Wishing you all a prosperous Year of the Dragon! The Art Radar team will be taking a much-coveted break over the Lunar New Year, which means we will not be publishing any stories between Monday 23 to Sunday 29 January 2012.

Image by Herr_Bert on flickr.

Following that break, we will be back on schedule, with our first newsletter for the new year going out to subscribers on Wednesday 1 February 2012 (UST). What can you expect from us in the year ahead? We will…

• ensure that our latest paid team member, our Intern, Patrick Rhine, is settling into his new role.

• award a ton of books to lucky readers just for subscribing to Art Radar; keep an eye on our site in February for our Korean art museum and gallery guide giveaway.

• head to ARCOmadrid in February to talk on a panel called Asian Maps about the future of art magazines in Asia.

• accept a number of new students into our Certificate in Art Journalism and Writing 101 – applications for the January 2012 intake close on the 21st of this month – and launch our 102 certificate programme later in the year.

• wrap up our four part Asian art world trends series.

• put together a series on the surprisingly not-so-secret world of fake art in China, with other series exploring undiscovered art regions in the pipeline.

• celebrate Art Radar‘s fourth birthday (yippee!) in August.

• launch a number of other projects and initiatives that we cannot announce just yet, but that we hope will make the Asian art world more accessible to all those interested in learning more.

What would you like to see on Art Radar in 2012? Leave a comment below with your ideas and suggestions.

Wishing you all a happy and prosperous Year of the Dragon!

-The Art Radar team

While the Eurozone crisis and rumors of a property bubble burst slowed the art market in the fall of 2011, Chinese art auctions still made record sales. According to a report released by research company ArtTactic, Poly Auction and China Guardian have taken the lead in terms of overall market share.

Yue Minjun's 'Untitled' failed to sell at Sotheby's Hong Kong Autumn 2011 Sale of contemporary Asian art.

According to ArtTactic,

Record year for the Chinese art market, despite slow down in second half of 2011


With the economic problems in Europe intensifying in the autumn of 2011,the steam also seems to be coming out of China’s economy. Economic growth forecast has been set to 8.5 percent for 2012, down from 9.3 percent this year.


Although, the total (big four) auction sales for autumn 2011, was down 16 percent from spring 2011, Last year still marked a record year for the Chinese art market, up 34 percent from 2010. The mainland Chinese art market (based on results from China Guardian and Poly Auction) was largely responsible for this, with total sales value amounting to 0.1 billion in 2011, up from 0.2 billion in 2010. Christie’s and Sotheby’s in Hong Kong also experienced robust growth in 2011, with total auction sales of 0.7 billion, against 0.4 billion in 2010. Among the Big Four auction houses (Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Poly and China Guardian) the domestic auction houses achieved a 64 percent market share in 2011, versus 62 percent in 2010.


Whilst Poly and China Guardian have taken the lead in terms of overall market share, Christie’s and Sotheby’s have regained their position in the contemporary Chinese art market, which they lost in 2010. The two international auction houses gained a 65 percent share of the Chinese contemporary art market in 2011, up from 46 percent in 2010. The Chinese contemporary art market saw its total sales value this autumn drop by 28 percent from the spring sales. However,despite the slowdown in the second half, the total for 2011 was up 61 percent on last year.

Click here to access the report on the ArtTactic website (pay per report or free for subscribers).

PR/KN

Related Topics: business of art, market watch - auctions, art and recession

Related Posts:

• What is ahead for contemporary Asian art, 2012 and beyond? Part I - January 2012 – on trends in the art world and how those may influence auction markets
• Chinese art market confidence remains at “all-time high” – ArtTactic November 2011 report - December 2011 – confidence in the Chinese contemporary art market is the highest in the world, though reservations remain
• Christie’s ‘Faces of New China’ Private Collection Sale underperforms amidst art market slowdown - December 2011 – market fears lead to severe underperformance for an important auction of contemporary Chinese art
• How confident is the art market? Depends on the price range - October 2011 – clarifying which works do well and which flounder in a recession market
• Sotheby’s Hong Kong Autumn Sale 2011: Contemporary Asian Art - October 2011 – a major October exhibition in which several lots failed to sell

Subscribe to Art Radar for more on the Asian contemporary art market

As highlighted in an article published in The Japan Times in December 2011, the decision of Japanese curators Kenichi Kondo and Fumio Nanjo to bring contemporary Arab art to Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum also brought with it a number of curatorial challenges, among them, how to define the “Arab world”.

Tarek Al-Ghoussein, 'Untitled 23' (D Series), 2008, digital print. The works of this Palestinian artist are expected to be on display in "Contemporary Art from the Arab World", at Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum from 16 June through to 28 October 2012.

West Asian art comes to Japan

New art from the West Asian region is attracting the attention of those in art world power cities like London and New York, and those in know in Tokyo want to see art from the region in local museums, too. As a result, the first exhibition of its kind ever to be arranged in Japan, called “Contemporary Art from the Arab World“, is scheduled to be held at Mori Art Museum in Tokyo from 16 June through to 28 October 2012.

According to The Japan Times feature, the decision to hold an exhibition of contemporary Arab art was problematic for Kondo and Nanjo, Associate Curator and Director of the Mori Art Museum, respectively.

Curating an exhibition or [set of works] from a particular region is never easy, but the Mori’s attempt to create a show of Arab art – a project that began in summer last year, long before the emergence of the Arab Spring – presented a unique set of challenges.

Click here to read the whole article, titled “Restless Arab region presents curatorial challenge”, on The Japan Times website.

Defining the Arab region

In this increasingly globalised world, is it still necessary to put on art shows that focus on a particular region? Members of the Japanese public, explain the curators, are broadly aware of Middle Eastern region, but know little of its art scene, and Kondo believes that a regional approach is necessary in order to introduce the West Asian artists effectively to Japanese audiences and stir public interest in the exhibition. “In order to grab [the public's] interest, you need to start with what they know,” he states.

Reem Al Ghaith, 'Dubai: What's Left of Her Land?', 2008, mixed media installation. This artist’s works are expected to be shown in "Contemporary Art from the Arab World", at Mori Art Museum in Tokyo from 16 June through to 28 October 2012.

The exhibition will present, as quoted on the Museum’s website, works by approximately thirty artists “from ten or more countries in the Arab world, those on and around the Arabian Peninsula including Iraq, the Gulf countries, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan [and] Egypt.” In order to choose the artists for this five-month-long exhibition survey, several research trips to countries in the West Asian region were initiated. Catalogues of important cultural events in Middle Eastern and European countries, such as the Sharjah Biennial, the Istanbul Biennial and the Venice Biennale, were studied by the curators as part of their search.

