Archive for the ‘China’ Category
Posted by artradar on October 19, 2010
ART AUCTION FUNDRAISER HONG KONG CURATOR INTERVIEW
Para/Site Art Space, a non-profit organisation located in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong, will hold its annual Para/Site Fundraising Auction in early November this year. It will take place in the Kee Club, who also support the event, and is one of the most important fund-generators for the space. Para/Site is devoted to the exhibition of local and international contemporary art. It is also a space where seminars, talks and workshops take place regularly.
We had the opportunity to talk with the Para/Site Director and Curator Alvaro Rodriguez Fominaya who has been working for the space for one-and-a-half-years, half of his contracted commitment. We wanted to know more about him, Para/Site Art Space and what special surprises the upcoming auction will have for attendees.
Alvaro Rodriguez Fominaya, director and curator of Hong Kong's non-profit Para/Site Art Space. Image courtesy of Para/Site Art Space.
Fominaya and Para/Site: small scale projects with international interaction
How long has Para/Site Art Space been running for?
Para/Site was founded in 1996. It was one of the first organisations of its kind to be created in Hong Kong. In 1997, other organisations like 1Artspace were created. Para/Site started as an artists’ collective, providing a space for member artists to exhibit. Very soon it became a space for other artists coming from abroad to show their work. Para/Site started an international programme and this has continued until now. Para/Site, in a way, was a pioneer in inviting curators to work full time. I am the second curator who has joined the space. (Editor’s note: Before Fominaya, Para/Site employed Tobias Berger, a German curator who worked for the space for three years from 2006 to 2008.)
Why did you decide to join Para/Site Art Space?
Several reasons made me want to join this space: I wanted to distance myself somewhat from the European gallery/art space model. I wanted also to be able to curate all major parts of a project. In Europe, the scale of the projects I was working on was very different. I was used to working on big projects within a large team. I wanted to experiment with small scale projects, as they give me a much closer relationship with the artist. But, we also have a minor budget here! It is very challenging (smiles). The logic of culture working in a large scale organisation or in a small one is very different. I have to say that it was very shocking for me at first! I had to adapt to a different scale of project and to a different culture.
What has changed since you first joined Para/Site Art Space?
We have worked harder to develop our facilities for our Hong Kong artists and also to increase our public programme by developing some workshops…. [We are] promoting local art abroad and making dialogue between the art and artists possible in and outside Hong Kong. An example of a workshop has been the participation of the director of education at MoMA, Philip Yenawine, who talked about museums and education. [Past] workshops weren’t that much focused on artists but more on art administrators, curators, etc..
Zhang Dali, 'AK-47 (V.7)', 2010, acrylic on canvas, 102 x 82 cm, unique edition. Image courtesy of Para/Site Art Space.
What have you been doing before you joined Para/Site Art Space?
Before coming to Para/Site I worked in a very different type of environment. I was working as a curator in a contemporary and modern art museum in Spain for six years. It was a different type of organisation; it was much larger and we covered all the twentieth century. At Para/Site Art Space … it’s a totally different type of environment, being a micro non-profit organisation with only four people working on our projects. Most of those projects are commissioned works that the artists develop for us. We have a very active international programme, which is very different from [the programme we had in] my previous job. That’s one of the challenges.
How is it funded?
The money raised in the auction covers almost half of our annual budget. That’s why it’s a very important event for us. We want to fundraise approximately HKD1,000,000 during this event. [We have organised] this kind of event for almost ten years now and we always had a very successful response. The rest of the budget is covered by the government, a French petrol group and smaller sponsors like corporate entities.
Rem Koolhaas, 'Lagos', 2007, photographic paper, 112 x 84 cm, special edition for Para/Site Art Space. Image courtesy of Para/Site Art Space.
Para/Site Fundraising Auction to sell one-off and special edition works
Can you explain the fundraising event to me in a few words. How do you get the artwork? What happens on the night? How did you select the artists?
The event is basically a fundraising auction. We are very cheeky and we ask the artists to donate their work to Para/Site. Some of the participating artists have worked with us and the others just want to support us in a generous way. During the event, the idea is to sell all the works in a pleasant atmosphere. From the 28 artists that participate in the events, around ten of them will attend the event. Those ten artists are based in Hong Kong. Unfortunately we don’t have the budget to fly all the artist here but we’ll have a very good representation of the selection we made. This night is very special, because it gathers different kinds of personalities together: curators, art gallery owners, artists and art lovers. Make sure to RSVP to attend to the auction as the event, with 100 people expected, will have limited places.
For this fundraising auction, 28 artists will participate. This selection of artists is a good representation of what we do. It is a mix of local Chinese, Asian and international artists. Some are very established and others not so. We’ll have secured the participation of a very established artist, Rem Koolhaas, who is donating a photograph titled Lagos. He has never sold his work before. You know what to do if you want to get it: Come to the Kee Club and it’s yours! We also have Ai Weiwei, a very interesting artist who we already exhibited last April and May. [We have] Zhang Dali, one of the pioneers of the Chinese avant-guarde and a very established artist. We have also a good representation of artists from Hong Kong. This event is a great opportunity to get artworks of a very good quality. I want to highlight also the big support from some galleries and foundations that have donated works to Para/Site, such as Cat Street Gallery. All the works that will be part of the auction will be shown here in Para/Site space.
It’s a big challenge as we curate a large number of art works and deal with artists from all over the world,… almost thirty artists, most of whom do not live in Hong Kong. The process is really like curating a show, the only difference is that the artists donate their work instead of selling it. Surprisingly, most of the artists we approached, even those who didn’t have any past relationship with Para/Site, had heard about this space and wanted to help and support us. It is a big responsibility; it has to go well for us, but it is at the same time a celebration.
Ai Weiwei, 'Swatter', 2007, brass gilded, 0.5 x 50 x 7cm.
Fominaya on running a non-profit art organisation
How do you choose which artists to represent Para/Site Art Space’s regular exhibition?
For the most part I invite the artists I want to work with. I do review the portfolios that we receive but the process I follow is mostly by invitation. I generally focus in the region, working with Hong Kong artists on international projects as a mission. I’m really focussing on Chinese, Asian and South Asian artists. We use the fact that Hong Kong is a door between the West, China and the south of Asia to get our inspiration for creating our programme. We want to show what Hong Kong means in a political, geographical and economic sense. At the same time, I try to stay away from what you can find in a commercial gallery. Actually, that’s one of the reasons why we don’t work that much with painters. Most of the work [we show] is installation and moving image. Personally, I’m very interested in moving image art.
