August, symbolising global issues such as food security, energy and environmental concerns. The project underscores Denes’ ongoing efforts to communicate the human condition and offer solutions through art.
Courtesy of ART BASEL
Courtesy of ART BASEL
Wheatfield – A Confrontation, Battery Park Landfill, Downtown Manhattan – Green Wheat, 1982
Courtesy of AGNES DENES and LESLIE TONKONOW ARTWORKS + PROJECTS
Wheatfield – A Confrontation, Battery Park Landfill, Downtown Manhattan – Blue Sky, World Trade Center, 1982
Courtesy of AGNES DENES and LESLIE TONKONOW ARTWORKS + PROJECTS
Wheatfield – A Confrontation, Battery Park Landfill, Downtown Manhattan – the Harvest, World Trade Center, 1982
Courtesy of AGNES DENES and LESLIE TONKONOW ARTWORKS + PROJECTS
