Art Basel in Hong Kong 2018 (Image: Courtesy of Art Basel)
The sixth edition of Art Basel Hong Kong has just wrapped up. The five-day fair featured 248 galleries from 32 countries, including many of The Artling’s partner galleries. Here’s the lowdown on the highlights of this year’s edition.
The Galleries sector of the recent Art Basel in Hong Kong boasted a strong line-up of exhibitors, bringing to the fair artworks of different artistic mediums from the 20th to 21st centuries. Meanwhile in Discoveries, emerging artists were put under the spotlight and in Kabinett, exhibitions within galleries’ booths.
Encounters, curated by Alexie Glass-Kantor, executive director of Artspace in Sydney, included 12 large-scale installations and site specific projects, of which 9 were specifically created for this year’s art fair. The sector featured work by Indian artist Subodh Gupta (Arario Gallery), Taiwanese artist Chou Yu-Cheng (Edouard Malingue Gallery), Japanese artists Shinji Ohmaki (Mind Set Art Center) andToshikatsu Endo (SCAI The Bathhouse), Filipino art duo Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan (Yavuz Gallery) and Sri Lankan-born artist Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran (Sullivan + Strumpf), among others.
Installation view of Gallery Side 2’s booth (Image: Courtesy of Art Basel)
“The Autumn Colors of a Mountain Village” (1982) by Xu Bing. Insights. (Image: Courtesy of BANK and Art Basel)
“Self Portrait (family)” (1993) by Yurie Nagashima. Insights. (Image: Courtesy of Maho Kubota Gallery and Art Basel)
Project Native Informant’s booth featuring artist Sophie Al Maria. Discoveries. (Image: Courtesy of Project Native Informant and Art Basel)
“Mirror Image (For Hong Kong)” (2018) by Yoko Ono. Kabinett. (Image: Courtesy of Galerie Lelong & Co. and Art Basel)
“Liminal Air Space-Time” (2018) by Shinji Ohmaki. Encounters. (Image: Courtesy of Mind Set Art Center and Art Basel)
“‘Mud Men’ Volume II” (2017) by Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran. Encounters. (Image: Courtesy of Sullivan + Strumpf and Art Basel)
“Lu Yang Delusional Crime and Punishment” (2016) by Lu Yang, 14’37”. Short Film Program. (Image: Courtesy of Beijing Commune and Art Basel)
In the Film sector, curator Li Zhenhua explored current socio-political issues through 59 film and video works. There were seven special screenings this year, presented at Theatre 2 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Notable screenings included Wang Xiaoshuai’s Days Gone By – Yu Hong (2009) presented by Long March Space and Qiu Anxiong’s New Classic of Mountains and Seas III (2013-17) presented by Boers-Li Gallery. Art Basel also collaborated with Hong Kong-based non-profit organisation Videotage, as well as the Nam June Paik Center, to revisit these institutions’ video art collections. In addition, short films were screened at the Hong Kong Arts Centre Cinema.
“The War That Never Was” (2017) by Chien-Chi Chang, 15’40”. Short Film Program. (Image: Courtesy of Chi-Wen Gallery and Art Basel)
This story from The Artling has been adapted for ThailandTatler.com.