Has the mission of Para/Site Art Space changed over time?
We continue with the same philosophy as before my arrival. In these two years, we have been developing more international projects with Hong Kong artists. We have also done a few projects with artists from outside Hong Kong, creating a dialogue between all of them. An example is the exhibition we curated with Joseph Kosuth and Tsang Kin Wah in 2009.
Has Para/Site Art Space always been in Po Yan Street? Or has the gallery been in another location before?
In April 1997, Para/Site Art Space was located in Kennedy Town before moving to its present location in Sheung Wan District, but it looks like we will have to emigrate. Sheung Wan is an area of Hong Kong that is getting very expensive. Next door, a luxurious apartment building is being built. The prices in the area are getting as expensive as the Peak. I think we need to move to a larger space to develop different types of projects with different scales. For the moment, the space that Para/Site has suits the type of exhibitions shown, but also the human resources and the budget we have available.
Sometimes you can find very famous artists in Para/Site. They don’t do the same kind of work they usually do in big museums as they have to adapt their work to the space. They also don’t have so much pressure and they tend to use this space to experiment, trying out different types of work.
How would you like to see Para/Site Art Space grow?
The artist community in Hong Kong is very active and developed. There are many commercial galleries but most of them are small and Hong Kong needs powerful galleries that can support its artists. What we would need in Hong Kong would be a larger number of non-commercial art spaces. A bit like Para/Site but on an even larger scale in order to allow the local art community to develop their projects.
The desire we have for Para/Site is to have a larger budget and a bigger venue that will help us achieve our larger goals. We want to make possible more dialogue with other art spaces around the world in order to develop projects. But this is not a short-term idea. This needs to be done over time to assure its sustainability.
SB/KN/HH
Related Topics: non-profit, art spaces, events, curators, Hong Kong venues
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Posted in Alvaro Rodriguez Fominaya, Art spaces, Curators, Events, From Art Radar, Funding, Hong Kong, Interviews, Nonprofit, Professionals, Venues | Tagged: Ai Weiwei, AK-47 (V.7), Alvaro Rodriguez Fominaya, art administrators, art auctions, art collectors, art foundations, art funding, art museums, art seminars, Asian art, Cat Street Gallery, contemporary art, contemporary Chinese art, corporate funding, curator, exhibition, funding, fundraising, fundraising events, gallery director, government funding, hong kong, Hong Kong art, installation art, international contemporary art, Joseph Kosuth, Kee Club, Kennedy Town, Lagos, MOMA, Nadim Abbas, non-profit, non-profit art organisation, Painting, Para/Site Art Space, Para/Site Fundraising Auction, Philip Yenawine, Po Yan Street, Rem Koolhaas, Sheung Wan District, Swatter, Talks, Tobias Berger, Tsang Kin Wah, Video, Video art, workshops, Zhang Dali | Leave a Comment »
Posted by artradar on October 14, 2010
HONG KONG STREET ART URBAN ART SERIES
In this first feature in our Hong Kong Street Art Series, Art Radar Asia will introduce you to one of the newest art spaces in Hong Kong to show street and urban art, Above Second. In this post, co-owners Jasper Wong and May Wong discuss the importance of supporting the local art community and encouraging people to consider creative career options, as well as explain their choice of location and their first-time buyer appeal.
In a steep lane in Sai Ying Pun, Above Second stands aloof from busy streets and is a fifteen minute walk from the gallery-saturated Central district. This glass-fronted art space with a graffiti wall on the side was founded and is run by Jasper Wong and May Wong.
Above Second, one of Hong Kong's newest art spaces dedicated to street and urban art. Image courtesy of Above Second.
Before Above Second came into being, May dedicated most of her time to a nomadic gallery called Apostrophe which travelled to different spaces to do shows for artists from predominantly Denmark, the US and the UK. She found out about Jasper a year and a half ago after discovering his works on the blog of hip hop artist Kanye West and then inviting him to do a show at G.O.D, a Hong Kong-based lifestyle store. After some talking over a gallery plan in Hong Kong they ended up opening Above Second together earlier this year.
Half a gallery and half an art space
Above Second is very different from other mainstream galleries in the Central district in many ways. To begin with, Jasper won’t even consider it a gallery.
“It’s not a gallery in the strictest sense in what people usually perceive galleries to be. People see galleries to be like blank white walls… but we decided to turn it into more like a, I guess you can call it a creative club? That’s why we leave the word gallery in front of the name, ‘cause we don’t want to be specifically one thing.”
Above gallery is special in a way that it is a combination of a gallery and an art space. Jasper uses the gallery space at the front for painting and exhibition while May uses the art space at the back for art classes in the weekend.
Children drawing in the Above Second art space on Saturday. Image courtesy of Above Second.
Adults painting in the Above Second art space. Image courtesy of Above Second.
May elaborates on this concept:
“I think the main reason [for teaching art classes] is to generate more people to come into the gallery to see art. In a way, we enjoy teaching and we enjoy people coming in to share what art is and just be creative.”
“Basically when we teach (I’m talking about [teaching] three-year-olds to adults; everybody can come), we’re just giving them the materials, and then they can do whatever they want, usually. But we kind of try to give them a concept or give them some kind of inspiration for arts. For instance, we did a class that was based on Mondrian paintings, so we kind of restrict the colors to red, yellow, blue, and black, very Mondrian. Then we just let the students do what they want with it.”
Hong Kong street art gallery Above Second held exhibition "King for a Day" in July this year. Image courtesy of Above Second.
Mission to support local art and promote art as career
Jasper also hopes that, through the art classes for children, the young generation in Hong Kong will come to consider art creation as a career path rather than just a hobby. He says,
“A lot of times I feel, from what I’ve experienced here, is that a lot of the parents tend to steal their kids away from creative pursuits. Their tendency [is] that if their kids are interested in music or art or dance or something creative, then it is seen more as a hobby, rather than something that they can dedicate their life to.”
