Busan Biennale pushes for new discoveries in contemporary Asian art – artist list

KOREA ART EXHIBITIONS BIENNALES ART EVENTS EMERGING ARTISTS

The Busan Biennale 2010 will be held from 11 September until 20 November at several locations in Busan, including the Busan Museum of Art, as well as at the nearby Yachting Center and Gwangalli Beach, under the theme of ‘Living in Evolution’.

The Biennale’s website describes the theme as such:

The official 2010 Busan Biennale poster, designed by Lee Pooroni and based on the theme ‘Living in Evolution’.

We are living individual lives. Yet at the same time, we are living in the processes of evolution. Evolution will continue. But no one knows the direction of this evolution.

This exhibition will try to think through the relations between art, society, world, history and the future by considering the dual time axes in which we are living today.

Featuring 161 works from 72 artists, the art festival will make a new attempt of integrating three existing exhibitions – “Contemporary Art Exhibition”, “Sea Art Festival” and “Busan Sculpture Project” – into one.

The Busan Biennale has been held every two years since the beginning of 2000. This year’s biennale makes an attempt at new discoveries and insights on relations between individuals and mankind, past and future and arts and society.

Kiichiro Adachi, 'Antigravity device', 2009, tulip, soil, neodymium magnet, stainless steel, halogen light.

In an unusual move, the 2010 Busan Biennale will have one single director, Azumaya Takashi, planning for all exhibitions. As an independent curator hailed for his experimental approach to exhibitions, Azumaya has held curatorial posts at the Setagaya Art Museum and the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo. He was commissioner of the 2002 Media City Seoul and guest curator for the 2008 Busan Biennale.

The art festival aims to help forge a closer link between the public and contemporary art through creating connections between the featured works and exhibition venues. Large-scale installations will be placed at several key spots in the city to serve as landmarks, depicting the exhibition theme and symbolising civilisations.

Along with the main exhibition, directed by Azumaya, the 2010 Busan Biennale will be composed of special exhibitions such as “Now, Asian Art” and joint exhibitions such as “Gallery Festival” and “Exhibition at alternative spaces”.

Featuring young and experimental artists from Korea, China and Japan,”Now, Asian Art” aims to tighten regional networks in Asia and strengthen contemporary Asian art. “Gallery Festival” is a set of special exhibitions presented by local art galleries, again featuring artists from Korea, China and Japan.

Educational programs, including a contemporary art course called “Art Story”, will be available. The course is scheduled to open in October and targets adult art lovers and aspiring artists. In addition, a conference of art editors in Asia will be held on September 12 under the title of the “Asian Editors’ Conference”.

Asian artists participating in the 2010 Busan Biennale include:

Donghee Koo, 'Souvenir', 2008, wood, light fixture, mirror, and artificial plant.

Korea
Min-Kyu KANG
Tae Hun KANG
Donghee KOO
Dalsul KWON
Eunju KIM
Jung-Myung KIM
Shinjung RYU
Bal Loon PARK
Sung Tae PARK
SATA
Moo-kyoung SHIN
Sangho SHIN
Dayeon WON
Kibong RHEE
Byungho LEE
SongJoon LEE
Young Sun LIM
Seung JUNG
Jinyun CHEONG
Hye Ryun JUNG
Jung Moo CHO
Ki-Youl CHA
Bongho HA

Thaweesak Srithongdee, 'Zoo', 2009, acrylic on canvas.

