One of the most exciting benefits of Art Radar‘s Certificate in Art Journalism and Writing 101 is that students have the opportunity to connect with those who are at the top of the art world food chain. You will get the chance to report art news using first-hand information that you have ferreted out.

Sotheby's Hong Kong sale in spring of 2012 fetched over USD316 million.

As a 101 student, we will help you to refine your research skills and sometimes this means contacting leading people at the world’s top auction houses, galleries and art institutions with questions.

Find out more about the benefits of learning art writing with Art Radar: click here for information on course content, application requirements and costs.

Do not miss out! Our application period for our summer intake, one of only three yearly, will close on Monday 4 June 2012, so apply now.

KN/HH

With a number of Asian art galleries showing for the first time at ART HK 12, Art Radar was curious to find out what their expectations for the fair were, and who they will be showing and why. Are they showing established or emerging artists? Seeking high sales or going for exposure?

All of the galleries we talked to stressed their excitement and pride in exhibiting at ART HK. Many noted that, with the lack of museums and customary exhibition platforms, art fairs, especially ART HK, play a crucial role in the Asian art market. While some of the interviewed gallerists are bringing big-name works, many others are using the fair to promote regionally emerging artists to an international audience.

Zao Wou Ki, 'Vent de Poussiere', 1955, oil on canvas. Image courtesy de Sarthe Gallery.

If you want to have a real presence in Asia, participating in ART HK is a must. It is widely considered to be one of the world’s top art fairs and attracts the most important collectors to Hong Kong.


…[ART HK] also has the highest attendance of art fairs in the region and appeals to all people interested in art as well as new collectors.


We will show a major painting by Zao Wou Ki from 1955, a large, important Chu Teh Chun painting from 1969 and a large, significant painting by Sam Francis from 1955. We will also show two paintings by Pablo Picasso and sculptures by Jaume Plensa and Bernar Venet, whose paintings we are showing at our gallery in Central and, in conjunction with The French May, seven of his large monumental sculptures at the HK Cultural Centre & Museum of Art Piazzas in Kowloon.

- Pascal de Sarthe, Director, de Sarthe Gallery

Xu Qu, 'Xisha – Factory of the World', installation view, 2011, mixed media. Image courtesy Hemuse Gallery.

ART HK is becoming one of the most important art fairs in the world.


We are bringing Xu Qu‘s ‘Xisha – Factory of The World’.


We have been cooperating with Xu for a while. Xu Qu had a solo show in Hemuse Gallery in December 2011. The Xisha-South China Sea Project was born of the artist’s fantasy of utopia and his attempts to apply this unstable geographical concept to explore different aesthetic boundaries.

- Apple Keng, Director, Hemuse Gallery

Jose Santos III, assemblage from the installation 'Skewed', 2012, oil on canvas, collage on canvas, metal, wood, plastic and resin. Image courtesy Art Informal.

I initially applied for the Galleries Section of ART HK because it would be a good way to introduce our home artists all at the same time and show a variety of very good works. Over a month later, I got word that I was to apply for Asia One. I was unprepared to ask any one of our artists to produce a solo show knowing that it would be difficult for an artist to prepare in just four months. Nevertheless, I asked Jose Santos III and after thinking about it for a week, he agreed. He came up with a concept for the show and prepared rough studies. With this, I was able to make the proposal and submit it on schedule. A month later, I got an email announcing our acceptance and I was ecstatic! This will be a milestone in the growth of the gallery and our artist.


I have been attending ART HK for the past two years and have seen how well put together and organised it is. I also saw the magnitude of the fair. I realised that the exposure it would bring my gallery and our artists would be great. …


I chose Santos III because he is one of the finest artists in the Philippines and this kind of exposure is the next best step for him after having such a steady local following and a growing regional interest in his works. He has consistently produced very strong exhibitions and has had some works auctioned at Christie’s. … Since then, our plan was to organise exhibitions for him abroad. Joining ART HK is one of the best ways to start this ball rolling.

- Tina Fernandez, Owner, Art Informal

ART HK is the leading art fair in Asia. I feel very proud to have been accepted only two-and-a-half years after opening my gallery.


It is a great opportunity to meet clients from all around Asia and also to have a good insight on what is happening in the art scene across the region.


I will be showing a selection of works [on paper] from a private collector.


I chose to showcase this collection because it features historical works and I believe there is a demand for them. Also, it is great to see a gallery entrusted by a collector [to sell works in their collection]. The auction houses do not have a monopoly on selling collections.

- Hadrien de Montferrand, Founder, Hadrien de Montferrand Gallery

Richard Lin, 'Blue', 1958, oil on canvas. Image courtesy Jia Art Gallery.

We feel very very proud [of attending the fair] because there are very few galleries accepted from Taiwan, less than ten, and the requirements are quite strict for acceptance. So once we found out that we were accepted and are on the main floor, we felt happy and honoured for the work we will represent at ART HK. …


[We are bringing] Modern and post-war British art/British Chinese minimalist master, Richard Lin.