Unlike many mainstream galleries in Hong Kong, Above Second is also less business-oriented and more driven by the goal to improve the creative environment in Hong Kong. Jasper states,
“Most galleries in Central, you probably see, they are all very commercial. They are all pretty much paint stores. They are trying to sell what’s hot, what’s the hot trend, and what people will buy at the time. They tend to show all the same kind of art. So when you go to one gallery it’s pretty much all the same. And it’s not very accessible to a lot of local people and they don’t tend to promote emerging artists or even to try to make the creative scene better in Hong Kong. So we started our gallery … there’s an altruistic mission to it: to try to make [the Hong Kong art scene] better, to try to bring in the emerging artists that have never been shown in Hong Kong or to try to promote local artists…. There’s a goal to try in a small way to make Hong Kong’s creative community better.”
Above Second doesn’t formally represent any artists as most of the traditional galleries do. Instead, it continually organises shows for different artists from around the world with intriguing “energies” and “aesthetics”. “We are showing the creative energy all around the world [by] supporting young and emerging artists from all around the world,” says Jasper.
Price range attracts young first-time buyers
As May points out, works in most of the Above Second shows are for sale at affordable prices and because of this the gallery has attracted a number of first time buyers.
“For the show King for a Day, we had three prints there and they all sold. Most of (our buyers) are under thirty years old or around thirty and they are all first time buyers. It’s really great to see, because the prints themselves are pretty reasonably [priced], and when people come in they are like ‘Wow! This is the first time that I have gone into a gallery where I can afford to buy something.’ So we kind of encourage that trend…. [In] some galleries the price ranges are at least 10,00 dollars. We [are] like a couple of hundred, four digits, five digits.”
Visitors and guests crowd outside Above Second at an exhibition opening. Image courtesy of Above Second.
Currently, Above Second is showing Nebula, an exhibition of paper-cut and stencil works by Danish artist Mathias and illustrations of another Danish artist Michael. This Friday, Above Second will open Primary, an exhibition of work by Hong Kong street artist group Graphicairlines. Says May of her hopes for the space,
“For me, in five years, I hope that the gallery will grow, have a couple more staff…. For us it’s still difficult to pay for all the expenses, the shipping and stuff, to get artists here, but we’re trying….”
CBKM/KN/KCE
Related Topics: Hong Kong venues, street art, interviews
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Posted in Art spaces, Artist-run, China, Hong Kong, Interviews, Medium, Street art, Venues | Tagged: Above Second, Apostrophe, art classes, art exhibitions, art gallery, art shows, art spaces, Carmen Bat Ka Man, contemporary art, creative club, creative environment, Denmark, Drawing, Emerging artists, emerging gallery, first-time buyer, G.O.D, gallery, gallery space, Graphicairlines, hip hop, Hong Kong art spaces, Hong Kong street art series, independent art spaces, Jasper Wong, Kanye West, King for a Day, local art community, local artists, mainstream galleries, May Wong, Mondrian, Nebula, New gallery, Painting, Primary, Sai Ying Pun, street art, street art business, street art culture, street art gallery, street artists, teaching art, the UK, the US, urban art, urban art gallery, urban artists | Leave a Comment »
Posted by artradar on October 13, 2010
PERFORMANCE ART HONG KONG FESTIVALS
Art Radar Asia would like to notify you of what we consider an important and interesting Asia Art Archive performance art festival, Action Script – Symposium on Performance Art Practice and Documentation in Asia, which will be held in Hong Kong later this month. We have copied the press release below to give you more information:
Event flyer for Action Script: Symposium on Performance Art Practice and Documentation in Asia, to be held in late October this year and organised by Asia Art Archive.
“Performance art” or the production of “live art” by artists has become a vital element in the flourishing contemporary art scene throughout Asia. Festivals celebrating performance art proliferate in Asian cities and provide significant platforms for interaction, activism, and creative development. In addition toquestions concerning the presentation, contextualisation, and reception of performance art, there are many issues surrounding the documentation of the ephemeral art form. Over the course of a few days in October, internationally respected performance artists, archivists, and researchers will gather together to critically discuss the various challenges associated with performance work. The aim is not only to provide better resources and a deeper understanding of performance art, but also to further encourage its cultivation.
Round-table Seminars
21-22/10 [Thu & Fri]
Experts from around the world will come together to exchange ideas concerning the practice and preservation of performance art. Special attention will be given to such topics as festival as a platform for performance art, challenges faced by artists in the region, technical complexities of documentation, and the philosophical dilemmas ofarchiving/historicizing art creations that are inherently impermanent.Participating professionals include Martha Wilson of Franklin Furnace Archive (USA), Paul Clarke of Live Art Archives (UK), Farah Wardani of Indonesian Visual Art Archive, Thomas Berghuis who researches Chinese performance art, Ray Langenbach, a scholar and artist, and Wen Yau of Asia Art Archive. The 2-day roundtable discussion will be moderated by Debra Wacks, an art historian who specialises in performance art, and Ko Siu-lan, an artist and curator who has participated in numerous festivals across Asia. They will be joined by artists and festival organizers from the region to analyse past experiences and to consider the possible future of performance work in Asia.
Enquiry & registration：2815 1112 / actionscript@aaa.org.hk
Artist Talk by Tehching Hsieh: In conversation with art critic Lee Weng-choy
23/10, 2:30pm [Sat] Agnès b. CINEMA!, Hong Kong Arts Centre
The exceptional series of actions entitled One Year Performances by Tehching Hsieh from 1978 to 1986 have played a significant role in the history of performance art: for one year the artist locked himself inside a cage, another year he methodically punched a time clock every hour on the hour, one year he lived completely outdoors, one year he conducted his life while tied to another artist without ever touching, and for an entire year he did no art. Along with his Thirteen Year Plan of doing art without publishing for 13 years, Hsieh’s body of work explores essential concerns of life, time, and being. Hsieh will talk about his lifeworks in conversation with the Singapore-based art critic, Lee Weng-choy. (The talk will be conducted in English and some Mandarin.)
Seats are limited and on a first-come-first-served basis. Please make reservations in advance：actionscript＠aaa.org.hk / 2815 1112
Performances
23/10 [Sat] 4.30pm Outside Hong Kong Arts Centre 24/10 [Sun] 3pm McAulay Studio, Hong Kong Arts Centre
An opportunity to witness Asia’s vibrant performance art scene will be offered by local and regional artists presenting their exciting and thought-provoking work to the Hong Kong public. Some of the artists include: Lee Wen (Singapore), Chumpon Apisuk (Thailand), Wang Mo-lin (Taiwan), Shu Yang (Mainland China), Aye Ko (Myanmar), Yuan Mor’O Ocampo (the Philippines), Sanmu (Hong Kong), Yuenjie (Hong Kong), Mok Chiu-yu (Hong Kong), Ko Siu-lan (Hong Kong).
