Art Basel Hong Kong 2019: everything you need to know
- With 242 galleries and 21 new global participants, this year’s fair at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre paints a diverse picture
Art Basel is back for its seventh edition in Hong Kong.
Open to the public from Friday to Sunday at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, the event will feature 242 leading international galleries from 36 countries and territories across Asia, Europe, North and South America, the Middle East and Africa.
Some 21 galleries from around the world will be taking part in the fair for the first time, so there will be plenty of new additions to this year’s event.
According to the organisers, over half of the galleries with exhibition spaces hail from Asia, and as many as 25 will be from Hong Kong.
Southeast Asian galleries have a particularly strong presence this time around. The list includes Richard Koh Fine Art, which has spaces in Malaysia and Thailand, a first-time participant presenting “Your Past is My Future” by Natee Utarit.
The Thai artist’s work is notable for being inspired by colonialism and its consequences, social concerns and events.
Thailand’s Nova Contemporary will showcase a new series of works by Burmese artist Moe Satt, while Indonesian gallery ROH Projects will feature various artists.
As usual, Art Basel will be divided into several sectors, each with its own features. Here is what to expect:
Galleries
The main sector of the show features 196 leading galleries from around the world. According to the organisers, the sector will have several solo presentations.
These include shows from Chinese contemporary artist Liu Xiaodong at Eslite Gallery; Christopher Wool, at Luhring Augustine; a new installation by Simon Starling created specially for the show at The Modern Institute; and works by visionary abstract painter Wu Dayu at Lin & Lin Gallery including oils, cartoons, ink, gouache, encaustic, pastels, watercolours, fountain pen and pencil drawings that reflect his exploration of different styles from Impressionism to cubism and fauvism.
Famed art gallery Perrotin will also feature an array of works and artists in their booth, from Xu Zhen to Takashi Murakami.
Discoveries
The Art Basel platform focusing on solo shows by emerging artists will feature 25 galleries.
It looks set to be an international affair: Spain’s Sabrina Amrani gallery will be presenting works by South Korean artist Jong Oh, while Indian gallery Jhaveri Contemporary will showcase new work by London-based sculptor Lubna Chowdhary.
First-time participants include US gallery Chateau Shatto’s exhibition featuring new works specially created for the fair by Los Angeles-based artist, writer and curator Aria Dean.
Hunt Kastner, the first Czech exhibitors in the Hong Kong show, will be presenting an installation by Czech artist Anna Hulacová titled Pathetic Poetic that offers an insight into the artist’s world view.
Other first-time participants of note include Christian Andersen, Galerie Crèvecoeur and Tabula Rasa Gallery.
Encounters
Encounters, a highly popular section of the Hong Kong Art Basel experience, will be coming back under the title “Still We Rise”. The section is made up of 12 institutional-scale installations, with eight making their worldwide debut in Hong Kong. As before, the works will be installed along the four meridians that run through the show’s two exhibition halls.
Alexie Glass-Kantor, the sector’s curator and executive director of Artspace in Sydney, has selected projects that focus on current issues of disorientation and uncertainty by looking back at the past and speculating about the future.
“This year’s Encounters is both a call to action and a proposition to re-energise, re-incarnate, re-innovate and rise – in the extreme: to find hope even in hopelessness,” says Glass-Kantor.
“The large-scale works presented create environments for visitors to explore and discover, and to contemplate ways of dealing with today’s challenges.”
Sean Kelly Gallery will present a dynamic installation of 16 suspended kinetic mobile sculptures by Jose Dávila as a single installation, which continues the artist’s continuing series, titled “Homage to the Square”.
Kukje Gallery, Massimo De Carlo and Perrotin will jointly present Elmgreen & Dragset’s new work reflecting on the hyper-reality of cities such as Hong Kong. Ci ty in the Sky is an inverted installation that asks everyone to consider their own ideal future cities.
In addition, there are also works by a pantheon of distinguished artists such as Tony Albert, Joël Andrianomearisoa, Latifa Echakhch, Gerasimos Floratos, Mit Jai Inn, Lee Bul, Pinaree Sanpitak, Chiharu Shiota and Zhao Zhao.
Insights
This sector is dedicated to Asian art history, presenting works by important artists from Asia and the Asia-Pacific.
It features strong thematic exhibitions by 21 galleries and presentations by artists with exceptional historical materials, such as Chinese-American artist Tishan Hsu, who will make his Asian debut with works from his most prolific period.
Returning for a third year, the Kabinett Sector will present precisely curated exhibitions and projects delineated within the galleries’ booths. These range from solo shows to thematic group presentations.
The Film sector will be curated for the sixth year by Beijing and Zurich-based curator, multimedia artist and producer Li Zhenhua.
Besides Art Basel itself, there are a number of cultural events being staged at institutions in Hong Kong. They include:
Exit Strategies at H Queen’s What: This site-specific art experience, conceived by David Chan, makes use of the public space at H Queen’s to explore notions of psychological escapism experienced in response to the hustle and bustle of dynamic Hong Kong and its people.
Where: 80 Queen’s Road Central, Central.When: Until late March/April
CHAT (Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile) Spring 2019 Grand Opening
What: The grand opening of the 17,000 sq ft space in the old cotton spinning mills of Nan Fung Textiles also marks the start of its opening programmes.
This includes the “Unfolding: Fabric of Our Life” exhibition, textile-inspired works and performances by 17 contemporary artists and collectives from Asia.
“Welcome to the Spinning Factory!”, open until December 31, showcases more than 100 archival exhibits and hands-on workshop experiences celebrating the golden age of Hong Kong’s textile industry.
There is also a site-specific work by Taiwanese artist Michael Lin, inspired by the disappearance of Hong Kong’s textile market, at the CHAT Lounge.
Where: The Mills, 45 Pak Tin Par Street, Tsuen Wan
When: Until June 30
KAWS Along the Way
What: The Hong Kong Contemporary Art (HOCA) Foundation will showcase a solo exhibition by US artist Brian Donnelly (know as KAWS). It chronologically presents his works from 2009 until now and will include his classic Snoopys, Chums, Companions and his latest Squiggle series.
Where: PMQ, 35 Aberdeen Street, Central
When: Until April 14
Finest & Rarest Wines featuring the Château Mouton Rothschild Versailles Celebration Cases
What: Sotheby’s will auction 75 limited-edition Versailles Celebration Cases featuring five Château Mouton Rothschild vintages, with labels created by top artists including Giuseppe Penone, Bernar Venet, Anish Kapoor, Jeff Koons and Lee Ufan.
Where: Sotheby’s Hong Kong Spring Sales, Hall 5, Convention and Exhibition Centre
When: 10am, April 1
Infinitive Mutability
What: Axel Vervoordt Gallery’s new 8,000 sq ft, two-level gallery will open with a group show titled “Infinitive Mutability”, featuring works by Peter Buggenhout, Kimsooja and Bosco Sodi.
Where: 21/F, Coda Designer Centre, 62 Wong Chuk Hang Road, entrance via Yip Fat Street
When: Until June 1 (Art brunch: 11am, March 29)
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