Jia Art Gallery has earned goodwill and recognition in the art industry due to Mr Wang’s [Raymond Wang, Founder of Jia Art Gallery] efforts in promoting young Taiwanese artists, as well as his good eye for discovering and promoting highly accomplished Chinese masters. … Lin first exhibited his minimalist experiments in London galleries five years before the term minimalism was even coined, and Spanish surrealist Joan Miró was an admirer of Lin’s studies in white. Lin is arguably one of the Taiwan’s most accomplished living artists. He was the first Taiwanese artist to be included in documenta in Kassel, an exhibition of Modern and contemporary art, in 1964, and was the first living artist whose contemporary art works are part of the Taiwan National Palace Museum’s permanent collection. Lin’s works show the beauty of Chinese aesthetics and Western ideology, as well as bringing about a sense of calmness, eastern philosophy and Taoism. … We also feel that Lin’s works represent the East and the West, and so does Art Hong Kong [ART HK].

- Brenda Wang, Director, Jia Art Gallery

Vertical Submarine, 'Qua Si Mi Lan (What the Fuck Are You Looking At!)', 2012, Mixed Media. © Vertical Submarine, Image courtesy Richard Koh Fine Art.

[ART HK] is an important art fair in Asia, and it is important for us to be here to meet our clients and to also develop new ones for our artists.


We are bringing a Singaporean contemporary arts collective, Vertical Submarine.


This is the second installment from their acclaimed “Incendiary Text II (Selected Anatomical Studies of Thirty- Six Eastern Vulgarities and One Incendiary Oath… in Roman Letters)” series. The first edition, which was featured in Singapore earlier this year, garnered lots of press coverage with its tongue-in-cheek pieces. The works are inherently Singaporean and are an excellent example of Singaporean artists of their generation.

- Richard Koh, Founder and Director, Richard Koh Fine Art

Parul Thacker, 'A Snowflake Dissolving in Pure Air', 2011, nylon monofilament fibre, acrylic tubes, crystal, fishing net and transparent and white pigments. Image courtesy Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke.

We are very enthusiastic about the future of contemporary art in the region, and ART HK provides an extraordinary platform. It’s the perfect venue to put forth original and compelling positions from the gallery’s programme because all eyes are on this art fair.


[We are bringing] Bhupen Khakhar and C.K. Rajan, both artists who have shown at previous documentas. Their work sets the tone and opens up a space for new contemporary positions which are the primary focus of the gallery. At ART HK these will be represented through the work of Manish Nai, Tanya Goel, Varunika Saraf, and Parul Thacker amongst others.


They are unique; global in their thinking, local in their choice of materials/modes/histories, be it the use of raw cloth or patterning, miniature or mythology, or the beauty they find in their ironic environments of construction and growth coupled with corruption and decay.

- Ranjana Steinruecke, Director Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke

Sheba Chhachhi, video still from 'Chimeric Enrapture', 2011, oil and acrylic on canvas with video projection and sound. Image courtesy Volte Gallery.

It is the first time we applied [to ART HK], and we were glad we were accepted straight into the main gallery section.


ART HK has become the most important fair in Asia and a very important event for galleries in this region. Asia is extremely important to us as a market, and hence we are here: you cannot be a serious player in Asia and not do ART HK.


We are showing Ranbir Kaleka and Sheba Chhachhi, two of India’s most celebrated artists, but two who have never shown in Hong Kong. Since the audience would be seeing their works for the first time, we felt it best to focus only on two artists. Ranbir recently did a major show for the Guangzhou Triennale at the Guangdong Museum, and Sheba won the Jury Award at the Signature Art Prize, Asia’s largest art prize.

- Tushar Jiwarajka, Director, Volte Gallery

We have high expectations for ART HK.


Hong Kong is one of the most international cities in Asia and is becoming the hub of the Asian art market. [It is exciting] to be able to meet important collectors and curators from around the world at ART HK. …


We are bringing Ozawa Tsuyoshi. … Ozawa deals with issues of modernisation by examining how Japan and Asia confronted modernisation and adopted it. His work suggests that issues in modernisation exist not only in Japan but any other country, and he presents possible solution using art with humour. He has been featured in various biennales, triennales and museums worldwide, but we would like collectors to have an opportunity to purchase and collect his works.

- Aiko Nakamura, Misa Shin Gallery:

Chong Siew Ying, 'Home', 2012, charcoal and acrylic medium on paper mounted canvas. Image courtesy Willie Valentine Fine Art.

We have actually been encouraged to apply to the fair for a few years now. However, at that time we were focusing on our extensive programmes across our galleries in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Yogyakarta, and Manila. … After attending last year’s fair and observing the sophistication of the fair in terms of international clientèle, quality of galleries, artists and associative programming, we felt that it would be extremely beneficial to have a presence in ART HK. Hong Kong is rapidly becoming an important centre for regional and international art, and we always want to bring the best of what we do to new audiences and art lovers. We are of course delighted to be part of the fair, especially as we are bringing a Malaysian artist, Chong Siew Ying, who we we have represented for many years….