Tickets：$90 / $70* full-time students, senior citizens aged 60 or above, or people with disabilities) Enquiry：2891 8482 / 2891 8488 / cccd@cccd.hk
Tickets will be available at URBTIX from 20/09/2010 onwards.
Workshop
23/10/2010 [Sat] 10am-1pm McAulay Studio, Hong Kong Arts Centre
International and local performance artists will host a workshop to explore their creative processes involved. Suitable for anyone actively interested in doing performance work.
Fee：$300 / $150* (*full-time students) Enquiry & registration: 2891 8482 / 2891 8488 / cccd@cccd.hk
Action Script at Lingnan University
25/10/2010 [Mon]
Workshop, seminars and performances will be held at Lingnan University campus.
We hope to provide some coverage of the event in November for those readers who are not based in Hong Kong or cannot attend. Keep an eye open.
KN/KCE
Related Topics: festivals, performance art, Hong Kong venues
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Posted in Endurance, Festival, Hong Kong, Performance, Taiwanese | Tagged: Action Script, Action Script - Symposium on Performance Art Practice and Documentation in Asia, art festivals, art scholars, art seminars, artist talk, Asia Art Archive, Aye Ko, Chumpon Apisuk, Farah Wardani, festivals, Franklin Furnace Archive, hong kong, Indonesian Visual Art Archive, Ko Siu-lan, Lee Wen, Lee Weng-choy, Lingnan University, live art, Live Art Archives, Martha Wilson, Mok Chiu-yu, Paul Clarke, performance art, performance artists, Ray Langenbach, Sanmu, Shu Yang, Tehching Hsieh, Thomas Berghuis, Wang Mo-lin, Wen Yau, Yuan Mor'O Ocampo, Yuenjie | Leave a Comment »
Posted by artradar on October 10, 2010
ART PRICE DATABASE DEALER NEWS
Artnet group, the leading art price database and online art auction company has chosen the year 2010 to branch out into a brand new venture: art dealing. And it chose a surprising venue for its debut.
Artnet booth at Hong Kong International Art and Antiques Fair 2010.
In a brief chat with Max Wolf, Modern and Contemporary Specialist in the Artnet booth at Hong Kong International Art and Antiques Fair 2010, Art Radar learned more about the ambitious plans Artnet has to break into high-priced art dealing and what has surprised the Artnet representatives about the collectors they have met on their first visit to Hong Kong.
Most people know you from your Price Database but this is a new venture?
It has spawned from our online auctions. We found a need to extend from our private treaties with dealers and collectors and a lot of the galleries on our website who perhaps don’t want to sell the work on the website, perhaps because it is a more significant work.
Yes, so this is the first time that we are showing work which we are not necessarily putting online for sale.
This is the first time you are in a fair?
Exactly.
Why did you choose this fair?
It seemed to align itself with this collection we are offering … this complete set of Warhols.… Hong Kong seemed like an ideal venue and it just serendipitously worked out with the timing that it just made sense…
Right. So how has your experience been?
Great, we have had considerable interest from a handful of collectors. We shall see; today should be pretty revealing…. We took the less-is-more approach and I think this has worked out well for us. We have this Warhol portfolio, a Haring, another Warhol and two Ashers.
What do you propose to do with this new arm? What do you hope for your new venture?
Sales! Of course. (laughs)
And apart from that (laughs) do you plan to go to more fairs in the future?
Absolutely.
Which fairs would you like to try?
Well, depending on how this works out…. But with our online auctions and our private treaty sector of the business this seems like the natural progression for us.
What is your background in art?
I am one of a handful of auction specialists with Artnet.
So you didn’t come from the art world to Artnet?
Yes, I came with an auction background and was hired by Artnet to become an online auction specialist. There are six of us specialising in photography, unique painting works and prints.
How is that going?
Our online auctions are doing really really well. It seems that we are a panacea for the economy in a downturn. We are useful to collectors who don’t want to wait six months to consign a piece to a bricks and mortar auction house and then wonder whether it will be bought in. And then they have to pay for shipping and insurance even if it is bought in. With us they send us a .jpeg and within two weeks have money in [their] pocket.
That is great, great for the art world, great for collectors.
It is great. We have really enjoyed seeing the diversity of buyers. We sell to a lot of dealers but we also sell to private collectors, new buyers [and] new young collectors from all over the world…. From Australia, Kazakhstan, from all over. You would be surprised at the breadth.
You must have a great deal of information about where new collectors are coming from, the data…
Yes, the data that our technical team can gather, where and when is pretty impressive…
Have you been to Hong Kong before?
No.
What kind of collectors have you met over the last three days?
A wide variety but we have seen a considerable number of serious collectors from Taiwan. We were surprised…. We thought we would see more Mainlanders but we have seen Taiwanese and local Hong Kong collectors, some Koreans and Brits, but we were surprised by the size of the Taiwanese presence.
About Artnet services (source: Artnet website)
In the mid 1980s Artnet developed its first product, the Price Database. Today the Price Database has a broad base of customers dominated by major auction houses, art dealers, museums, and insurance companies. Representing auction results from over 500 international auction houses, the Price Database covers more than 4 million auction results by over 188,000 artists, ranging from Old Masters to Contemporary Art.In 1995 the company transitioned the Price Database to the Internet and introduced a second product, the online Gallery Network, building and hosting websites for art dealers and galleries on its platform. In 1999, the online auction business was launched and now has 60,000 collectors visiting the site each month.
