Daniele Buetti has always had a socio-political approach to the present day, constantly searaching for interfaces through which life meets art, and considering his role as a designer as something of a mission to explore the extreme. He carries out this mission with a passionate commitment to his work, which, even if it doesn´t make the modern era more bearable for us, nevertheless enables us to understand it better. Faithful to that old saying that "A man is his job", Buetti has always given great thought to his precise role as an artist, carrying out his "personal autopsy" in a serious manner but always with self-irony, humour and a flair for tragicomedy. Appearance and reality, illusion and disillusionment or construction and deconstruction are all subjects which call into question the true nature of suggestion. Buetti´s work mirrors the world around us, a consumer society dwelling in a "skin envelope" with the media glitz and a world full of all too apparent pleasures becoming the end goals of a disoriented society which has lost all direction.

One of the key images/objects that is repetitively used by Sara Rahbar and which forms "the main" body of her work has been an object that has been around for the last 4.000 years. The flag, one of the oldest recognizable symbols of nationalism and belonging, in her spirited hands becomes a foundation for woven paintings, a base upon which to place the accumulated denotations that she rummages through; remnants of the exodus, where ultimately refined textiles and embroideries end up - the flea markets and remote accessory depositories. (Text: Shaheen Merali)

Massimo Vitali (b.1944 in Como, Italy) The photographer was born in Como in 1944 and studied photography in Milan and London. He has worked solely in photography for the past 25 years. Massimo Vitali focuses his artistic interest on the social ongoings at places of leisure and consumerism. Before taking a photograph, he spends considerable time perched on a platform 4 to 5 meters above the ground. Thus, the depicted individuals look as if they are unaware of the presence of the camera. On the brink to voyeurism, his photographs show reality without any form of enhancing intervention. The viewer is confronted with crowded beaches, densely populated clubs, shopping malls, theme parks and supermarkets on monumental prints, which speak a simple and straightforward language. Vitali's works are best described as conspicuous and detailed event-photos, which are strongly influenced by his long career as a photojournalist and bear resemblance to history painting.

Further artists at Art Basel 2009:
Erro, Oliver Dorfer, Ivana Franke, Anastasia Khoroshilova, Jiri Kolar, Andreas Leikauf, Angel Marcos, Larry Rivers, Mel Ramos, Mimmo Rotella, Andy Warhol.