As I said above, it is important for us to promote and expose new audiences to the work of artists who we feel are the important voices coming out of the region. … ART HK brings a huge amount of possibility and potential for the artist we have selected in terms of visibility. Siew Ying has been practicing in France and Malaysia for twenty years now, and this type of exposure only strengthens her reputation as one of the most accomplished Malaysian painters of her generation.


The work she has produced is an interesting approach to traditional Chinese ink. Although having the appearance of landscapes found in Chinese ink painting, her works are actually a combination of charcoal drawing layered with clear emulsion giving the appearance of ink. After all, charcoal (or carbon) is indeed one of the main components of ink. So we are aiming to share how she dialogues with the tradition of Chinese ink painting to showcase how contemporary artists are re-imagining it and creating new possibilities for both the medium and subject matter involved in this ancient art.

- Eva McGovern, Curator, Willie Valentine Fine Art

Image courtesy Gajah Gallery.

ART HK is clearly one of the leading art fairs in the world. It is always good to be in an art fair that draws international collectors from around the world. Through ART HK, collectors are given the rare opportunity to view Nyoman Masriadi‘s works as a collective.


Increasingly, art fairs are becoming more relevant in the contemporary world. Good art fairs not only pull together serious collectors from around the world but curators and art historians as well. In response to this, artists themselves tend to put forward their best works where possible. This is especially important in Asia, where good museum shows and art fairs are hard to come by.


Nyoman Masriadi will be debuting at ART HK 2012 with his third solo showcase spanning a three-year period of the artists career. Nyoman Masriadi’s works are rarely seen at art fairs or otherwise. The gallery will be showcasing five works; three of which are from private collections and two of which were made especially for the fair….


[Masriadi] has showcased internationally in New York, Miami, India, China, France and Singapore. He has had well-received solo shows in Singapore (2008) and New York (2011). He has an increasing broad base of intrigued collectors who have yet to have the chance to experience these works in person. We also feel that his work has a lot to contribute to the international art scene with regards to his art making techniques.

- Rekha Roeshini, Gajah Gallery

PR/KN

Art journalism gets you behind the scenes for the world’s biggest contemporary art events. Click here to express your interest in our online art journalism certificate programme. Summer intake application deadline: 4 June 2012.

Click here to read our rolling media round-up of ART HK 12 articles

Click here to read our coverage of ART HK 12

Related Topics: art in Hong Kong, promoting art, art fairs

Related Posts:

• ART HK 12: What to do outside of the fair? Essential extra events list – May 2012 – Art Radar‘s round-up of all of the events being run simultaneously with the fair
• ART HK sponsor Deutsche Bank backs Frieze in New York – May 2012 – The Euro banking giant’s sponsorship puts the Hong Kong fair on par with the London and New York fairs
• Pearl Lam: Another gallery for Hong Kong’s Pedder Building – May 2012 – the famed gallerist returns to her hometown to open a new gallery in time for the fair
• Tokyo-based Yuko Hasegawa first dedicated curator of ART HK Projects for 2012 – April 2012 – the Sharjah Biennial curator leaves her mark in Hong Kong
• ART HK repositions ASIA ONE section for 2012, now “heart” of fair – February 2012 – one major change for the 2012 edition of the fair

Subscribe to Art Radar for more on Art HK 12 and other art fairs in Asia

Chinese art company Affordable Art China Ltd (AAC) will launch an art fair in Hong Kong in 2013. As stated in a press release that was sent out to the media on 16 May 2012, the new fair will focus on emerging artists and sell contemporary art works at “accessible prices”.

'Tug of War' by Cao Xihui, one of the works on show at Affordable Art Beijing 2012.

From the release,

The company, led by Beijing‐based CEO Tom Pattinson, is in final stage talks with venues in Hong Kong and will be working with deluxewords, the publisher of Quintessentially Asia Magazine as its media partner for next year’s launch event. The title of the Hong Kong event will be announced shortly.


Affordable Art Beijing, a major annual art fair selling contemporary art, was launched by AAC in 2006. The first AAC Shanghai fair will be held later in 2012 and the Hong Kong event will premiere in the first half of 2013.


Tom Pattinson, CEO of Affordable Art China said: ‘The success of the events in mainland China has demonstrated the demand for accessible contemporary fine art in the region and Hong Kong is now a major focus for us as we launch our first event in this territory.’

The release goes on to say that AAC’s announcement has been ‘warmly received in Hong Kong’s art community, quoting local and international gallery representatives and artists.’

We do not participate in other art fairs in Hong Kong because they are too expensive and demand extremely high fees from exhibitors. It will be a very positive development to have an event that caters to emerging artists from all over Asia.

- Kyoko Fujita, Kumquat Gallery

Events that make art more accessible to new collectors and help emerging artists develop a following are crucial to the health and vigour of the artistic community. We welcome the launch of the Hong Kong event and hope that it helps to further develop the thriving Asian art market.

- Nikki Bell of British art-duo Langlands & Bell

I am extremely supportive of any initiative that brings artists and the public together. There are a huge number of people interested in the arts in Hong Kong and to offer more people a chance to be involved, to own and discover new work, is very positive for our culture here as a whole. Hong Kong’s apartment walls will rejoice.