Need for local experts

A show like ”Contemporary Art from the Arab World” requires of its curators an extensive knowledge of the current art climate in the region in focus, and not just its artists, but its art scholars and other professionals, too. “Of course, I studied the history and politics of the region, but it is equally important to use existing networks of specialists there,” Kondo explains. Connections with West Asian art experts, such as Sheikha Hoor Al-Qasimi, the president of the Sharjah Biennial, proved particularly valuable during visits to countries like Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia where security can be an issue, either with regard to obtaining visas or navigating violent conflict.

As stated in the curatorial notes for the exhibition,

This exhibition will not subscribe to the commonly held, negative stereotype of the Arab world as a realm of terrorism, conflicts, religious fundamentalism and so on. Instead, through the diverse creative expression of the region’ s own artists, it will depict the people of the Arab world as they are, in real time.

LP/KN

Related Topics: museum shows, Tokyo art events, curatorial practice

Related Posts:

• Japanese curator Yuko Hasegawa plans multi-disciplined Sharjah Biennial 11 - December 2011 – Japanese curator heads curatorial team for this Middle Eastern biennial
• 12th Istanbul Biennial: women artists and emerging regions stand out - November 2011 – explore position of the Middle Eastern artists at the twelfth edition of the Istanbul Biennial
• Collect Arab art? Journalist Mustafa Akyol demystifies Islam – TED video - July 2011 – read highlights of journalist Mustafa Akyol’s TED Talk on the past, present and future of Islamic culture
• Asian Curatorial Network Forum challenges traditional exhibition practices - July 2011 – looks at alternatives to conventional museum venues and brings to the fore new ideas for curatorial  practice
• Contemporary Art in the Middle East – a first book survey – May 2011 - Art Radar reviews this book on contemporary Middle Eastern art

Subscribe to Art Radar for more on museum shows of contemporary art in Japan

For the second post in the Art Radar art trends series we take a look at changes to contemporary art galleries. The past decade has seen galleries expand, both in their reach and roles. Just how are they responding to the challenges of a globalised world?

Chart of the demographics of ArtReview's Power 100, 2008 vs 2009.

Gallerists become agents

Undeniably, globalisation has dramatically broadened the range and diversity of operations in contemporary art dealership, and a new generation of gallerists is casting off the constraints of the permanent gallery in favor of a more dynamic approach: organising temporary exhibitions in loaned and non-traditional venues.

Aspiring London dealers organise shows in alternative art spaces – some have transformed their own homes into ersatz salons – to bring operating costs down, and there are even some art professionals that are shunning the title of ‘gallerist’, acting instead as art advisor and intermediary between the collector and the dealer or artist.

With the economics of the storefront gallery growing prohibitive for small dealers, younger curators, seeking venues for projects, are taking advantage of these innovative models when putting together commercial and non-commercial exhibitions. Gallerists and curators are increasingly prevalent on Art Review’s list of powerful figures in the arts and this emergent group of highly-connected, independent professionals are using their new-found mobility to promote works of art with unprecedented flexibility.

Co-founder of Korean Eye, David Ciclitira.

Many rogue gallerists have used their acuity to promote specific causes in the contemporary art market. Sports promoter and art collector David Ciclitira is the founder of Korean Eye, an initiative that is generating new audiences for the comparatively neglected world of contemporary Korean art. Other organisations, such as The Ministry of Art in China, connect upcoming artists with Western museums, galleries and collectors.

This is part two of our four part series on contemporary art trends in Asia in 2012 and beyond. Click here to read part one in this series, a post that talks about shifts in the business of art.

Galleries move east

The 2000s saw several Asian cities become new art epicenters, and major international galleries have opened branches to gain a foothold in these budding markets. Sundaram Tagore was among the first to establish a gallery in Hong Kong in 2007, and was quickly followed by Ben Brown Fine Arts in 2009 and Gagosian Gallery in 2011. White Cube recently announced that they will be opening their new location in Hong Kong on 2 March 2012.

Hong Kong's historic Pedder Building, home to Ben Brown Fine Art and Gagosian Gallery. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

Hong Kong is not the only city to see a rapid influx of gallery giants. Beijing’s sprawling industrial art districts are home to an increasing number of Western galleries, such as first-comers Chambers Fine Art and The Pace Gallery, as well as newer arrivals like Eli Klein Fine Art. Though some thought these galleries entered the Chinese art market surprisingly late, they are wasting no time in expanding their Asian operations. The Pace Gallery is now considering a move into Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Chambers Fine Art Beijing, situated in the Ai Weiwei-designed Caochangdi art district.

Many new Asian galleries are broadening their reach through collaboration with more established and better connected foreign galleries. The first exhibition space in Beijing’s 798 Art Zone, the non-commercial Beijing Tokyo Art Projects, was the product of a collaboration between contemporary artist Huang Rui and Japanese gallerist Tabata Yukihito.

Exhibition partnerships are also common; Redbox Studio’s 2011 exhibition of sculpture by Wang Shugang was organised in conjunction with Alexander Ochs Galleries Berlin. In India, joint venture-style relationships are on the rise, such as Grosvenor Vadehra, which is the result of a partnership between London’s Grosvenor Gallery and Vadehra Art Gallery in New Delhi, and South Delhi gallery Nature Morte’s collaboration with the Bose Pacia Gallery which gave rise to Bose Pacia Kolkata.

This is part two of our four part series on contemporary art trends in Asia in 2012 and beyond. Click here to read part one in this series, a post that talks about shifts in the business of art.

Gallery hopping artists settle

Damien Hirst’s 2008 decision to bypass dealers entirely and sell his work directly through a Sotheby’s auction shook the international art world. Hirst’s (ultimately successful) gambit exposed an anxiety that was subtly but surely present in the minds of numerous art professionals, the event got observers contemplating the usefulness of the traditional networks of dealers and collectors.

Perhaps none have bucked this system more than the contemporary artists coming out of China. Roberta Smith of The New York Times pointed out in 2008 that overheated art markets tend to spur mobility between artists and dealers. In Beijing’s cutthroat art market, artists balked at restraints on their commercial ascent, and they would often enter into “exclusive” contracts with multiple galleries or sell works directly from their studio. The questionable practices do not run one way: Beijing galleries are known to renege on settled deals should they sense the potential for a higher price elsewhere.

