Lehmann Maupin returns to Art Basel with a presentation of new and historical works that highlight the gallery’s multi-generational, interdisciplinary program. Highlights include new works by artist Tammy Nguyen, who recently joined the gallery and whose work is prominently featured in the Berlin Biennale, curated by Kader Attia, whose work is also on view at the booth; alongside emblematic sculptures by the late Swiss artist Heidi Bucher, whose retrospective Metamorphoses is currently on view at Kunstmuseum Bern; and a selection of works by Cecilia Vicuña, who is the subject of a solo exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York and featured in the 59th Venice Biennale, for which she was also awarded a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.

Exploring the complex relationships between colonization, nature and society, artists such as Vicuña, Attia, and Nguyen shed light on the narratives and mythologies that have shaped cross-cultural encounters. In Lady Deer Tree (2021), Vicuña explores the symbol of the deer, sacred in a number of distinct religious philosophies from across the world, and considers the deer as a teacher who can guide humanity toward practicing wholehearted selflessness and devotion. With her Man of Sorrow (2022) Nguyen also considers intersections between ecology and culture as she questions the impact of colonialism and proselytization perpetrated in Asia by European missionaries. Here, a bird of prey morphs into a representation of Christ being cannibalized by a tropical environment.