Here’s an interview of myself by Michael K. Corbin, aka the Artbookguy!

Andreas Kuefer is an art curator/dealer who lives in Basel, Switzerland. I met him at Art Basel Miami Beach. I was struck by his easy manner and dry sense of humor … not at all uptight like some art dealers. He’s also an art consultant and founder of QRATE www.qrate.net in addition to his own website. Anyway, after finding out that he’s from cool art city Basel, I decided that I had to chat with him.

Hey Andreas. Thanks for chatting with me. First off, you’re an art dealer who lives in Switzerland. Being an American, that sounds like a very glamorous …

I saw Matthew Conradt‘s work first at SCOPE Miami last December, presented by Muriel Guepin gallery, straight out of Brooklyn, NY (Ok I admit it… Muriel is French!) and now again at Art Chicago.

The subject of Conradt‘s large scale collages is based on his past, growing up in the mid-western rust belt. He uses found digital images of wood paneling from trailer homes, giant parking lots, or elaborate, wealthy interiors to create a visual discussion of the substantial class differences that currently exist in the Mid-West, the United States… the world.

Conradt received his Master in Fine Art from Pratt Institute in 2008 and his Bachelors in Fine Art from Iowa State …

Zaha Hadid! Think of her what you… well think… but that lady knows how to build a museum! Last weekend we took a trip to Rome and besides enjoying the culinary world, visiting the Pope and wrestling ourselves with what felt like a million tourists, through the highlights of ancient Rome, we also made two stops to satisfy our desire for contemporary art and architecture.

The first highlight was the recently extended MACRO… followed by a Sunday brunch and in depth visit of the Maxxi! It’s a beauty! The play of lights, lines and shape are almost overwhelming in the public areas… but take a step back and let the artwork dominate …

One of my favorite Art Chicago discoveries must be the work of Claudia Alvarez, a multi-disciplinary artists creating sculptures, installations and paintings. Alvarez’s prime focus is the investigation of childhood themes. “I utilize characteristics of children to embody psychological and sociological structures of human behaviour” she says. “I am interested in investigating the sociology of human relationships and the psychological elements they tend to instigate.”

Her work has a strikingly beautiful melancholy, exploring emotions such as anger, fear, joy, or pain… expressing them through the eyes or shall we say shape of children… Children who often more openly reveal what adults attempt to hide.

The current series of work, titled “American Heroes”, addresses core …

Due to it’s stronger regional «character», compared to previous years, when «Whitecube» or «Haunch of Venison» would give Art Chicago back some of its old time international glory, a lot of regional galleries and artists were showcasing their work in this years edition.

Among my favorites must have been current Chicago resident Jason Salavon. Salavon, who also teaches at the Art Institute, is mostly known for his work where he uses custom computer software to manipulate existing media, combines the result with an averaging process and creates visual amalgamations*.

In Chicago the Portrait series, of what he calls «likely to be the final installment of a broader series begun in 1997», was on display. …