Zhang Xiaogang's 'Forever Lasting Love (Triptych)', was auctioned in April 2011 as part of the sale of Guy Ullen's collection of contemporary Chinese art.

Though the dynamic between artist, dealer and collector is undeniably changing, some in the industry see potential for artists to establish relationships with smaller dealerships who offer individual attention and dedicated promotion instead of simply brand association. Younger Chinese contemporary artists are already more willing to sign into long-term partnerships with dealers, and a possible slowdown for the Chinese art market could mean a return to a more stable, gradual development for Chinese artists and galleries, ushering in a more mature market.

This is part two of our four part series on contemporary art trends in Asia in 2012 and beyond. Click here to read part one in this series, a post that talks about shifts in the business of art.

How do you think these trends will play out in the coming decade? Is the traditional gallery as we know it on its way out? Leave us a comment with your thoughts.

PR/KN

Related Topics: galleries, globalisation, Asia expands

Related Posts:

• What is ahead for Asian contemporary art, 2012 and beyond? Part I - January 2012 – the first post in our contemporary art trends series on shifts in the business of art
• Must-know global art trends from 6 art professionals – The Miami Herald - January 2012 – various art professionals weigh in on what they see as the most important trends in contemporary art
• Hong Kong home for top-shelf White Cube art - July 2011 – announces White Cube’s expansion to Hong Kong and its implications
• Contemporary galleries face intense competition, must re-think game plan - January 2011 – How many galleries are getting squeezed by real estate prices and competition from auctions?
• Is globalisation of the art market slowing down? The Economist reports - June 2010 – With the continuing predominance of Western contemporary artists at auction, is globalisation of the art market overstated?

Subscribe to Art Radar for more contemporary Asian art trends and news

The Langgeng Art Foundation has brought together works by Southeast Asia’s top photographers in a rare exhibition that is running until 21 January 2012. The survey shows off the extraordinary photographic techniques used by the region’s artists to explore the notion of “territory”.

Zhao Renhui/The Land Archive, 'Japanese Tourists with binoculars on small boat', 1961, archival photographic print. Image courtesy Langgeng Art Foundation.

The show, titled “[SEA] Territories of the Real and Unreal“, is the first in a series of annual exhibitions that will highlight contemporary Southeast Asian “art contexts and practices”. According to the Langgeng Art Foundation, each of the sixteen artists participating in “Territories” clearly demonstrate an ability to create and explore “powerful, accessible and yet often ambiguous means of expressing of [Southeast Asia's] peculiar realities”.

Included in the survey is work by  Amanda Heng and Zhao Renhui from Singapore; Ismail Hashim and Yee I-Lann from Malaysia; Indonesian artists Angki Purbandono, Davy Linggar, Julia Sarisetiati, Paul Kadarisman and Wimo Ambala Bayang; Filipino artists Gina Osterloh, Isa Lorenzo, Lena Cobangbang, Poklong Anading and Steve Tirona; and Konrkrit Jianpinidnan and Manit Sriwanichpoom from Thailand.

Territories seen, remembered, photographed

As exhibition curators Adeline Ooi and Beverly Yong explain in their catalogue essay, people often “associate ‘territory’ with notions of demarcated land, of ‘claimed space’. Photographs represent territories of the seen, remembered and photographed, sites in which the ‘real’ might be claimed or re-invented.” The artists selected for the exhibition have used a range of strategies to claim photography “as a site of cultural, geographic, social and personal discourse”.

Narratives of place

Kornkrit Jianpinidnan (b. 1975, Thailand) explores rural life in rural his home country, Paul Kadarisman (b. 1974, Indonesia) creates an eerie effect with images of a Jakarta empty of life and traffic and Zhao Rehnui (b. 1983, Singapore) uses archival photos in a rediscovery of a “lost” Singapore coastline.

Kornkrit Jianpinidnan, 'Living in History, Tales of Praya Prab Mt' (installation view), 2011, Google Earth map of Praya Prab Mt. Image courtesy Langgeng Art Foundation.

Paul Kadarisman, 'Wish You Were Here' (installation view), 2009, digital images (slideshow) on monitor. Image courtesy Langgeng Art Foundation.

Different ways of seeing

Isa Lorenzo’s (b. 1754, Philippines) powerful black and white “collages” explore the concepts of memory and place, Ismail Hashim (b. 1940, Malaysia) has been working with grids and montages since the 1970s to create witty visual essays and Gina Osterloh (b. 1973, USA) uses the camouflage technique to create visual trickery.

Isa Lorenzo, set of silver gelatin fibre collage prints, 61 x 51cm. Image courtesy Langgeng Art Foundation.

Ismail Hashim, 'Berdiri Atas Kaki Sendiri Atas Dua Roda', 1977, toned silver gelatin print patched on board, 106 x 130 cm. Image courtesy Langgeng Art Foundation.

Gina Osterloh, 'Small Group Dynamic', 2010, archival pigment prints with UV laminate, 20.3 x 25.4 cm. Image courtesy Langgeng Art Foundation.

Anonymity and intimacy

Amanda Heng’s (b. 1951, Singapore) work explores her relationship with her mother through visual depictions of body language in action, Poklong Anading (b. 1978, Philippines) explores the nature of subjectivity and looks at how viewers read the actions of “ordinary” people as they undertake everyday activities and in Davy Linggar’s (b. 1974, Indonesia) series, silhouettes of models are used to to comment on they ways in which the global media has influenced body and language.

Amanda Heng, 'Another Woman', selected images: 1996-1997, digital C-Type print (11 frames). Image courtesy Langgeng Art Foundation.

Poklong Anading, 'Anonymity #1-#12' (installation view), 2005-2007, backlit photographic durations, 25.4 x 20.3 cm (12 boxes). Image courtesy Langgeng Art Foundation.

Davy Linggar, 'Casting #1-#5', 2011, digital C-Type prints, 120 x 170 cm (5 panels). Image courtesy Langgeng Art Foundation.

Popular identities

The images that make up Steve Tirona’s (b. 1975, Philippines) “The Imelda Collection Series” (2009) were originally commissioned in 2006 as publicity shots for a jewellery line designed by the former first lady of the Philippines, and Julia Sarisetiati (b. 1981, Indonesia) replaces the “hot chicks” that are often seen draped across motorbikes and cars in magazine spreads with bare-bodied men to make a statement about the depiction of women in advertisement imagery.