- Hong Kong based photographer William Furniss

Numerous art fairs have been inaugurated in Hong Kong in the last few years. Examples include a new breed of hotel art fairs such as Hong Kong Contemporary, set to launch on 17 May 2012 at the The Park Lane Hotel, and Spoon Art Fair, which will run from 18 to 20 May 2012 at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong.

KN/HH

Related Topics: art fairs, emerging artists, art in Hong Kong

Related Posts:

• ART HK 12: Rolling media round up [UPDATED 16 May 2012] – May 2012 - Art Radar is your go-to source for updates and information on ART HK 2012
• Sydney Contemporary 2013: ART HK founder Tim Etchells’ newest fair venture – May 2012 - Tim Etchells has launched Australia’s newest art fair, an international biennial event
• Mongolian Mugi’s first Hong Kong solo: Rediscovering past lost to communism – May 2012 – Mugi explores familiar themes in her first Hong Kong exhibition
• Pearl Lam: Another gallery for Hong Kong’s Pedder Building – May 2012 – Pearl Lam joins Ben Brown Fine Arts and Gagosian Gallery
• How Chinese performance artist Fang Lu uses food as artistic medium - Asia Art Archive interview – May 2012 – an emerging Chinese artist explores food and feminism

Subscribe to Art Radar for more on contemporary art in Hong Kong

The New York Times recently published an article on China’s rapid expansion in the arts and interaction with Western institutions. Despite this growth, China may still lack the professional talent and collection strength to support its new arts infrastructure.

Hunan Provincial Museum Director and Chinese Society of Museums Chairman Chen Jianming gives a speech at the groundbreaking ceremony for a new construction project at the museum in 2011.

From the The New York Times,

Last year, 395 museums were built across China, according to Chen Jianming, a vice chairman of the Chinese Society of Museums and the director of the Hunan Provincial Museum. Many of these new museums were devoted to history, but in the years ahead, many more art museums are planned, he said.


But the new urgency for more and bigger museums may be coming too fast, Mr Chen added. There are not enough trained personnel to build collections and oversee educational programs, and some new museums will not have sufficiently high-standard collections, he said.

Is this an issue that will continue to dog Chinese art institutions, or will local museums and universities rise to the challenge? Tell us what you think by leaving a comment in the section below.

PR/KN/HH

Quality writing is essential for every art professional. Click here to express your interest in our online art journalism certificate programme. Summer intake application deadline: 4 June 2012.

Related Topics: Asia expands, art in China, museums, museum collections

Related Posts:

• 3 new Shanghai art spaces point at flourishing art scene – February 2011 – discusses two new Chinese private museums and how they hope to further the contemporary art discourse
• MoMA Asia Art Archive collaborate, launch Chinese art projects with public programmes – September 2010 – an early interaction between Western and Chinese institutions prescient for current trends
• Asia Art Forum 2010 meets growing demand for art collector education in China – Jing Daily - May 2010 – education support is becoming a key focus in China’s drive to cultural primacy
• China to use “soft power” of arts for international influence – January 2010 – China’s cultural expansion is not without a political edge
• Contemporary art market in Asia now bigger than US for first time says Artprice – November 2009 – Asia overtakes the United States in art auction revenue

Subscribe to Art Radar for more on Chinese art museums

Bookmark this page! As we were in 2011, Art Radar is your go-to source for updates and information on 2012′s Hong Kong International Art Fair. Each day until well after the fair ends, we will cull the best of ART HK 12 coverage from news, blogs, video and Twitter and link to it all right here.

ART HK 12. Image via E-flux.

ART SALES Lady Gaga Portrait, Hirst Lure Billionaires to Hong Kong – Bloomberg – May 16 2012 – Find out what sold during the VIP preview.

Better, Not Bigger: Hong Kong Revs up for International Art Fair – The New York Times – 16 May 2012 – NYT goes into many details about the how of this year’s fair, which organisers hope will see a notable improvement in quality.

In Hong Kong, a Fair in Transition: A Guide to Art HK 2012 – The Wall Street Journal – 15 May 2012 –  Several comments from attending gallerists and a “What to See” slideshow.

Art fair gets better – China Daily – 13 May 2012 – ART HK Director Magnus Renfrew discusses some practical issues of fair management, as well as his hopes for this year’s fair.

The lure of the east – Financial Times – 12 May 2012 – Georgina Adam, who will be in attendance at ART HK, comments on how the Hong Kong art scene has dramatically evolved since the inaugural fair.

New Owners Get ART HK Supersonic – Time Out Hong Kong – 9 May 2012 – This article goes into some of the concerns that Hong Kong art lovers have with the Art Basel takeover, the main fear is that ART HK may risk losing some if its distinctiveness.