KCE/KN
Related Topics: auctions, Market watch, collectors, Hong Kong
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Posted in Auction staff, Auctions, Business of art, Hong Kong, Interviews, Market watch | Tagged: art auctions, art dealers, art dealing, art fairs, art Hong Kong, Artnet, HKIAAF, Hong Kong International Art and Antiques Fair, Max Wolf | 2 Comments »
Posted by artradar on October 7, 2010
ART AUCTION RESULTS SOTHEBY’S HONG KONG PRESS RELEASE
We present you with the latest press release from Sotheby’s Hong Kong on their autumn sale of modern and contemporary Southeast Asian paintings:
SOTHEBY’S HONG KONG
MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY SOUTHEAST ASIAN PAINTINGS 2010 AUTUMN SALE
TOTALS HK$78 MILLION / US$10 MILLION
(high estimate: HK$45 million / US$5.7 million*)
THE HIGHEST TOTAL FOR A VARIOUS-OWNER SALE
IN THIS CATEGORY AT SOTHEBY’S HONG KONG
************
ACHIEVING NUMEROUS ARTIST RECORDS AT AUCTION
“FATHER OF INDONESIAN MODERNISM” –
S.SUDJOJONO’S A NEW DAWN SOLD FOR AN IMPRESSIVE
HK$10.7 MILLION / US$1.4 MILLION
OVER 4 TIMES THE HIGH ESTIMATE
FILIPINO ARTIST RONALD VENTURA ’S NATURAL-LIES FETCHED
HK$2.5 MILLION / US$326,000
9 TIMES THE HIGH ESTIMATE
Other artist records were set for works by Indonesian artists including
Gede Mahendra Yasa, Ay Tjoe Christine, Samsul Arifin, Hendra Gunawan and Filipino artist Andres Barrioquinto, among others
Following the tremendous success of the Spring sale, Sotheby’s Autumn sale of Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Paintings today commanded a stunning total of HK$78 million / US$10 million (high estimate: HK$45 million / US$5.7 million*), the highest sale total for a various owners sale in this category at Sotheby’s Hong Kong. Today’s sale provoked active participation in the room and over the phone. There was particularly strong interest in top-end Southeast Asian contemporary paintings, which led to two auction records set for two artists – S. Sudjojono , Father of Indonesian Modernism, and Filipino artist Ronald Ventura.
MOK Kim Chuan, Sotheby’s Head of Southeast Asian Paintings, commented: “Top end Contemporary works fetched strong prices today with many pieces bringing multiples of their pre-sale high estimates. Among Modern works, the supreme highlight was the S. Sudjojono, a museum-quality example of the artist’s work which spurred a fierce bidding battle among nine bidders before selling for HK$10.7 million, a price which was four times the top estimate and set a record for the artist at auction. These results confirm the strategy of using conservative estimates to attract competition and let the market set the price level.”
The sale of 20th Century Chinese Art and Contemporary Asian Art continue in the evening.
Attached please find the relevant press releases, top-ten list as well as an image of the saleroom for your use. Should you need further information, please do not hesitate to contact Sotheby’s Hong Kong Press Office on +852 2868 6755 /Winnie.tang@sothebys.com.
* Estimates do not include buyer’s premium
Regards,
Sotheby’s Hong Kong Press
KN/KCE
Related Topics: Southeast Asian art, market watch – auctions, business of art, collectors
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Posted in Artist Nationality, Auctions, Business of art, China, Collectors, Hong Kong, Market watch, Medium, Painting, Southeast Asian, Venues | Tagged: Andres Barrioquinto, art auction results, auction, auctions, Ay Tjoe Christine, Gede Mahendra Yasa, Hendra Gunawan, MOK Kim Chuan, Ronald Ventura, S. Sudjojono, Samsul Arifin, Sothebys, Sothebys Hong Kong, Southeast Asian art, Southeast Asian paintings | 1 Comment »
Posted by artradar on October 7, 2010
CHINESE INK CHINESE ARTISTS ARTIST INTERVIEWS
In a conversation with Chinese-based art blog RedBox Review the artist Liang Quan (b. 1948), living and working in Shenzhen, China, explains how ink painting is used in contemporary art and how this exploration continues to follow the philosophy of traditional Chinese painting.
Liang Quan is considered as one of the pioneers of contemporary ink painting.
“Ink painting”, also known as “wash painting”, was developed in China during the Tang Dynasty. Ink painting or shui-mo hua in Chinese (水墨畫) is composed of water, shui and Chinese ink, mo. In Western art, using similar techniques, it is known as drawings.
Liang Quan, 'Tea Stain No. 3', 2008, ink and paper, 63.8x48 cm.
In this conversation Liang Quan highlights to RedBox the difference between ink painting and ink art:
The exploration of using ink and referring to the tradition of Chinese painting is part of a greater narrative to define a cultural identity.
American contemporary artists like Brice Marden and Cy Twombly inspired Liang Quan while he was living and working abroad. On top of using ink painting and water, Liang incorporates paper into his works.
Liang’s ink painting seems abstract but in reality he follows the philosophy of this art. He aims to capture the soul of the subject rather that trying to reproduce the exact appearance of it. As he relates to RedBox,
My use of collage, combining strips of ink and/or tea stained paper, may seem abstract to the unknowing eye, and without direct correlation to a depiction of reality. But my works, collages, are actually diagrams of traditional Chinese landscape paintings and the Chinese still life painting genre of birds and flowers.
Interesting difference between ink painting in West and East: perspective
Having explored ink painting in Western art, Liang Quan observed a major difference between it and Chinese landscape painting: multiple points of perspective are used where Western painting uses only one or two. As he relates to RedBox,
To view a Chinese painting, one’s eye usually follows the flow of water from the bottom of the mountains as it meanders farther into the hills and up the composition of the painting.
Following this philosophy and adding paper strips and color makes Liang’s painting abstract.
After exploring the multiple points of perspective in Chinese landscape painting, Liang Quan combined this concept with the ideals of Nan Pai, also known as Southern School. As said in the RedBox article,
By addressing the theme of Chinese tradition, he is distinguished from his contemporaries choosing to use painting as a depiction of or social response to modern society.