Steve Tirona, "The Imelda Collection Series", 2009, digital C-type prints, 40.5 x 61 cm. Image courtesy Langgeng Art Foundation.

Juliasari Setiati, 'Cowok Otomotif', 2009, digital C-Type prints 100 x 100 cm (6 pieces). Image courtesy Langgeng Art Foundation.

Collective imaging

Yee I-Lann’s uses archival photographs to show how generations of Malaysian families of different races celebrated different occasions throughout the 1970s and Manit Sriwanichpoom photographs a range of expressions on the faces of people in the crowds that gathered in Bangkok to celebrate the King of Thailand’s birthday and the 60th anniversary of his coronation.

Yee I-Lann, 'Malayisana: Bersatu Padu', 2002, digital C-Type prints , 165 x 114 cm. Image courtesy Langgeng Art Foundation.

Manit Sriwanichpoom, 'Waiting for the King' (installation view of selected images), 2006, pigment prints, 56 x 56 cm. Image courtesy Langgeng Art Foundation.

Real and unreal

Lena Cobangbang’s (b. 1976, Philippines) uses digital technology to  create a world of imaginary “utopia” by artificial means, a vision of “fake foliage and toy figures suspended in gelatin”. Wimo Ambala Bayang (b. 1976, Indonesia) uses the same medium to show a fallen elephant in the four locations that make up sacred north-south axis of Mt Merapi’s volcano peak. The works are a personal tribute to the victims of the 2010 Mt Merapi eruption. Angki Purbandono (b. 1971, Indonesia) specialises in scenography, producing artistic digital images of real objects with an ordinary flat-bed image scanner.

Lena Cobangbang, 'Overland Series', 2008, Durst Lambda print, 102 x 67 cm (4 panels). Image courtesy Langgeng Art Foundation.

Wimo Ambala Bayang, 'Sleeping Elephants in the Axis of Yogyakarta: Parang Kusumo Beach' (2011) and 'Sultan’s Palace Square' (2011); each: digital C-Type prints, 110 x 165 cm. Image courtesy Langgeng Art Foundation.

Angki Purbandono, 'Doberman', 2010, Scanography prints on transparent film, neon box, 100 x 168 x 15 cm. Image courtesy Langgeng Art Foundation.

Langgeng Art Foundation: explore, share, learn

Grace Samboh, Executive Director of the Langgeng Art Foundation, told Hong Kong’s Pipeline Magazine, in an article published in the December 2011 edition, that “the idea behind the foundation is that of a gateway where people can circulate, explore, share and learn”. The Foundation was started in 2010 by Deddy Irianto, founder and manager of Langgeng Gallery in Magelang, Indonesia, as a body that organises various physical and intellectual resources – thoughts, finances, local, regional and international networks – to support and inspire Indonesian art communities. “[SEA] Territories of the Real and Unreal” is the first in the series of annual exhibitions and talks that are aimed at building a greater understanding of Southeast Asian contemporary art and contexts.

PLG/KN

Related Topics: Southeast Asian artists, emerging artists, photography

Related Posts:

• Modernity through eyes of 8 South Korean photographers - October 2011 – take a closer look at each of the artists
• Photobook prices are soaring: Will monographs follow? – August 2011 – New to collecting? Have a limited budget? Click through to read more about this rising collectible.
• Artist Manit Sriwanichpoom’s pink prophecies for Thailand – Art Radar interview – November 2010 - how Sriwanichpoom uses photography to expose the brutal truth behind Thai society and to denounce consumerism
• Malaysian artist Yee I-Lann mixes batik and photography in “Boogeyman” exhibition – October 2010 - Yee explores the Orang Besar
• Lisa Reihana’s electronic Maori art at Anna Landa new media biennial 2009 Australia – video – July 2009 - an intriguing and inspiring body of work collectively called Digital marae

Subscribe to Art Radar for more on Southeast Asian photography

From 12 to 15 January, the Marina Bay Sands Convention and Exhibtion Center hosted the second annual Art Stage Singapore, organised by Art Basel and Art Basel Miami founder Lorenzo Rudolf. The fair, which saw around 31,000 visitors, included 133 galleries representing 19 countries and over 600 artists.

"We Are Asia" was the much-touted theme of Art Stage Singapore, and this was reflected in the fair's curatorial outlook.

Surprisingly little ink has been spilled over the commercial results of the fair, with much of the coverage focusing on the event’s organisation and creative direction instead of trends or sales results. Lorenzo Rudolf, in particular, has been working hard in recent weeks to build Singapore’s public relations profile, billing the city as a hub for contemporary art in Asia. In the wake of Art Basel’s parent company, MCH Swiss Exhibition Group, acquiring the Hong Kong International Art Fair (reactions to which were collected by Art Radar back in June 2011), Art Stage Singapore looked to distinguish itself as a more local, artist-driven event. As Rudolf states,

In contrast to other art fairs in Asia, Art Stage Singapore is not a copy of a Western show, but Asia’s necessary top event with its own strong (Asian) identity. We have the clear target to support and to defend the interests of Asian artists and galleries by elevating them to a level of international importance. Therefore, the heart of the fair will be the best and most exciting of Asia’s artistic creativity. And in contrast to other art fairs in Asia, Art Stage also puts the art in a context – the main criteria for the fair are not trends and easy sell-ability. On the one hand, we showcase the art in an Asian context, on the other hand, we showcase the art in an artistic context, by supporting many very impressive special projects and presentations.

Chief Executive Officer and Director of Art Stage Singapore, Lorenzo Rudolf.

As the reports have trickled out (and trickled they did), many commentators have noted that there was a predominance of South and Southeast Asian art at the 2012 edition of the fair.

There’s a palpable Asian (if not Southeast Asian) feel to the whole proceedings. The Indonesian galleries are out in full force, the Chinese galleries are presenting some unusual work, and the Singapore presence is rather impressive: a prominent space is given to the local showcase “Island Allegories” (featuring Zhao Renhui, Betty Susiarjo and Ng Joon Kiat), Richard Koh Fine Art’s mini-room of Vertical Submarine’s cheeky text-based works is classy, ditto 2902 Gallery’s Zhao Renhui solo.

Mayo Martin, journalist for TODAY

I sense a more distinct Asian, in particular Southeast Asian, identity. The themes are relevant to the region and it feels less like a generic kind of fair.