Art Basel Sheds Light on Its Asia Plans – The Wall Street Journal – 8 May 2012 - Art Basel Co-Directors Annette Schönholzer and Marc Spiegler go into detail about the recent rebranding of ART HK and Art Basel Miami Beach

PR/KN/HH

Click here to read our coverage of ART HK 12

Do you want to get an insider’s look into ART HK and other fairs? Click here to express your interest in our online art journalism certificate programme. Summer intake application deadline: 4 June 2012.

Subscribe to Art Radar for weekly updates on ART HK 12 and Asian contemporary art

ART HK 12 kicks off this Thursday, 17 May 2012, and will run through Sunday. Art Radar has rounded up some of the best concurrent art events happening around the city, so get your smartphone out, open up your calendar and start filling in those free hours.

Martin Wong, 'FDNY', 1998, acrylic on canvas. Image courtesy Galerie Buchholtz.

Para/Site | “太平天國/Taiping Tianguo, A History of Possible Encounters“ | Ongoing until 12 August 2012


This exhibition compares four ethnically Chinese artists, Ai Weiwei, Frog King Kwok, Tehching Hsieh, and Martin Wong, who have been influenced by four vastly different locations, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and San Francisco, respectively. The artists all lived in New York City during the 1980s, and the show aims to probe the “tenuous or even possibly non-existing connections” between them, an exploration of a culturally dynamic city and era that shaped all four artists’ future styles.

Opera Gallery | “Infinity in the Universe of Yayoi Kusama” | 15 May to 1 June 2012


Superstar Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama will have two major shows running alongside ART HK 12. This exhibition, opening first, brings together thirty works from 1978 up until 2011, including paintings, sculptures and limited edition silkscreen prints.

2P Contemporary Art | “Yuk King Tan + Chow Chun Fai: The Limit of Visibility“ | 15 May to 29 July, 2012, opening reception 17 May 2012, 4:30 to 8:30 pm


2P Contemporary Art gallery presents the first duo exhibition of works by Chinese-New Zealand artist Yuk King Tan and Hong Kong artist Chow Chun Fai. The show will include drawing, sculpture, photography, video and installation that creates a dialogue between the two artists’ practices.

Hanart TZ Gallery | “Yang Jiechang: King of Canton” | 15 May to 18 June 2012


Hanart TZ Gallery will host this solo show from Canton-born artist Yang Jiechang. Yang’s work is inspired by the rich historical legacy of the Pearl River Delta, from its ancient kings to its modern day economic flourishing.

Mobile M+ | “Mobile M+: Yau Ma Tei” | 15 May to 10 June, 2012


Though the building is not scheduled to open until late 2017, the M+ Museum of Visual Culture is organising a series of “nomadic” exhibitions in the run-up to inauguration. For “Yau Ma Tei”, the museum has invited seven Hong Kong-based artists to create pop-up installations around the Yau Ma Tei district, reflecting on and reinterpreting the city’s history through narrative and visual storytelling. Participating artist Yu Lik-wai will give a talk in Cantonese on 15 May 2012 at the Broadway Cinematheque, and there will be guided tours through the installation sites each weekend.

Jiang Zhi, 'Slight Smile, Shortcut Code', 2012, oil on canvas, part of the exhibition "Impure Light". Image courtesy Saamlung.

Saamlung Gallery | “Jiang Zhi: Impure Light” | Exhibition from 15 May to 16 June 2012, opening reception 16 May 2012, 2 to 5 pm


Saamlung Gallery is curating an exhibition of mid-career Chinese artist Jiang Zhi to run from 15 May to 16 June 2012. Jiang’s paintings explore the tension between naturalistic and technological perception in contemporary society. The exhibition at Saamlung will run in parallel with a solo show at the Times Museum in Guangzhou.

Asia Society Hong Kong | ‘The Future Will Be… China Edition’ book launch | 16 May 2012, 12 to 2 pm


Celebrated curator Hans Ulrich Obrist tries to answer the question, “What is the future of the art world?” Taking his own uncertainty as a starting point, Obrist will raise several possibilities in his new book series. For the inaugural edition, China, Obrist collected bilingual texts and contributions from over a hundred major figures in contemporary Chinese art. Obrist will be at the book’s opening at the Asia Society, which will also feature a discussion panel moderated by Asia Society Museum Director Melissa Chiu.

Peal Lam in front of Zhu Jinshi's work; Zhu Jinshi 朱金石 (b. 1954), '满江红 The River Full in Red', 2006, 布面油画 oil on canvas, 290 x 400 cm. Image courtesy Sutton PR Asia.

Pearl Lam Galleries | “Chinese Contemporary Abstract, 1980s until Present: MINDMAP” | 16 May to 20 July 2012


Making her return to the Hong Kong gallery scene, eminent collector Pearl Lam will open her new Pedder Building space with this inaugural exhibition on Wednesday 16 May 2012. The survey show, curated by notable academic Gao Minglu, brings together seven important contemporary Chinese artists.

Logo for Art East Island.

Art East Island 2012 | 17 to 20 May 2012


Art East Island is a group of galleries, artists and non-profits in Hong Kong’s Chai Wan art district that are hosting specially-curated exhibitions and artist studios during ART HK’s run. There will be shuttle buses between the convention centre and Art East Island every thirty minutes.