SB/KN/KCE
Related Topics: Chinese artists, definitions, ink
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Posted in Artist Nationality, Calligraphy, China, Chinese, Classic/Contemporary, Collage, Drawing, Ink, Interviews, Landscape, Painting, Shenzhen, Styles, Themes and subjects, Trends | Tagged: Brice Marden, Chinese art, Chinese art blogs, Chinese contemporary art, Chinese ink, Chinese tradition, collage, contemporary art, Cy Twombly, drawings, ink painting, Liang Quan, Nan Pai, perspective, Redbox Review, Saloua Bougajdi, Shenzhen, shui-mo hua, Southern School, Tang Dynasty, Tea Stain No. 3, traditional Chinese Landscape, Western art | 1 Comment »
Posted by artradar on October 6, 2010
HONG KONG STREET ART URBAN ART SERIES
While the street art gallery scene in Europe has been pushed into maturity by world-renowned and highly sought after urban artists such as Banksy, it is only in recent years that it has started to emerge in Hong Kong. In response to the burgeoning street art scene in the city, Art Radar Asia is launching a Hong Kong Street Art Series to introduce to you Hong Kong galleries which show urban art. With the prominence of a number of local street artists and the founding of at least three urban art galleries in the city in the past couple of years, we will observe how street art is being taken into new contemporary art galleries in Hong Kong.
We introduce this series with a brief interview with Jasper Wong, co-owner of Above Second art space, in which he presents his views on Hong Kong street art and the urban art business, and how the Hong Kong scene compares with other more established communities.
Jasper Wong wouldn’t call himself a street artist, as he doesn’t like being restricted to any particular form of art. After studying graphic design in Portland, illustration at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco and manga (Japanese comic books) in Kyoto Seika University, he returned to Hong Kong to work on various art projects. Earlier this year, he started Above Second with his partner May Wong.
Jasper Wong (middle) at Above Second's September show "Nebula". Image courtesy of Above Second.
This collaborative work by Jasper Wong and his half-brother Wu Yue was shown in Above Second at the March show "Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am". Image courtesy of Above Second.
What do you think of street art in Hong Kong? How is it different from the street art in Europe?
I know a lot of street artists in Hong Kong. They are all doing their own thing in this city, so I really respect that. They get up all over the city and also pursue other creative outlets such as apparel, etc. They have their own styles. It’s not that much different from the rest of the world. The ones in Hong Kong are influenced by their own cultures growing up in Hong Kong, and [they] respond to it. Other artists around the world do the same and respond to their own individual cultures. Hong Kong is very small though. There needs to be more artists out there pushing like SFZ (Start from zero) and Graphicairlines, Invasion guys like Sinic and Xeme. (I meant the Invasion Magazine crew. Invasion Magazine was started by Sinic. They’re one of the few graffiti magazines in Asia and the only one in Hong Kong.)
What about the sticker culture here? Is it a global culture?
Sticker culture is global. It’s an aspect of street art. People do pieces with spraycans, wheatpaste, stickers, and sometimes even create installations by knitting. It’s about taking art to the streets. There are no rules. Look at Invader – he creates art with ceramic tile.
We have been told that in Hong Kong there are lots of limitations for street art. Do you agree with this statement?
The only limitation is yourself. You can do whatever you want, thanks to the Internet. You can get your art to people all over the world. So I don’t agree. I just agree on the point that people in Hong Kong don’t care about art as much, they think of it as useless. But they don’t see that they are surrounded by art from the clothes they wear to the movies they watch and the chairs they sit on.
But shouldn’t street art be in the street rather than the Internet? Or is it changing now?
I’m not talking about art being on the Internet persay. I’m talking about getting people to know about your art. You use the Internet as a tool to get the word out so people can learn about Hong Kong street art through the use of the Internet. The Internet changed the game for everything.
How would you describe the status of street art in Hong Kong?
Street art is up and coming out here. There is a small group of individuals seeking to get the word out about it and they get up strong around the city. It’ll take some time for it to be[come] bigger but it’s definitely happening.
What do you think about the street art business in Hong Kong?
Street art can’t be thought of as a business. The words together are an oxymoron. Street art is for the people. That’s why it’s on the street; you can view it for free. Some artist segway their art into products and that is a way to get the word out, an additional channel to inform people about your art. In that case, the business plays a role in supporting the art.
So apart from the street, street art business and the Internet, can you identify other channels for showing or promoting street art?
Everything can be a channel if you’re creative. Of course, there are the traditional ones like magazines and television, but there are no rules.
Who are the important street artists in Hong Kong?
Start from zero and Graphicairlines. Those are the two I know personally and they work hard here in Hong Kong.
Over the coming weeks we will be presenting a number of interviews with urban art gallery owners in Hong Kong. With these we hope to provide an in-depth study of the current and future aims of this constantly evolving community.
CBKM/KN/KCE
Related Topics: Hong Kong venues, street art, interviews
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Posted in China, From Art Radar, Gallerists/dealers, Hong Kong, Interviews, Professionals, Street art, Venues | Tagged: Above Second, art and the Internet, art spaces, Banksy, California College of the Arts, Carmen Bat Ka Man, contemporary art, Graffiti, graffiti art, graffiti magazines, Graphic Airlines, graphic design, Graphicairlines, hong kong, Hong Kong art spaces, Hong Kong street art series, illustration, independent art spaces, Invader, Invasion Magazine, Japanese comic books, Jasper Wong, Kyoto Seika University, manga, May Wong, Nebula, New gallery, series, SFZ, Sinic, Start from Zero, sticker art, sticker culture, street art, street art business, street art gallery, street artists, urban art, urban art gallery, urban artists, Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am, Wu Yue, Xeme | Leave a Comment »
Posted by artradar on September 21, 2010
ARTIST-RUN SPACES VIDEOS PERFORMANCE ART VIDEO ART STOP MOTION
We bring you another summary of an [art]attack show by ChooChooTV, this one profiling C&G Artpartment, founded by Clara Cheung, who studied art in the United States for four years, and Cheng Yee Man (Gum), an HKAPA and RMIT graduate. Artpartment is a gallery and studio space in Hong Kong dedicated to the production and exhibition of experimental art.
Artists Clara Cheung and Cheng Yee Man (Gum) discuss their Hong Kong studio and gallery C&G Artpartment on ChooChooTV.
We set up Artpartment for two reasons. Firstly we wanted a place to exhibit artworks, like an art gallery or a space for experimental art, and secondly we wanted to create a studio to teach painting. Clara Cheung on [art]attack
The artists own collaboration lies in performance art pieces, mostly conducted on the streets of Hong Kong. Says Gum,
“I totally disagree that an exhibition doesn’t require an audience;… for any exhibition, the more audience you have the better it is. We want to do things that attract people and performing art can provide that. You are forced to view it since we are on location in front of you.”