Singapore-based critic and curator Iola Lenzi

Much of the media coverage of the event has centered on Singapore’s bid to become an art mecca for the greater Asian region. The Faster Times recently reported on the Singaporean government’s efforts to build the physical and institutional infrastructure necessary to sustain a contemporary art hub. In a similar vein, The Wall Street Journal discussed Gillman Barracks, a colonial military compound-cum-gallery space slated to open on 13 May 2012.

An artist rendering of Singapore's soon-to-be gallery district, Gillman Barracks.

With all this talk of branding and regional posturing, Art Radar was surprised by the lack of on-the-ground reporting to be found on Art Stage Singapore itself. What was published, at least in the online world, was mixed. While the fair started out strong with an invitation-only viewing that saw the sale of work by many Singapore artists, some journalists noted lagging sales as the event went on.





LuxArtAsia noted, with little optimism, that despite many comments on the higher quality of the works in 2012, collectors just were not buying. They considered several possible explanations for such weak sales including the success that various auctions held towards beginning of the fair saw, poor timing (with the Chinese New Year holiday period on the horizon and the Taiwanese presidential elections wrapping up on 14 January) and a recent collectors’ trip to Jogya in Indonesia that may have been the cause of some tight purse strings. Apparently some Chinese galleries are even considering a petition to refund the steep rental fee.

We are definitely feeling the insecurity in the art market as collectors have been holding back on major sales. We have seen some big and important sales but they have not been enough.

Lorenzo Rudolf

He Xiangyu, 'The Death of Marat', 2011, plastic, fiberglass and human hair. The work is a tribute to the artist's compatriot, Ai Weiwei.

Filipino artists were reported to have a strong turnout at the fair, and art works from this country also appear to have sold well.





The biggest sale of the weekend was Gerhard Richter’s Abstraktes Bild (Abstract Series 871-1). The painting was bought by a local buyer from Galerie Michael Schultz for 1.2 million euros (SGD2 million). Art Stage Singapore reported on other sales highlights for 2012 in a recent press release:

• Haunch of Venison sold a number of Gonkar Gyatso works including the Dissected Buddha (2011) for USD200,000 (SDG260,000), as well as an undisclosed piece for USD400,000 (SDG518,000).

• Gajah Gallery sold two paintings by I Nyoman Masriadi for USD350,000 (SDG453,000).

• Linda Gallery sold a work by Indonesian artist Srihardi Soedarsono for USD232,000 (SDG300,000).

• De Sarthe Gallery sold a few sculptures by Bernar Venet for USD100,000 (SDG130,000).

• Galerie Perrotin sold MR’s Desktop of My Mind (2011) for USD240,000 (SDG311,000).

• Galerie EIGEN + ART sold Nervositat by Martin Eder for USD86,000 (SDG112,000).

• ESLITE Gallery sold a Wong Hoy Cheong work for USD88,500 (SDG115,000).

Gerhard Richter, 'Abstraktes Bild (Abstract Painting, 871-1)', 2001, oil on canvas.

We will leave with a walk through of the highlights of the fair in a video by VernissageTV.

Were you at Art Stage Singapore in 2012? If so, leave us a comment below. We would love to publish the first-hand opinions of those on the ground.

PR/KN

Related Topics: contemporary art fairs, art fair and other round ups, connecting Asia to itself, Singapore art events

Related Posts:

• India Art Fair’s Collectors’ Circle educates new buyers - December 2011 – a look into how the upcoming India Art Fair plans to attract new buyers
• ART HK versus Art Stage Singapore: ART HK dealers debate Asia’s top fair - June 2011 – how dealers make sense of the two competing shows
• Art Basel takeover of ART HK: What did dealers at ART HK 11 say? - June 2011 – the gamut of opinions on how the new ownership may change ART HK
• Art Stage Singapore’s East-West balance praised – January 2011 - How did Art Stage Singapore manage their participants in their inaugural year?
• Galleries say debut Art Stage Singapore brings diversity ART HK lacks - January 2011 – Art Stage Singapore’s demographic focus and how it differs from ART HK

Seoul Art Space Geumcheon wrapped up its 2011 international artist residency exhibition, called “Reflections of an Outsider on ‘Outsiders’”, in December 2011, prompting Art Radar to take a closer look at this and the other centers that make up Seoul Art Space’s cultural network.

Kazuya Takagawa's 'Narratives of One Object' on display at "Reflections of an Outsider on 'Outsiders'", an exhibition held at Seoul Art Space Geumcheon in 2011. Image courtesy Seoul Art Space Geumcheon.

Seoul Art Space Geumcheon home to international artists

Seoul Art Space Geumcheon in Doksan-dong is quickly establishing itself as an epicenter in Korea for the facilitation of global exchange of ideas. The organisation focuses on the sharing of culture, experience and knowledge between local and international artists during six month to one year long residencies that culminate in a group exhibition. Between 2009 and 2011, 41 artists from seventeen countries were supported by the art space.

A new residency theme is proposed every year. In 2010, for example, there was an open call for Da Vinci Idea 2011, a concept which encouraged artists to combine creative output with technology. Robotic works, digital art, kinetic art and works using wireless networks were part of the final exhibition, giving the audiences a glimpse into how artists are using the latest media. In December 2011, The Korea Times reported on an exhibition of work by the eight international artists in residence at Geumcheon that year, called “Reflections of an Outsider on ‘Outsiders’”. Much of the art work on show addressed Korean labour issues or movements.

Since 2010, Seoul Art Space Geumcheon has also been running an artist exchange programme in collaboration with overseas institutions including Hangar.org (Barcelona, Spain), SMART Project Space (Amsterdam, Netherlands), Bank ART 1929 (Yokohama, Japan), apexart (New York, USA) and Gertrude Contemporary (Melbourne, Australia). Selected artists are provided with a return airfare, and all their living and workplace costs are covered for the one to three months that they are in residence. They are also given the opportunity to exhibit their works and to be a part of an Expert Support Program through which they meet and work with local art professionals.

Installation shot from "Open Call for Da Vinci Idea", an artist residency exhibition held at Seoul Art Space Geumcheon in 2010. Image courtesy Seoul Art Space.

Installation view of "Reflections of an Outsider on 'Outsiders'", a residency exhibition held in 2011 at Seoul Art Space Geumcheon. Image courtesy Seoul Art Space Geumcheon.

Third term artist open studio and exhibition event at Seoul Art Space Geumcheon. Image courtesy Seoul Art Space.