Lightbombs Contemporary | “Introducing: Lightbombs Contemporary“ | 17 to 20 May 2012


Founded in 2011, art advisory Lightbombs Contemporary brings together a dozen contemporary artists from the Philippines, Australia, New York and Hong Kong for their popup showroom.

Royal Academy of Arts | Artist Talk with Mariko Mori | 17 May 2012,  12 to 1 pm


Japanese artist Mariko Mori will be in conversation with Charles Saumarez Smith, Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Arts, and Richard Chang, Collector and Trustee of the Royal Academy Trust. They will discuss her work since her 2000 collaboration with the Royal Academy of Arts in the context of Asian contemporary art as a whole.

Spoon Art Fair | 18 to 20 May 2012


With a focus on young and emerging artists, the Spoon Art Fair will run from 18 to 20 May 2012 at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong. The fair distinguishes itself by using hotel rooms as exhibition spaces, with the aim to “create an innovative art scene in Hong Kong while making art a part of, not separate from, life”.

KWAN Sheung Chi, 'Hong Kong', 2012, offset print, installation view. Part of the exhibition "100 Things, a Little Retrospective". Image courtesy Gallery Exit.

Gallery Exit | “KWAN Sheung Chi: 100 things, a little retrospective” | 18 May to 22 June, 2012, opening reception 18 May 2012, 6 to 8 pm


This solo exhibition is the second “retrospective” from KWAN Sheung Chi and will feature some of the Hong Kong artist’s most recent works. His first retrospective, a wry commentary on the identity of the artist and his relationship to the contemporary art world, was held at Gallery Exit when the artist was only 22.

Intelligence Squared Asia will host the debate "Contemporary Art Excludes the 99%".

Intelligence Squared | Debate: “Contemporary Art Excludes the 99%” | 18 May 2012, 6:30 pm


IQ2 Asia will sponsor a live debate on 18 May entitled “Contemporary Art Excludes the 99%”. Four leading art world figures will explore questions about just who the contemporary art world and its institutions are benefiting. The debate will be moderated by The Art Newspaper Editor-at-Large Georgina Adam.

FEAST Projects | FIVE | 18 May 2012, 7:30 to 9:30 pm


Hong Kong gallery FEAST Projects will open a second space on 18 May 2012. For the opening, they have invited American artist Rashaad Newsome to reprise his performance piece FIVE. The multimedia work, which first debuted in 2009, draws on the hip hop and vogue dance culture of New York in the 1990s. For his Hong Kong performance, Newsome will incorporate ancient Chinese string and percussion instruments accompanied by opera singer Stefanos Koroneos and rapper SCANZ. Space is limited, so be sure to RSVP.

Yayoi Kusama, 'Tulip with All My Love', 2010, fiberglass reinforced plastic, urethane paint, metal. Image Courtesy Ota Fine Arts; copyright Yayoi Kusama.

Sotheby’s Hong Kong Gallery | “YAYOI KUSAMA – Hong Kong Blooms in My Mind“ | 19 to 31 May 2012


The second Yayoi Kusama exhibition of the week. For the opening of their new gallery space, Sotheby’s Hong Kong Gallery will host a selling exhibition of nearly forty works by blue-chip contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama, encompassing her work from the 1950s to today. The show will also feature the monumental piece Tulip with All My Love, seen above, from 17 to 20 May in the lobby of One Pacific Place, Sotheby’s new location.

Do you know of any other key events that will be happening around Hong Kong during ART HK 12? Leave a comment below with your event suggestions.

PR/KN/HH

Click here to read our coverage of ART HK 12

Learn how to cover art exhibitions, forums, talks and other events! Click here to express your interest in our online art journalism certificate programme. Summer intake application deadline: 4 June 2012.

Related Topics: art in Hong Kong, art tourism, art fairs, gallery shows, lectures and talks

Related Posts:

• ART HK crash course: all you need to know – Art Radar past coverage – May 2012 – a round up of all of our previous posts leading up to ART HK 12
• ART HK sponsor Deutsche Bank backs Frieze in New York – May 2012 – the banking giant’s investment in ART HK puts the fair on par with the renowned Frieze art fair
• Pearl Lam: Another gallery for Hong Kong’s Pedder Building – May 2012 – after a decade away, a famed Hong Kong gallerist makes her return to her hometown
• Tokyo-based Yuko Hasegawa first dedicated curator of ART HK Projects for 2012 - April 2012 – a major development for the structure of the fair
• Seasoned Hong Kong artist see WKCD project as “one step forward” – AAA interview – March 2012 – contrasting views on Hong Kong’s changing cultural district

Subscribe to Art Radar for more on ART HK 12 and contemporary art events in Hong Kong

According to an article posted in the Wire section of the website of Spear’s Wealth Management Survey (Spear’s WMS), ART HK founder Tim Etchells has launched Australia’s newest art fair, an international biennial event called Sydney Contemporary.

