Kirsty’s six picks from Art Basel Switzerland 2025

Art Basel 2025 didn’t just my meet expectations, it rewrote them. The sheer diversity and quality of the work was nothing short of breathtaking – from established masters to bold emerging voices pushing boundaries. As the art world converged on Switzerland, the voices of African artists resonated louder than ever.

From bark cloth to stitched silk, impasto to nylon, the materials on display this year spoke volumes about culture, innovation and identity. While the market remains price sensitive, it recognises value. It is alive with curiosity and a deepening appreciation for narrative-rich, materially ambitious work.

Here are my six standouts (plus one essential bonus) that made my short list.

1. Michael Armitage, Glue Sniffers, 2016, oil on Lubugo bark cloth, David Zwirner

Kenyan-born painter Michael Armitage’s work always demands attention, not only for its vivid subject matter and painterly rendering, but also for the surface itself. Painting on Lubugo bark cloth introduces a vulnerability to the work; the natural cracking and splitting feel like metaphors for memory, rupture and resistance.

2. Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum, Scene 31, 2024, oil and pencil on four wood panels, Goodman Gallery

There’s a cinematic quality to Botswana-born Pamela Sunstrum’s Scene 31 that I find irresistible. Her use of extreme contrast, dramatic lighting and epic shadows draws on films of the Western tradition from the 50s and 60s that had a strong connection to theatre. The intimate scene depicted is palpable.

3. Billie Zangewa, Splendour in the Plants, 2024, hand-stitched silk collage, Lehmann Maupin

Malawi-born Joburger Billie Zangewa’s stitched silk works radiate quiet power – the way she assembles fragments into cohesive, emotionally charged scenes. This particular piece is a lush, living ode to softness and presence.

4. Asemahle Ntlonti, /Sigithi/, 2025, acrylic paint, acrylic gel and leno thread on canvas, Blank Projects

Cape Town artist Asemahle Ntlonti draws me in with her subtle palette, experimental textures and emotional depth. The tactile quality of the work invites you to look closer, to listen differently.

5. Georgina Gratrix, Tuileries Garden Bouquet (After Bombois), 2025, oil on linen, Stevenson

In stark contrast and nothing short of OTT is Mexican-born Capetonian Georgina Gratrix’s work. It’s a consistent personal favourite of mine. Here, her bouquet bursts with impasto, irreverence, glitter and joy. I’m utterly obsessed.

6. Portia Zvavahera, Fighting Energies 2, 2024, oil-based printing ink and oil bar on canvas, Stevenson

Zimbabwean painter Portia Zvavahera’s work is profoundly spiritual. Her paintings draw on her dreams, which she interprets as prophecies. She strives to convey their emotional intensity through a rich layering of traditional printmaking techniques and painting, merging them directly on the surface of the canvas.

When I heard that both Zvavahera and Gratrix’s works had already sold mid-fair – as reported by Stevenson director Marc Barben – I was delighted but not surprised. They were among the most exciting works I saw.

A bonus pick: Turiya Magadlela, She went all around the world and came back here #2, 2012, pantyhose and mixed media, Serge Tiroche

This work by Magadlela was not hanging at Art Basel but rather at the inaugural Africa Basel, a satellite fair, and unmissable highlight of the Basel Week calendar.

Magadlela’s use of stretched nylon in this early work is a visceral experience. It speaks to tension, constraint and coded histories. But it was the title that struck me on a personal level, as someone with an intense wanderlust but who always returns to Cape Town. It captures something quietly profound about circular journeys and the anchoring pull of home.

_{Top image: Michael Armitage, Glue Sniffers, 2016. All images: supplied.}