“Community art” is a focus for Geumcheon, and the term is defined by the centre as an activity that contributes to the understanding of the pervading culture of local and foreign communities. The concept is one of the driving forces behind the programmes that were implemented by Geumcheon in 2010 and 2011, each aimed at building an awareness of Korean social issues and increasing the local community’s interaction with art.

Repurposing abandoned Seoul buildings for art

Seoul Art Space, founded in 2008, has a dual mission that differentiates it from other art foundations. It tries to serve the needs of artists and the local community by reviving abandoned and idle buildings and reestablishing them as venues for both art creation and wider cultural engagement. The organisation is affiliated with Seoul Foundation for Arts & Culture and was started by the Seoul Metropolitan Government as part of an ongoing “culturenomics” policy push.

Heo Eun Hyi, Public Relations Representative at Seoul Art Space, explains the concepts that the organisation is grounded in,

The idea … behind Seoul Art Space is to create multi-faceted spaces where artists of different genres such as visual arts, performing arts and literature can exchange ideas, and a place where citizens and artists can come together. Seoul Art Space aims to increase the dialogue between art and the industry in the hope of creating new projects…. Unlike the previous [idea] of a large cultural or arts center in one area, Seoul Art Space aims at reaching out to more people by making small but significant differences everywhere.

Seoul Art Space's organisational structure.

11 Seoul Art spaces

As of January 2012, there are eleven venues that make up Seoul Art Space, with locations throughout the Korean capital.

Seoul Art Space Mullae and Seoul Art Space Geumcheon support the visual arts, with a focus on dialogue and collaboration between local artists and those from abroad. International artist exchanges and residencies feature strongly in the programming for the centre. Mullae was opened on 28 January 2010 in a former industrial area that is emerging as one of Seoul’s premier artist communities, and it provides local artists with studios, hostels and theatre and exhibition spaces. Geumcheon opened in October of 2009 in a renovated printing factory and is a hub for local and international artists. The venue has studios, hostels and a collaborative work area.

Seoul Art Space Seogyo opened on 19 June 2009 and is a center for experimental arts that houses an art archive and a number of art magazine offices. The multicultural space is located in the Hongdae area and is affiliated with the nearby Hongik University, which is well known for its progressive art and design departments. Seogyo participates in the annual Hongdae Festival, and its annual programming includes workshops, performances and exhibitions.

Another Seoul Art Space venue in Sindang caters to the development of art and crafts with residency programmes for artists that work in a variety of fields including pottery and embroidery, an open studio event for resident artists and a crafts studio that is made available for use by the local community. The centre is located in a former indoor market where 52 vacant shops were converted into forty small studios.

There are also spaces in the network that support cultural practitioners working in design, performing arts, literature, art for children and art therapy.

Seoul Art Space locations in 2012.

What is in store for 2012 at Geumcheon?

Click here to follow Seoul Art Space Geumcheon’s blog for the latest on activities for 2012.

Some of the events and programmes for 2012 at Seoul Art Space Geumcheon include an international symposium with a focus on global art issues and an open call for the fourth international resident artist programme. Also on their calendar is a creative educational programme called 1 Night and 2 Days with Artists, a workshop for high school students, moderated by residency artists, that attempts to build links between art, technology and young people.

CSL/KN

Related Topics: art spaces, nonprofit art organisations, artist residencies

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• Tokyo Wonder site 2011 solos for 20 emerging Japanese artists - December 2011 - Art Radar lists the artists and takes a closer look at five of them
• Modernity through eyes of 8 South Korean photographers – October 2011 – Galerie Paris-Beijing exhibition on eight contemporary Korean photographers
• Hong Kong Wan Chai Visual Archive: community art experimentation - August 2011 - non-profit, community-focused, and it will cease to exist in the next two or three years
• Representing South Korea at the 54th Venice Biennale: Lee Yong-baek and his art - December 2010 – artist Lee Yong-baek presents his works Broken Mirror and Angel Soldier

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The deadline for applications is 21 January 2012 and places are filling up fast! Get your application in to us today - click here NOW to express your interest.

Do you want to write for newspapers, magazines or the Web? Is dealing with the media a part of your daily work routine? Art Radar has been successfully training art writers since its inception almost three years ago and we have now designed a certificate programme based on our experience.

Why should I be interested in this certificate?

As a student of the Art Radar Certificate in Art Journalism and Writing 101, you will learn the ins and outs of writing about contemporary art through

• fortnightly self-study modules designed to help you tackle the toughest parts of writing an article.
• writing articles that will really be published.
• one-on-one feedback on all your writing.
• participation in the editorial management of a busy online newspaper.

The deadline for applications is 21 January 2012 and places are filling up fast! Get your application in to us today - click here NOW to express your interest.

And what you will gain on completion of the certificate is even greater. In just over three months you will have a portfolio of edited and workshopped writing, a physical certificate to include in your resume and important art world contacts, all of which could potentially lead to increased job options within art or publishing.

The course is conducted entirely online through email and Skype so learners can be located anywhere in the world. Reliable access to a computer and the Internet is all that is needed and new students are accepted at any time of the year due to our flexible start and completion dates.

The deadline for applications is 21 January 2012 and places are filling up fast! Get your application in to us today - click here NOW to express your interest.

Who is this course for?

• Gallery owners who need to pitch stories to journalists.
• Students who want to pursue a career or project work in arts journalism.
• Managers of gallery and museum websites and blogs who want to attract more readers.
• Artists, dealers or anyone who is promoting artists and wants their work to be found on Google.
• Applicants to graduate programs who need to demonstrate writing/publishing experience.
• Collectors, students or art enthusiasts who want to get closer to artists and art insiders.
• Job hunters who are seeking direction in the art field.
• Job applicants who would like to stand out from the crowd with a certificate in arts writing.
• Anyone who would like to stay on top of art events, trends and news or deepen their knowledge of contemporary art in Asia and beyond.

How can I find out more?

The deadline for applications is 21 January 2012 and places are filling up fast! Get your application in to us today - click here NOW to express your interest.

KN/HH

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The West has a current craving for what is coming out of the Indonesian creative community, and the Italian art world is no exception, with an exhibition at the MACRO in Rome signaling a significant European breakthrough for artists from the world’s largest archipelago.

Budi Kustarto, 'Flying with calixte dakpogan', 2009, oil on canvas.