The video focuses on art created by the pair for the stop motion art group exhibition, “No Money for Art vs. No Time for Art”, held at Artpartment. They use video, drawing and painting to create videos expressing the social aspirations behind their work.
“We went to Poland in September for an art camp, it’s similar to an artist residency programme, and there were a lot of artists from different countries. Our work that we are exhibiting was inspired during that programme.” Clara Cheung on [art]attack
Both artists have strong views about the job of an artist and these are expressed in the video.
“The direction of our artwork is firstly, about our society and secondly, about the art society…. Art should create awareness, it should also be something we’ve not seen before, so the way we should approach art is to use it to reflect the society and political issues.” Cheng Yee Man (Gum) on [art]attack
“Different art media should all be part of the art scene. We need to unite and strengthen the art scene.” Clara Cheung on [art]attack
Watch the video here (length 6:39 minutes)
KN/HH
Related Topics: videos, video art, performance art, Hong Kong artists, artist-run spaces
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Posted in Art spaces, Artist Nationality, Artist-run, China, Drawing, Emerging artists, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Artists, Medium, Painting, Performance, Social, Stop motion, Venues, Video, Videos | Tagged: art camps, art galleries, art society, art studios, artist residency, artist residency programmes, artist-run space, artist-run spaces, artist-run spaces China, Artpartment, C&G Artpartment, Cheng Yee Man (Gum), ChooChooTV, Clara Cheung, experimental art, HKAPA, hong kong, Hong Kong art galleries, Hong Kong art studios, Internet TV, No Money for Art vs. No Time for Art, performance art, performance artists, Poland, political art, RMIT, societal art, united states, Video, Video art, [art]attack | Leave a Comment »
Posted by artradar on September 8, 2010
CONTEMPORARY CHINESE ART PUBLICATION
Asia Art Archive (AAA) and The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) celebrate the completion of two documentary projects that are essential to a deeper understanding of the history of contemporary Chinese art: AAA’s Materials of the Future: Documenting Contemporary Chinese Art from 1980-1990 and MoMA’s publication of Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents. These milestone projects focus on the dramatic development and growth of Chinese contemporary art over the last three decades by documenting, collecting and translating critical discussions, primary materials and key texts.
Left: AAA's archiving project, 'Materials of the Future: Documenting Contemporary Chinese Art from 1980-1990'. Right: MoMA's publication, 'Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents'. Image courtesy of AAA and MoMA.
From the press release:
Materials of the Future: Documenting Contemporary Chinese Art from 1980-1990
The 1980s was a seminal period in China’s recent art history. During this time, many of China’s most celebrated artists attended art academies, held their first exhibitions, and developed the intellectual foundation for the art practices that have contributed to their present success. In order to foster research into this transformative moment in Chinese history, AAA has undertaken a four year focused archiving project; collecting, indexing and preserving rare documentary and primary source materials.
AAA’s largest and most systematically organised archive of documentary material on the period will be freely accessible and open to the public from AAA’s physical premises. It will also be available through a dedicated web portal www.china1980s.org starting this month.
Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents
Despite the liveliness and creativity of avant-garde Chinese art in the post-Mao era and its prominence in the world of international contemporary art, a systematic introduction to this important work in any Western language is still lacking… Arranged in chronological order, the texts guide readers through the development of avant-garde Chinese art from 1976 until 2006.
It is edited by Wu Hung, Director of the Center for the Art of East Asia and Consulting Curator at the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago. The book will be available at MoMA Stores and online at http://www.MoMAStore.org starting this month.
Public Programme
The co-launch will be accompanied by a series of discussion forums with artists, curators and scholars:
PAST Hong Kong, 7 September, 6.30 pm, Hong Kong Arts Centre
Speakers include: Chen Tong (Artist), Doryun Chong (Associate Curator of Painting & Sculpture at MoMA), Jane DeBevoise (Chair of Board of Directors of AAA), Wang Aihe (Associate Professor, School of Chinese, The University of Hong Kong), Wu Hung (Director of the Center for the Art of East Asia, and Consulting Curator at the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago) and Xu Tan (Artist)
Beijing, 9 September, 6.30 pm, The Central Academy of Fine Arts
Speakers include: Doryun Chong, Jane DeBevoise, Song Dong (Artist), Huang Rui (Artist), Wu Hung and Xu Bing (Artist)
Shanghai, 11 September, 4 pm, MadeIn Company (formerly BizArt)
Speakers include: Doryun Chong, Jane DeBevoise, Wu Shanzhuan (Artist), Shi Yong (Artist), Wu Hung and Yu Youhan (Artist)
New York, 15 October, 6:30 pm, The Museum of Modern Art, New York
This program presents Jane DeBevoise, Sarah Suzuki (Assistant Curator of Prints & Illustrated Books at MoMA) and Wu Hung in conversation with leading artists and critics. The event will be followed by a reception, where the book will be available for purchase.
Organisers of co-launch: ArtHub Asia (Shanghai), Asia Art Archive (Hong Kong), The Central Academy of Fine Arts (Beijing), and The Museum of Modern Art (New York)
SXB/KN
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Posted by artradar on August 31, 2010
ART PROFESSIONALS CHINESE CONTEMPORARY ART ART HISTORY
Weng Ling has been an essential figure over the course of Chinese contemporary art history. Since graduating in art history from the Central Academy of Fine Art (CAFA) in 1989, she has achieved much. In this Art Radar interview, Weng outlines the relationship, as she sees it, between fashion and art and demystifies the perception of her as a “fashion-forward person”, as well as providing insight into the day-to-day activities involved in creating a television art show and running a premier art institution.
She was named director of the Gallery of the Central Academy of Fine Art in 1996, where the likes of Wang Guangyi and Zhang Xiaogang had their first solo shows. In 2001, she curated a breakthrough show called “Towards a New Image: Twenty Years of Chinese Contemporary Painting – 1981-2001”. For the first time, a canon of Chinese contemporary artists showed their works at national museums in China. In 2002, she helped curate the Shanghai Biennale “Urban Creation”. She then moved on to the Shanghai Gallery of Art at Three-on-the-Bund, a high-end lifestyle project backed by Chinese American lawyer and entrepreneur Handel Lee. The gallery enjoyed critical success during the six years under Weng Ling’s direction.
