Wealthy flocking to Hong Kong art show
Source: AFP |
01:06 UTC+8 May 23, 2013
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE first Art Basel fair to be hosted by Hong Kong boasts a prestigious array of international art, highlighting the city's new role as a global arts hub amid an explosion of personal wealth in China.
The four-day annual show is the world's premier art fair and has until now only been held in Switzerland and the United States.
Wealthy VIPs flocked to the waterfront exhibition center hosting the fair, which opens to the wider public today.
Dressed in glamorous outfits and against a backdrop of popping champagne corks, they perused an eclectic mix of works from more than 3,000 international artists exhibiting through 245 of the world's leading galleries.
The main section showcases work from an international group of 171 modern and contemporary art galleries, with selections of paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs and video.
In one room a Volkswagen Beetle has been compressed into a giant sphere.
Another installation drawing crowds features a dishevelled human-sized rabbit sitting on a log, created by American artist Marnie Weber.
Internationally renowned artists whose work is on display include Britain's Damien Hirst, French artist JR and German photographer Andreas Gursky.
Other sections feature selections from the Asia-Pacific region, large-scale sculptures and a section with solo and two-person exhibitions from emerging international artists.
The boom in Hong Kong's international art market is largely the result of the fast-growing wealth of people from Chinese mainland, some of whom are investing heavily in art.
"Having seen the high quality and vast range of presentations from galleries across the globe, I can assure you that the first edition of Art Basel in Hong Kong promises many discoveries and delights," Art Basel director Marc Spiegler told reporters.
Art Basel also exhibits in the Swiss city of Basel and in Miami Beach in the US, but the Hong Kong show will emphasise works from Asia, Spiegler said.
Hong Kong is "a place where all Asia feels at home and with many bridges to the west," he said. "Here in Hong Kong, we will provide a global stage of international exposure for galleries and artists in Asia."
There is also a growing interest among Asian collectors in different types of art aside from traditional works.
"Art Basel in Hong Kong is evidence that Asia is becoming paramount to the international art world," Pearl Lam, who runs galleries based in Hong Kong and in Shanghai under the same name, said yesterday in a statement for Art Basel's opening.
The four-day annual show is the world's premier art fair and has until now only been held in Switzerland and the United States.
Wealthy VIPs flocked to the waterfront exhibition center hosting the fair, which opens to the wider public today.
Dressed in glamorous outfits and against a backdrop of popping champagne corks, they perused an eclectic mix of works from more than 3,000 international artists exhibiting through 245 of the world's leading galleries.
The main section showcases work from an international group of 171 modern and contemporary art galleries, with selections of paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs and video.
In one room a Volkswagen Beetle has been compressed into a giant sphere.
Another installation drawing crowds features a dishevelled human-sized rabbit sitting on a log, created by American artist Marnie Weber.
Internationally renowned artists whose work is on display include Britain's Damien Hirst, French artist JR and German photographer Andreas Gursky.
Other sections feature selections from the Asia-Pacific region, large-scale sculptures and a section with solo and two-person exhibitions from emerging international artists.
The boom in Hong Kong's international art market is largely the result of the fast-growing wealth of people from Chinese mainland, some of whom are investing heavily in art.
"Having seen the high quality and vast range of presentations from galleries across the globe, I can assure you that the first edition of Art Basel in Hong Kong promises many discoveries and delights," Art Basel director Marc Spiegler told reporters.
Art Basel also exhibits in the Swiss city of Basel and in Miami Beach in the US, but the Hong Kong show will emphasise works from Asia, Spiegler said.
Hong Kong is "a place where all Asia feels at home and with many bridges to the west," he said. "Here in Hong Kong, we will provide a global stage of international exposure for galleries and artists in Asia."
There is also a growing interest among Asian collectors in different types of art aside from traditional works.
"Art Basel in Hong Kong is evidence that Asia is becoming paramount to the international art world," Pearl Lam, who runs galleries based in Hong Kong and in Shanghai under the same name, said yesterday in a statement for Art Basel's opening.
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