Art world luminaries kick off ART HK 11 (From left to right): David LaChapelle (iconic artist), Alistair Hicks (Deutsche Bank Collection Curator), Richard Chang (Advisory Board Member), Magnus Renfrew (Fair Director, ART HK 11) and Tim Etchells (Chief Executive, Asian Art Fairs Ltd). Image courtesy ART HK.

The event is scheduled to run from 12 to 14 April 2013 at the Hordern Pavilion and Royal Hall of Industries at Moore Park in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, and is accepting registration from both local and international art galleries.

Click here to read the original article, titled Sydney Contemporary Biennale to be launched in April 2013, as published on the Spear’s WMS website.

Says Etchells,

Sydney Contemporary represents the first time this city has hosted a serious, high-end art fair. We expect it to play a significant role in helping to focus attention on the Sydney art scene in the same way that ART HK focused attention on Asian art.


The fair provides a vital new platform from which galleries, artists and collectors can deepen and grow networks and relationships both with local contacts and throughout the broader Asia Pacific region.


We are launching at a time when the market is rapidly changing and art fairs are a significant part of any gallery’s marketing strategy, by catering both to existing markets whilst also creating new ones. Sydney Contemporary will educate and excite the wider community about the work of contemporary artists by offering a dynamic program of events.

Australian visual arts specialist and curator Francesca Valmorbida has been named as Fair Director.

KN/HH

Related Topics: Australian art happenings, art fairs, trends – Asia expands

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Art Radar is holding off on our jobs and opportunities post this week and next to make room for ART HK 12 coverage. The page will be back Wednesday 30 May with five new listings.

Image by Flikr user naught_facility.

In the meantime you can visit our regularly updated Jobs page and peruse the numerous open positions listed.

Want a job in the arts but don’t have the experience? Click here to express your interest in our online art journalism certificate programme. Summer intake application deadline: 4 June 2012.

Subscribe to Art Radar for more on contemporary art jobs and opportunities.

Based in Vancouver, independent publisher 88books specialises in hand-bound zones profiling the work of up-and-coming young Chinese photographers. Founder Ho Tam released the first group of ten artists’ books in early 2012 and is working on a second series.

The ten books in 88books' first series. Printed and hand-bound in limited editions of 120. Image courtesy 88books

All of the artists’ books in the first series were conceived by photographers in China and then produced and distributed by 88books in Vancouver, Canada. Founder Ho Tam, a video artist and photographer himself, was inspired by the independent publishing and bookmaking scenes he found on a recent trip to Beijing. For the first series, Tam brought together a range of young and lesser-known photographers that reflect the diversity of creative practice in China today.

You can buy zines from 88books’ first series on their website here.

“As the country opens up, the artists are unravelling the influx of ideas and enjoying the openness in individual expression,” Tam says on the 88books website. “Without the burden of market concerns and enjoying the new found freedom, the younger generation often works against traditions and the mainstream, in search of their own language and personal take on art and life in China and beyond.”

Jiang Yue, from her zine photography series "Inessential", one of the ten in 88books' first series. Image courtesy 88books.

Tam believes that zines, shorthand for small-circulation and often self-published books or magazines, offer the potential for a new creative outlet for artists in China. As Tam told Art Radar,

I think most people, including myself, are very curious about what the artists have to say, and [what they] can say through their self-initiated publications. Artists’ books definitely offer an alternative outlet for creative freedom, perhaps reaching a different audience who may not readily enter an art gallery.

Tam has been making books for over twenty years.

Despite its gradual acceptance into the mainstream, Tam believes photography is still relatively unknown compared to other media in the Chinese art world. He attributes this to the lack of a long tradition of photography within the country, as well as a general unfamiliarity with the medium beyond portraiture, landscape and documentary. In addition to his work with 88books, last year Tam published FRONT LINE, a book of Mandarin-language interviews with photographers based in Canada. Tam hoped to raise the level of discourse surrounding international contemporary photo-artists.

PR/KN/HH

Related Topics: Chinese artists, photography, resource alerts

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• Work of 3 Chinese artists gets first time MoMA showing in performance photography exhibit – curator interview – May 2011 – Art Radar talks with MoMA curator Eva Respini about Chinese photography
• 3 young Chinese artists awarded prizes at inaugural Caochangdi PhotoSpring – May 2010 – a report of this first Beijing photography festival, now in its third year

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Mongolian artist Munkhtsetseg Jalkhaajav, also known as Mugi, recently concluded “Earthbound”, her first solo exhibition in Hong Kong. Through collage, oil painting and sculpture the artist depicts the re-emergence of Mongolian heritage in the aftermath of communist control.

Munkhtsetseg Jalkhaajav, 'Healing', 2011, collage on sa (mulberry) paper, 80 x 55 cm. Image courtesy Schoeni Art Gallery.

Click here for more information on the exhibition, titled “Earthbound”, at Schoeni Art Gallery.