2011: the year Indonesian art shone

Last year, 2011, was a stand-out year for Indonesian contemporary art. Work from the country shone in the Christie’s Hong Kong autumn sales amidst a soberer Asian art performance, and it reportedly accounts for about 68 percent of Christie’s and Sotheby’s turnover. Indonesian artists also filled the walls and floors of exhibition spaces at art institutions and commercial galleries across the world: in Australia, Melbourne gallery MiFA showcased, in March 2011, the survey “Closing the Gap” in an effort to bring the neighbouring countries and cultures closer together; in June 2011, a major survey called “Trans-Figurations” opened at the Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton in Paris, France; in September 2011, “Indonesian Eye: Fantasies and Realities”, was the first large-scale presentation of Indonesian contemporary art in the UK, bringing artists and their work from Ciputra Artpreneur Center in Jakarta to the prestigious Saatchi Gallery in London.

Faraway world brought closer

In the Italian art world to date, a reference to “Asian art” has mostly meant contemporary art from China and India. Recently, on the back of international recognition for contemporary art from Southeast Asia, Italian curators are becoming interested in a wider geographical definition. Primo Marella Gallery in Milan exhibited, in February 2011, “The Alleys of a City Named Jogja”, a show entirely dedicated to work from Jogja’s effervescent art community and the first of exhibition of its kind to be held in Italy. The month of May 2011 saw the Jakarta-based video collective, ruangrupa, arrive in the town of Fabriano for a show and the Gervasuti Foundation in Venice invited 
artist Jompet Kuswidananto to hold a solo exhibition during the 54th Venice Biennale.

In Rome, at the Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Roma (MACRO), a contemporary art museum located in a reformed abattoir in a young and up-and-coming neighborhood of Testaccio, the survey exhibition “Beyond The East“ attempts to take Italian audiences beyond those limiting definitions of what makes art “Asian”, as Italian curator and art historian Dominique Lora, who put the show together, explains:

“Beyond the East” represents, for me, the urgent need to redefine the way in which we interpret the idea of ‘Asia’ by applying logics that are alien to the comprehension and translation of those worlds. Of course, the same process must be applied on the other side. The definitions of ‘Orient’ and ‘Occident’ are truthfully obsolete…

“Beyond the East” includes works by fifteen established and emerging artists from different parts of the Indonesian archipelago, including Bandung, Yoyacarta, Jakarta and Bali. The artists exhibiting at MACRO are Agus Suwage, FX Harsono, Yuli Prayitno, Melati Suryodarmo, Mella Jaarsma, Heri Dono, Made Wianta, Eko Nugroho, Entang Wiharso, Ugo Untoro, Titarubi, Astari Rasyid, Arya Pandjalu, S. Teddy Darmawan and Budi Kustarto.

S. Teddy Darmawan, 'Seeds Of Violence', 2011, installation: aluminium.

According to Dominique Lora, the show took shape during four years of cultural exchange between Europe and Bali and Java in Indonesia. “Since 2008, I have collaborated with Susanna Perini, owner of the gallery Biasa Artspace in Seminyak, Bali,” she explains. “Together, we came up with a long-term project aimed at creating a cultural bridge between Indonesian and Italian visual culture.”

Initially, Professor Achille Bonito Oliva was invited to Indonesia by Lora to curate an exhibition of work by Italian artist Matteo Basilé, who lives and works in Bali and Rome. He was invited again in 2009 to present a retrospective of great European masters of the twentieth century in Jakarta, Bandung and Yogyakarta. Meanwhile, back in Italy, Lora curated a number of small shows, including exhibitions of work by Untoro, Kustarto and Dono, in conjunction with art fairs in Rome and Bologna, all taking place between 2009 and 2010.

Shortly after, Lora was commissioned by MACRO to put together a series of exhibitions of work by Asian artists, and “Beyond the East” was born. “The Ciputra Artpreneurship Center sponsored the exhibition from Indonesia and Biasa Artspace contributed extensively to the production and organisation of the exhibition in Italy,” she says of the funding sources for the show.

Astari Rasyid, 'Very Wall', 2011, installation: mixed media.

Indonesian artists as shamans

From Astari Rasyid’s 2011 installation Very Wall, which consists of a mannequin dressed in a traditional Indonesian attire and carrying a handbag with the word “CHANGE” printed on it, to Agus Swage’s Pop art-like painting entitled Yin Yang (2003), two headless figures, one black and one white, that are mechanically driven to dispute over the possession of a single head, to F.X.Harsono’s emotional The Bone Cemetery Monument (2011), a seemingly minimalist funerary monument created in memory of Chinese citizens persecuted in Indonesia, the artworks at MACRO blend contemporary aesthetics and social concerns with references to Indonesian visual culture and tradition. “Instead of only documenting the horrors of the past or, on the contrary, celebrating them”, explains Lora, “these artists become less political and more social.” She continues,

All the artists presented in the show deal with issues that relate to their individual experience of social transformation and political change. Melati [Suryodarmo] represented in dusk her idea of ‘exoticism’, clearly responding to the way in which the Western word defines such a term. [Entang] Wiharso … recalls Western iconographies such Yeronimus Bosh, Goya and certain aspect of Futurism, but his style and language remain peculiar to his background. … “Beyond the East” is a visual discourse in which each artist embodies a traditional healer, a shaman who is responsible for handing down social customs, religious traditions and visual alphabets.

“Indie generation”

Now an increasingly affluent republic with 32 years of autocratic rule under Suharto now behind it, Indonesia continues to be troubled by right-wing fundamentalism. Artists are faced with the challenges of abiding to censorship laws enforced by conservative Muslim parties, such as the anti-pornography bill passed in 2008, which prohibits the display of depictions of nudity in public places. Exhibiting abroad offers Indonesian artists the opportunity to circumvent this censorship. Most of the artists on show at MACRO belong to the post-Suharto generation, to which the curator refers to as the “indie generation”, “those artists who started to open up to the world, using visual art and gestures to communicate their need to be part of a bigger world.” This idea fed directly into her artwork selection for the show. “I chose works that would [create] a ‘memory theater’, a site and a laboratory where Indonesian artists could freely express their disagreements and aspirations.”

FX Harsono, 'Monumen bong belong (The Bone Cemetary Monument)', 2011, installation: mixed media and multiplex wood.

How did the public respond?

“Beyond the East” is close to closing, it officially wraps up on 15 January 2012, and so far the show has been well received by the public and local and international press. As Dominique Lora states, ”The … response … was truly unexpected. … As far as I am concerned, the exhibition challenged and simultaneously developed a specific narrative that has somehow shaken prejudicial ideas over that faraway world….”