Japan
Kohei NAWA
Saburo MURAOKA
Kiichiro ADACHI
Kenji YANOBE
Miki JO
Akira KANAYAMA
Tomoko KONOIKE
Kosei KOMATSU

China
MadeIn
Shun YUAN
Anxiong QIU

Thailand
Imhathai SUWATTANASILP
Thaweesak SRITHONGDEE

Turkey
Emre HÜNER
Inci EVINER

UK, Israel
Yishay GARBASZ
Zadok BEN-DAVID

Mongolia
Amarsaikhan NAMSRAIJAV

Vietnam
Dinh Q. LÊ

Philippines
Christina DY

Taiwan
Shih Chieh HUANG

Egypt
Doa ALY

VL/KN

Related Topics: Korean venues, biennales, emerging artists, promoting art

Related Posts:

• 27 contemporary Southeast Asian artists featured in ASEAN-Korea photo exhibition – July 2010 – Southeast Asian contemporary photographers showcase their work in Busan
• Korean art hit and miss at Seoul Auction Hong Kong: New York Times – July 2010 – summary of a New York Times article explaining the market trends of auctions held by Seoul Auction
• Touring Taiwan: 50 of Taiwan’s top artworks on display at the Busan Museum of Arts, Korea – January 2010 – Taipei Fine Arts Museum Collection shown in Busan
• Performance of Asia tops West for first timers at auction in 2008/09 – November 2009 – ArtPrice: Asian artists outperformed their Western counterparts
• Troubles for Korean art at home, better reception abroad – Korean Herald, New York Magazine – January 2009 – report of a downward trend in the local Korean art market

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Japanese sculptor Kohei Nawa speaks on new internet art TV platform Studio Banana

ART MEDIA JAPANESE ART

Considerably invested in the contemporary documentation of art and artists, Studio Banana TV presents a new style of contemporary art reporting. A web-based TV platform, Studio Banana broadcasts its own productions, most of which cover art events in and around Madrid, with a special focus on interviews with prominent artists.

Kohei Nawa, PixCell Crocodile, mixed media, 2004

For art lovers, the web medium is a boon, a point highlighted by Japanese sculptor Kohei Nawa in an interview with Studio Banana TV. Talking about his latest work with beads, prisms, liquid and scum, each a series with the same name, Nawa admits a key resource for his work is the Internet. Call it inspiration or research, Nawa’s construction of the series is a product of keyword searches on the web. Drawing from the variety of results that pop up with each search key, Nawa attempts to complicate the relationship between the sense of vision and touch. In the series called Prism, for example, Nawa places stuffed animals within prism walls. The immediate dislocation of the difference between an object that is real and an image that is virtual lies at the heart of Nawa’s project.

Kohei Nawa, PixCell - Bambi, mixed media, 2005

With interviews such as Nawa’s, Studio Banana TV stands out for objectivity and immediacy. It’s interviews and documentaries are accessible through a number of thematic channels, encompassing music, visual and underground art, fashion, advertising, filmmaking and architecture. An ambitious project run by a collection of industry experts, Studio Banana defines itself as “a web-oriented project aimed at a global audience with the goal of bringing culture, art, design and creativity closer to the people.”

Visit Studio Banana TV here.
Watch the interview with Kohei Nawa here.

AM/KN

Related posts:

• Two Japanese artists shortlisted for Nam June Paik award 2010 – May 2010
• Hong Kong hailed as art’s promised land by Art+ Auction magazine – April 2010
• Discover new artists and keep abreast of shows with artinasia.com – website review – March 2010
• Top 17 Asian artists 2009: Art Radar’s most searched artists – January 2010
• Renowned Japanese artist Hiroshi Senju chooses Hong Kong for his solo debut – interview – October 2009

Subscribe to ArtRadarAsia for more on new forms of Art media

Newslink roundup Hong Kong art fair – Art HK 09

  

 

Mu Boyan, Nude No 2

HONG KONG ART FAIR NEWS

Flu Season – Artforum – 24 May 09 – Must read – This gossip column-style drily written piece, complete with photos of Asian art scene-shapers, takes a comprehensive look at most aspects of the fair: management (white plastic and undrinkable wine), gallery sales (“Art HK winners: major Western galleries, local Hong Kong galleries. Big losers: major mainland galleries.”), the parties (one a victim of its own exclusivity) and the panels (a big thumbs up).  Not much written about the art itself though.