Mongolian political transition key

Mugi was born in 1967 in Ulaanbaatar (also known as Ulan Bator), the capital and by far the largest city in Mongolia. Ulan Bator was the site of demonstrations that led to Mongolia’s transition to democracy and the development of a market economy in 1990. The artist, a witness to the change, was so frustrated with studying under a socialist system – at both the Art Institute in Ulaanbaatar, from 1983 to 1987, and the Academy of Fine Art and Theatre, Minsk, from 1989 to 1993 – that she chose not to graduate.

As she explains in an interview with the British art critic Ian Findlay, published in Asian Art News in 2009,

During the communist time in Mongolia and Russia, I only studied good technique and colour, but there was not any heart in the teaching…. The Soviet art curriculum was little more than propaganda. [I wanted to make art that possessed] a physical presence, colours that are typically Mongolian, and with a geometry to the features that comes from traditional culture. I also wanted stillness in my art that reflects something of the stoicism of nomadic Mongolian culture.

The communist era brought about a massive eradication of Mongolian traditions and cultural life. Tsendsuren Narangerel, a painter and dean of the decorative art department of the Fine Art Institute of Mongolia in Ulaanbaatar, notes,

The great losses for Mongolians are the great painting traditions of the seventeenth century and their philosophy of life. The philosophy of the Mongolian is their nomadic way of life and respect for nature and the earth. The worst is that Mongolians not only lost their national art but also the pride of their culture during the Soviet period.

Munkhtsetseg Jalkhaajav, 'Can You Fly' 2009, oil on canvas, 199.5 x 199.5 cm. Image courtesy Schoeni Art Gallery.

Depicting women

Mugi, who was a young artist during Mongolia’s transition to democracy, was determined to move away from communist propaganda and revisit elements of the “eroded” Mongolian culture. This newfound freedom influenced a narrative of emotional and spiritual healing, expressed in her depictions of women.

Women in Mongolia have always been equal and this is why she doesn’t try to take a feminist point of view. ‘I just express what I think and feel. It is up to the viewer to interpret what they see. Mongolians have always respected women as equals. Women have the right to rule the household and the state. When men, in the past, went to war, women controlled everything. In traditional life men had to listen to women. So, all my paintings represent the power of women.’

‘When I had learned to paint all the physical elements of the body, it felt like my painting had gained a soul. It felt like a living being was being born through the painting and it became more spiritual as my work moved from the merely physical representation.

Jalkhaajav explores questions of spirituality, birth and death, female sexuality, personal disappointment and motherhood and uses numerous symbols from Mongolia’s cultural heritage in her work.

Munkhtsetseg Jalkhaajav, 'Earthy Inspiration Series No. 2', 2011, oil on canvas, 200 x 150 cm. Image courtesy Schoeni Art Gallery.

Munkhtsetseg Jalkhaajav, 'Steppe Mother', 2010, oil on canvas, 200 x 150 cm. Image courtesy Schoeni Art Gallery.

Munkhtsetseg Jalkhaajav, 'Tenderness', 2011, oil on canvas, 120 x 70 cm. Image courtesy Schoeni Art Gallery

From painting to collage and sculpture

The technique used by Mugi in the creation of her collage pieces differs significantly to that used for her paintings. According to Asian Art News,

In her paintings the spirit of her figures emerges from beneath the brush, but in collage she says, ‘When I create a figure I do it by tearing the paper, I use my hands and it feels like the paper itself creates the figure.’

Although Jalkhaajav never studied sculpture, she was inspired to consider it after seeing sculptures by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama in New York in 2001. She describes her sculptures as a three dimensional elaboration on her paintings and creates soft figures and forms with materials such as stretched fabric, thread, sponge, mirror, fabric and silk.

When I am making soft sculpture, I feel that I am creating a human body by the lunar calendar. In the lunar calendar, the human soul exists in different organs every day. For example, first the soul exists in the feet, then the soul exists in knees, and so on.

Munkhtsetseg Jalkhaajav, 2012, 'I don't Tell Where I'm From', soft sculpture. Image courtesy Schoeni Art Gallery.

Munkhtsetseg Jalkhaajav, 'Child's Dream', 2009, 48 x 90 x 23 cm, stretch fabric, thread and sponge (Mongolian steppe background added using Photoshop). Image courtesy Schoeni Art Gallery.

Munkhtsetseg Jalkhaajav, 'SOS', 2009, fabric and silk, 120 x 50 x 60 cm. Image courtesy Schoeni Art Gallery.

Munkhtsetseg Jalkhaajav, 'Who Am I', 2012, 60 x 24 x 26 cm, stretch fabric, thread, sponge and mirror. Image courtesy Schoeni Art Gallery.

“Earthbound”, a show of works by Mongolian artist Munkhtsetseg (Mugi) Jalkhaavjav was held at the Schoeni Art Gallery in Hong Kong from 12 April to 7 May 2012.

PB/KN/HH

Related Topics: Mongolian art, gallery shows, the female form, art in Hong Kong

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• East of Nowhere, important exhibition of rare post Soviet Central Asian art in Italy, 2009 – August 2009 – artwork from Central Asian artists hailing from nations that were formerly Soviet republics

Subscribe to Art Radar for more on contemporary Mongolian art