In 2008, she returned to Beijing to run the Beijing Center for the Arts at Ch’ien Men 23, another integrated premier lifestyle development with her long-term business partner Handel Lee. In 2010, she ventured into media to produce and host “Arts China”. “Arts China” was the first in-depth interview program to focus exclusively on the top names in the art and culture world in China, including Xu Bing, Zhang Xiaogang, Zhang Huan, Tan Dun, Cui Jian, and more. Weng Ling blurs the lines between visual art, architecture, design and environmentalism. She collaborates with artists, designers, businessmen, scientists and some of the top institutions and museums in the world.
Art Radar Asia met up with Weng Ling one afternoon to discuss some of her projects.
Weng Ling, an essential figure in China's contemporary art community. Image courtesy of Beijing Centre for the Arts.
Weng Ling on “Arts China”
How did you decide to focus on contemporary art when directing the Gallery of CAFA?
It was a natural choice for me. I like art and sincerely wanted to introduce contemporary artists’ reflections on society to a broader audience. I don’t think one has to be a contemporary art connoisseur to have contact with contemporary art itself. Many in the West started promoting Chinese contemporary art because some of the works reflect the conflicts in contemporary Chinese society. After Western capital was injected into the market to raise the monetary value of Chinese contemporary art, Chinese media started following the hype. Neither of the two groups really appreciates Chinese contemporary art based on a very genuine interest in Chinese artists.
Does this partially explain why you ventured into media and produced “Arts China”?
Indeed. The media tends to misinterpret me as a very fashionable person. My work always centers on promoting the most cutting-edge and avant-garde art projects and ideas. So that partially explains why the media could misread me as a “fashion-forward person”. My work can be challenging, as I often face doubt and lack of understanding. This is also the predicament many celebrated artists, designers, architects, directors and musicians find themselves in. So I thought it would be nice to have a casual chat with these friends of mine, in order to showcase the real art and culture figures in China.
The final product looks incredibly real and has a documentary feel to it. How was the process?
It involved a huge amount of work, it sometimes took a full day to record one interview. Luckily, as old friends recounting life and the old stories over all these years, we were very engaged in the conversations. For example, Wang Guangyi looked so carefree on the outside when sharing his longing to hold on to his earliest emotions as a young artist. It was so touching and I almost cried. I have to activate all of the different “channels” in my brain during these interviews, talking like an “insider”. It was quite demanding physically and intellectually. Many museum directors really appreciate “Arts China”, recognising its value in recording Chinese contemporary art history.
Weng Ling on Beijing Center for the Arts
To you, what’s unique about the Beijing Center for the Arts (BCA)?
We are a hybrid art institution between an art museum and a commercial gallery. On one hand, we discover and promote good Chinese contemporary art that confronts reality and/or has traditional Chinese underpinnings. On the other hand, we are dedicated to promoting collaborations between contemporary art and other disciplines and creating internationally valuable projects. With no precedent in China, it is very interesting to create this space.
It sounds like BCA is your new brainchild, a way in which many of your past experiences can come together naturally.
Yes. Our “BCA Green Art Project” series last year included “Shan Shui: Nature on the Horizon of Art” and “3D City: Future China”, focusing on nature and the urban city respectively. We cooperated with many top-notch artists, architects, scientists, environmentalists and NGOs, governments and businesses from around the world to realise the project. It was a world-wide conversation well beyond the traditional definition of “art”, but a blending of knowledge from many fields. I have previously created fine art exhibitions, city/architecture exhibitions, seminars and have long supported environmental groups and all of these experiences have become a solid foundation for me to draw from to conceive large-scaled cross-disciplinary projects.
So far in your art career, how do you make decisions about which projects to run? Is it based on your instinct, chances, responsibilities or love of art?
I champion artists’ freedom and bravery – this is the “romantic attitude” I hold. Anyone can be an artist and any project can be realised. Creativity has no limit. Whilst I do believe all the work should aim for a high professional standard in its own right, be it music, visual art, design, architecture or others. Like a scientist, I approach each new art project with caution and a rational mind. There are tons of possibilities to create something meaningful in this era in China, and due to this sense of responsibility, I must carefully review all the potential projects.
Weng Ling on crossover collaboration
You have had vast experience collaborating with partners in various fields, including design, architecture, real estate development, and corporate branding. What do you think of the trendy partnership between fashion brands and art?
Many owners of the fashion houses are art collectors who promote the creation of new art. Many fashion designers have fine art training, too. However, Art and fashion must each keep their independence when partnered up – art can easily be overtaken by the commercial demand of the fashion brand. The most meaningful and lasting collaboration is built upon borrowing the strength from the partner to elevate one’s own strength. Both parties must contribute the best of their own strengths.
Unlike their foreign peers, local Chinese businesses aren’t usually used to the idea of sponsoring art. Is that the case in your experience?
Many Chinese entrepreneurs and businessmen are my good friends. I keep learning many things from them, just like from artists. Chinese entrepreneurs have an enduring power to survive in a complex environment. Since the 90s, I have been receiving sponsorship from Chinese companies. They do not necessarily understand art itself, but want to help the ever changing Chinese art scene in any way they can.
On the other hand, the government should really implement policies to encourage corporate sponsorship. The current tax incentive is far from enough. I believe the government’s attitude is like forward-moving water, so as long as we hold an active conversation with them, things can be changed.
Finally, what do you think of the current vibe of the Chinese art scene?
Oh dear, after visiting many institutions in the UK, I have concluded, it’s so not “romantic” (laughs). Because there is no room to challenge myself, and no possibility to challenge the future. The system is so well-developed and built-up over there. Yet in China, there is a force to create something new and we never know what the height of our achievement will be. The historical meaningfulness might be beyond our imagination.
It’s true that China has many problems to deal with, but I am trying to contribute my own bit. The key is to have a humble heart and peace within, no matter which field one is in. The world doesn’t only rotate around people with money, but is transformed by the most creative individuals.
SXB/KN/HH
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Posted in Art spaces, Beijing, Business of art, China, Corporate collectors, Crossover art, Funding, Interviews, Multi category, Professionals, Profiles, Weng Ling | Tagged: art, Arts China, Beijing Center for the Arts, Chinese contemporary art, contemporary art, cross-over, curator, Shanghai Gallery of Art, sponsorship, Sylvia Xue Bai, Three-on-the-bund, venue in Beijing, Weng Ling | 7 Comments »
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