Conceptual Photography: Alexej Sachov at Photo Basel 2026
Volkshaus Basel · Solo Booth A9 · 16 - 21 June 2026 (VIP private view 15 June)
Presented by M ART Gallery
Selected artworks from five bodies of work explore a single question: how life begins, evolves, and survives. Aesthetically, the projects trace the emergence of form and color. A conceptual practice conducted entirely during scuba dives - the ocean as studio, laboratory, and archive.
Named Best of Photo Basel 2024 by
The Guardian and
PHmuseum.
Chronicles of an Emerging Diversity
2022 - ongoing · Sculptural intervention, strobe-lit photography underwater
Simulating the conditions of a primordial explosion, the collected during scuba dives marine debris is compressed and released in weightlessness underwater. As fragments expand and collide, sculptures emerge by chance. Suspended particles of sand and plankton, illuminated by strobe, produce the illusion of a cosmic field. In this way, form emerges out of "nothing". In post-processing, meaningful figures are selected - pointing to the third level of meaning. All objects are removed from the water for proper disposal.
The Ballerina, 2023
The Knight, 2023
Bobby, 2023
The Jewel of Nature
2020 - ongoing · Macro photography, coral reef surfaces · several series in project
Coral reefs are painting, and have been for hundreds of millions of years. The project examines biological abstraction as a form of image-making that predates and parallels human art history. These close-up photographs isolate the dense visual field of reef surfaces where dozens of species compete on a single plane, each deploying different colors, textures, and survival strategies. These vibrant corals grow on the remains of earlier life.
The Jewel of Nature #1, 2025
The Prehistoric Art of Nature #1, 2025
The Secret Code of Nature
2021 - ongoing · Long-exposure macro photography, night dives
The project traces a progression from dot to line to symbol to nascent form. Living organisms attracted to underwater light sources during night dives act as the image-makers.
Extended exposures in macro mode across a six-centimetre field record this process as luminous inscriptions against a dark ground. The artist initiates the process but does not compose the result, allowing the work to become a document of hunting and survival in motion.
The Trace of Hope, 2024
Puzzle, 2024
The Code, 2022
Micro Code, 2022
The Shape of Cosmos
2024 - ongoing · Conceptual intervention, displaced objects underwater, night dives
Straight lines and geometric shapes are rare in living underwater nature. Sachov places real synthetic objects into the open sea, a physical simulation of synthetic form entering the natural world. The photograph records the moment the synthetic arrives. Cosmos, in Sachov's vocabulary, is the future.
The Shape of Cosmos #3, 2024
The Shape of Cosmos #1, 2024
The True Magic
2024 - ongoing · Long-exposure night dive, elemental particles
Motion, light, and time draw shapes no hand could plan. At night, in the open sea, air bubbles rise through beams of light and laser lines; long exposure records their convergence as a luminous field. Light, water, air, and particles, the elements of life, compose the image themselves.
The True Magic #6, 2024
The True Magic #1, 2024
Material & Finishing
Inkjet pigment print on Hahnemühle archival paper, float-mounted on dibond in HALBE frames and glazed with museum acrylic. Alternative framing options are available.
About
Alexej Sachov (b. 1972, Kharkiv, Ukraine) is a Ukrainian-German artist whose practice transforms scuba diving into a medium for conceptual image-making. Working exclusively underwater without composites or digital painting, Sachov uses the ocean as a site of direct encounter with biological processes that precede and exceed human intention. His work sits at the intersection of photography, conceptual practice, and ecological intervention.
At Photo Basel 2026, Sachov is presented by M ART Gallery (Lublin / Kyiv). He lives and works between Kyiv and the world's oceans.
Recent & parallel shows
- The Photography Show 2026 (AIPAD), Solo Booth, Park Avenue Armory, New York (April 2026).
- Aesthetica Art Prize: Finalist 2024 (exhibition at York Art Gallery, UK). Selected for Celebrating 20 Years, a group exhibition at Mercer Gallery, Harrogate (2 May / 6 September 2026).
Photo Basel 2026
photo basel is Switzerland's first and only international art fair dedicated to photography-based art, now in its 11th edition. Located in the Volkshaus Basel - just 700 metres from the Art Basel fairground.
16 - 21 June 2026 · VIP private view Monday 15 June, 18:00 ·
Volkshaus Basel, Rebgasse 12-14, 4058 Basel, Switzerland. Solo Booth A9.
Presented by
M ART Gallery.