VANTAGEPOINT CONTEMPORARY
Art beyond the mainstream
Vantage Point Contemporary is an art blog that focuses on artists, artist groups, small galleries, art associations, and other art spaces that are generally underrepresented in art reporting. Vantage Point Contemporary also covers major art fairs such as Art Basel, where we maintain a focus on smaller galleries and artist-run spaces.
Vantage Point Contemporary is directed and curated by the Joas Nebe.
Joas Nebe is an artist, curator, and academic with a background in psychology, media studies, literature, and theatre from the University of Hamburg. After graduating, Nebe lectured on film analysis at Hamburg University and analyzed advertising campaigns for Reemtsma. Since 2000, he has worked as an artist and freelance curator, with projects shown in Berlin, Milan, and Tehran.
Diambe: Bees beings beans
by Joas Nebe
Diambe, a non-binary artist hailing from São Paulo, Brazil, presents a compelling exhibition at Kunsthalle Basel. In this noteworthy exploration, Diambe delves into the functional dynamics of collectives, epitomized by the behavior of a beehive, while simultaneously investigating the resistances arising from human interventions and the potential for control over such forces. These intricate themes converge in the video piece entitled "Cera perdida | Lost wax, 2025," showcased in Basel.
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​In this work, a beehive encounters a wax casting comprised of residues from a variety of tropical and non-tropical fruits, subjected to this influence over the span of hours. "Cera Perdida," born during the artist's residence at Lake Geneva (La Becque Résidence d'Artiste), represents a platform dedicated to nurturing artists who intertwine the realms of nature, technology, and contemporary political discourse.
The video "Cera Perdida," alongside its poignant depiction of a form lost, captures, through an overhead lens, a sculptural entity crafted from beeswax, positioned at the periphery of Lake Geneva within the residency grounds, where exposure to both sunlight and natural elements unfolds, particularly through the presence of bees. Diambe, an urban dweller residing on the twelfth floor of a skyscraper in São Paulo, presents a work emerging from the wax impression of an assemblage—composed of diverse fruits such as corn cobs and coconut shells—rendered into a singular wax form reflecting the very composition derived from nature.
Visually manifesting are the tall grasses and sunbeams, which initially illuminate the beeswax sculpture from above and, over time, shift to a lateral angle. Bees are drawn to this creation, nibbling away at the sugary coating enveloping the sculpture, extracting pieces in their quest for sustenance, resulting in an increasingly precarious state of the artwork as it ultimately succumbs to collapse. This sculpture, neither a traditional artistic form nor a monument to a general, king, emperor, or any other figure elevated upon a pedestal—first the horse, followed by the pedestal itself, raising above measure—stands in stark contrast; instead, what emerges here is a sculpture already dislodged from its pedestal and subjected to dimensions dictated by the bees.
Moreover, the material employed is one that, more fragile than fleeting, succumbs to even the slightest fluctuations in temperature. Thus, an end to grandiosity is observed—the cessation of a dictator, an emperor, or a president in a metaphorical sense.
What endures is the unfettered collaboration of a collective, free from political (leftist) valuation, a partnership echoing the principles found within the natural sciences, elucidating the interconnections and cycles inherent to nature, as highlighted by the melting influence of the beehive and the sun's rays upon the sculpture. Ultimately, what remains is a testament to these very physical, natural processes, to which humanity itself remains submissive.
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23 January - 12 April 2026
Kunsthalle Basel
Steinenberg 7
CH-4051 Basel
Switzerland
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday
11- 18h
Do 11- 2030h
Saturday, Sunday, 11am - 5pm
+41 61 206 99 00
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Photo credit:
Courtesy Dianne, Simoes de Assis, Sao Paulo, BR, Kunsthalle Basel.
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