Art Basel announces Katharina Grosse commission, among other highlights, for its June 2025 fair.

Art Basel has announced further details of the 2025 edition of its flagship fair in Basel, which will feature 289 galleries from 42 countries (up from 285 at Art Basel 2024). The fair will return to the Messe Basel from June 19th to 22nd, with VIP preview days on June 17th and 18th. This year, the fair will welcome 19 newcomers across the entire fair.

The fair has now announced its robust public programming. German artist Katharina Grosse will present a major new commission on the Messeplatz. The artist is planning to transform the square with her signature spray-painted forms in an installation curated by Natalia Grabowsky, the curator at large for site-specific projects at Serpentine Galleries in London.

Curated by the director of New York’s Swiss Institute, Stefanie Hessler, for the second time, the Parcours sector will present more than 20 site-specific projects under the theme “Second Nature,” reflecting on how human artistic creations can be integrated with the natural environment. Installations will be located along Clarastrasse and the Rhine, including the former Hotel Merian. Another satellite work will be installed in Münsterplatz. Artists featured include British artist Marianna Simnett and Swiss artist Shahryar Nashat.

This edition of Art Basel will feature 22 Kabinett projects—curated presentations within the galleries’ main booths. Among these 22 projects, Annely Juda Fine Art will present a selection of work by Brazilian sculptor Lucia Nogueira, and London’s Herald St will showcase rare paintings by famed Greek artist Alekos Fassianos. Meanwhile, Art Basel’s Unlimited sector will be curated by Giovanni Carmine, director of Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen. It will feature 68 large-scale presentations including those by Cosima von Bonin and Martin Kippenberger.

“This year’s edition is designed to welcome visitors through multiple gateways—whether they’re seeking a first connection or a deeper, more immersive journey into contemporary art,” Maike Cruse, director of Art Basel in Basel, told Artsy.

The main Galleries sector will feature 238 exhibitors, including three first-time participants: London’s Arcadia Missa, New York’s François Ghebaly, and Spanish gallery Prats Nogueras Blanchard. Several galleries that previously showed in other sectors will also join the main section in 2025, including the Chinese gallery Beijing Commune, London-based Emalin, Paris-based Galerie Le Minotaure, Osaka’s Third Gallery Aya, and Prague’s Hunt Kastner.

A new award initiative will debut this year, recognizing 36 artists and leaders from contemporary art and other cultural sectors. The winner, to be announced in May, will be honored during a reception and the inaugural Awards Summit on June 20th.