Trevor Paglen announced as curator of Zero 10

Art Basel has announced that award-winning artist Trevor Paglen will be serving as co-curator of Zero 10 at its flagship Basel event in June. The move signals an increasing commitment to digital art by the leading art fair in the world. Zero 10, which is in its third edition this year, was established by Art Basel as a global initiative dedicated to digital art. Paglen, whose groundbreaking work with new technologies in unveiling objects which defy visibility, received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2017 and the LG x Guggenheim Award in 2026.

Paglen is joined by Eli Scheinman in co-curating the Basel edition of Zero 10, which will be organized around the main theme "The Condition". Together with Scheinman, Paglen has curated a selection of works by twenty exhibitors, which examine life in a world where digital imagery, computational systems and artificial intelligence have entered into every pore of global societies. The inauguration of Zero 10 at Art Basel's flagship fair also provides, in the words of Noah Horowitz, CEO of Art Basel, “a platform for audiences who are digitally native and globally connected”.

Zero 10 is envisioned as a venue where digital art and artists will be provided with a context that is set within a firm critical and institutional framework. Where previously the traditional and digital art worlds eyed each other with suspicion and antagonism, the increasing collision of these two worlds and engagement between digital-native artists and those with traditional backgrounds is setting the stage for the momentous transition of digital art into an art form deserving of serious consideration.

While digital art has been gaining traction with museums, galleries and collectors, it has often suffered from a lack of dedicated curation and critical writing. Paglen, commenting on this fact, believes that by applying curatorial rigor to digital works, it will be possible to create a shared framework where more traditional positions and digital and post-blockchain practices can find a common ground for dialogue.

Zero 10 is slated to open on 17 June and will last for four days, during which twenty exhibitors will showcase work. Among the exhibitors will be such powerhouses as Hauser & Wirth, Marian Goodman, Andrew Kreps Gallery, Esther Schipper and Sprüth Magers; as well as the first-time participation of a digital art institution: HEK (Haus der Elektronischen Künste) in Basel. Highlights of the event include Hito Steyerl’s Green Screen (2023), jointly presented by Esther Schipper and Andrew Kreps; Andreas Gursky’s Ocean V (2010) at Sprüth Magers; and HEK will present a non-selling exhibition that historically contextualizes net art.