AAN/KN

Related Topics: Indonesian contemporary artists, museum shows, Italian art happenings, curators

Related Posts:

• 5 Indonesian painters in Hong Kong group show – picture feast - November 2011 – take a look at the works from another Indonesian show, this one at iPreciation in Hong Kong
• Indonesian ethnicity on display in national gallery show - December 2010 – overview of critical responses to show at Gaus Art Space that features eight Indonesian artists
• Myanmar artists access international art community, Art Radar speaks to Aye Ko about +Road – August 2010 – Art Radar interview about a collaborative project between Myanmar and Indonesian artists
• Pop culture references abound in Indonesian art: curator Eva McGovern discusses Indieguerillas’ Happy Victims and the Southeast Asian art climate – June 2010 – find out more about Indiguerrillas’ pop aesthetic by reading about a show at Valentino Willie Fine Art in Singapore
• Sin Sin, Hong Kong gallerist and Indonesian art specialist, on recently flourishing Indonesian art scene – interview – September 2009 - Art Radar interviews Hong Kong curator, artist and designer, Sin Sin

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Art Radar is kicking off 2012 with a series of four posts that outline new trends in the Asian art world. The contemporary art market is just now realising the full effects of globalisation and digitisation, movements that will have profound consequences for dealers and collectors alike.

Screengrab from Alice Zhang's online gallery Mischmasch. Image by Art Radar.

This first installment looks at trends in the business of art: shifting geographic centers, marketing strategies and sales platforms that herald dramatic changes for the art world.

Rise of Chinese auction houses

As Art Radar has pointed out in past articles, Chinese auction houses now rank among the most profitable in the world. In the Artprice Contemporary Art Market 2010/2011 Annual Report, seven of the top ten auction houses by revenue were Chinese. In 2011, China also surpassed the United States in total auction sales, making its auction market the largest in the world. The two biggest Chinese auction houses have also set their eyes on the international market. Beijing Poly International Auction is planning on opening a New York office, while it’s top domestic competitor, China Guardian Auctions, is looking into a branch in London.

Zhang Xiaogang's "Bloodline" series sold at Poly International's 2009 spring auction. Image courtesy Beijing Poly International Auction Co., Ltd.

Driving this surge is a wave of newly-minted mainland Chinese collectors. Limited investment opportunities and high consumer confidence make art investment lucrative to China’s nouveau riche. These collectors also see art as a way of elevating personal status, as well as fulfilling the more nationalistic goal of turning the People’s Republic of China into a cultural powerhouse.

However, serious problems lie beneath the surface in China’s nascent auction market. While auctions of Chinese art are known for their shockingly high sell-through rates, half of the most expensive winning bids remain unpaid six months after the auction has closed, with buyers openly flaunting China’s own auction bylaws. Aside from worrisome payment practices, the prevalence of forgeries and fake bidding betray the abiding immaturity of Chinese auction houses.

Galleries work the Web

Many galleries are looking to the Internet to snatch market share away from auction houses. The traditional storefront gallery is in decline, beset by rising real estate prices, so dealers have moved into the fledgling world of online art sales.

Gagosian Gallery developed an iPhone app that allows viewers to browse their collection remotely. Image by Art Radar.

While the thought of purchasing art sight-unseen may deter some collectors, gallery owners are already beginning to adopt measures to put them at ease. In addition to managing a new system of payment transfers, Saatchi Online offers buyers a seven-day money back guarantee should they be disappointed with an artwork once it arrives on their doorstep. Gallery owners are also seeing the potential in selling online to long-term customers, leveraging established relationships to avoid questions of reliability.

Even some art collectors are beginning to incorporate the Internet and new media technology into alternative exhibition models. Fritz Kaiser exhibits his collection of contemporary Chinese art in the online museum called 88-Mocca, highlighting how the Internet may be used as a uniquely engaging educational tool.

Dealers eschew physical galleries

Perhaps the most ground-breaking trend in contemporary Asian art is the emergence of market operations that are run exclusively online. Online auction houses are on the rise, with big names like artnet taking on the emerging platform. While some remain skeptical, more companies plan on establishing online art auctions in 2012; the art finance gurus at Artprice are set to begin their online auction operation on 18 January.

Dinesh Vazirani, CEO and co-founder of Saffronart. Image courtesy Saffronart.

At the forefront of the movement was Saffronart, an India-based online auction house that is currently the largest of its kind in the world. Emphasising transparency and reliability, Saffronart also pioneers new technologies for the auction market. In 2010, Saffronart introduced mobile phone bidding, allowing collectors to bid via their BlackBerry or iPhone. However, the limitations of online auctions are becoming increasingly evident. With the opening of their gallery in New Delhi in April 2011, it seems Saffronart has recognised that a physical gallery space offers a measure of commercial stability unavailable in an online marketplace. Online galleries, such as Hong Kong’s Mischmasch, also rely on a physical presence to bolster their credibility. As noted by director Alice Zhang, having a street address makes online collectors feel secure when making purchases.

In 2011, we saw the launch of two online art fairs, the international VIP Art Fair and the more regional India Art Collective. Both fairs used the online platform to encourage a more dynamic, user-driven art fair model; they hope to attract the attention of younger buyers, which is another notable trend in its own right. While the VIP Art Fair, set to return in February 2012 with VIP 2.0, was beset by technological issues and faced challenges when it came to selling higher-end works, the India Art Collective was reported to be resoundingly successful.

VIP 2.0 will run from 3 to 8 February 2012.

While online dealership is still developing, the Internet as an art market platform is here to stay. How do you think these trends will impact the art market in the coming decade? Leave a comment below with your thoughts and ideas.

PR/KN

Related Topics: art and the Internet, galleries work the Web, contemporary Asian art auctions

Related Posts:

• Must-know global art trends from 6 art professionals – The Miami Herald – January 2012 – various art professionals weigh in on what they see as the most important trends in contemporary art
• India Art Collective versus VIP Art Fair: Internet fair compare – December 2011 – a side-by-side comparison of two groundbreaking online art fairs
• Auction houses grow: Can art dealers compete? The Art Newspaper – August 2011 – detailing the pressure galleries face in an auction-driven art market
• Art and the Internet: 3 top posts from 2010 to 2011 - July 2011 – how the Internet is affecting the production, exhibition and collection of contemporary art
• Online art business: Inspirations from Hong Kong gallery director Alice Zhang – July 2011 – a profile of one internet-based art gallery and their vision

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