Art market reporting is notoriously conflict-ridden. Business class tickets and VIP jollies for journalists are not unknown and big ad bucks in harsh economic times also make a potent lure for bias. There is not much evidence of (or opportunity for) independent research: most of the hard data about sales and visitor numbers comes from galleries and event promoters who have an inherent commercial conflict.

Now that the ‘blog reader beware’ warning is done with, grab a handful of salt and enjoy the read.

There is some interesting coverage of lesser known Asian-based artists by the New York Times and read (the more honest??) comments by the Asian galleries about sales which are at odds with those of the Western galleries – this is covered in several of the pieces. Overall the reviews are mostly positive (of course) but for what it is worth we thought both the art and the  fair management were excellent in this second edition of the show.

 

 

Art fair saw 31% rise in visitors and several major sales – South China Morning Post – May 20 09 – Gives details of visitor numbers (sourced from the fair managers) and specific big sales claimed by Western galleries and Western artists. A Korean gallery reported few sales.

An artistic quest in high gear – International Herald Tribune / New York Times – May 20 09 – Must read – Interesting piece with a focus on the art on display, with a refreshing emphasis on lesser known Asian artists such as Konstantin Bessmertny, a Russian artist based in Macau. Several images.

More art, better art, riskier art at Art HK 09 – Art Radar Asia – May 19 09 – Report on visitor opinions of the fair this year, gallery sales (weak for lesser known and Asian galleries), the management of the fair (better) and quality of the art.

Artist makes sure fair goes with a bang – South China Morning Post – May 20 09 – Short piece about avant-garde artist Chow Chun-Fai’s 2 performance pieces hosted by Shanghai Tang.

Art HK 09 –  George Chen – May 17 09 – Set of photos on Flickr

Asian auction houses starting to come of age – South China Morning Post – May 17 09 – Brief piece about auctions staged to coincide with the Hong Kong art fair (Est-ouest Auctions and the inaugural Asian Auction Week – a joint auction by Korea’s K Auction, Japan’s Shinwa, Kingsley’s from Taipei and Larasati from Singapore).

The second edition – Financial Times – May 16 09 – Describes art on sale and sold half way through sale.

Hong Kong Art Fair – Art World – June/July 09 – promotional blurb with a list of Australian galleries

Solid start to Hong Kong art fair despite downturn – Reuters – May 16 09 – Brief report on ‘notable sales’ in fair’s first days – This Uk edition focuses on sales (at the top end with values at tens and hundreds of thousands US$ per piece) of Western artists by top London and New York galleries including Damien Hirst, Gilbert and George, Julian Opie.

Opening HK art fair – Arrested Motion blog – May ? 09 – More than 80 images of works on show at the fair – Unfortunately not tagged but it gives a flavour of what exhibitors have brought.

Art HK 09: Hong Kong International Art Fair has a good start – Artdaily –  May 15 09 – List of artworks sold on first day – Reports ‘robust sales’ and a ‘heady atmosphere of excitement’. Sales by Damien Hirst, Gilbert and George, Kohei Nawa, Fang Shao Hua, Ron Arad.

Hong Kong Art Fair Part 11 – Illustrator James Feldman blog – May 15 09 – Acerbic blog piece about weak and strong art at the fair – Baselitz and Schnabel stand out against bloated ‘reverse engineered Botero’ sculptures. Hong Art Fair Part 1 drily discusses the pecking order of tickets – ‘I have a pink ticket and a black ticket and I can’t work out which is more exclusive’.

Tennis art at the Hong Kong International Art Fair – NY Times Globespotters – May 14 09 – Short feature about live demonstration of Martina Navratilova creating one of her tennis ball paintings –  She has been making these with fellow Czech and artist Juro Kralik since 2000 but has only recently started to sell the works.

Strange Hong Kong art fair – Detroit Free Press – May 13 2009 – A set of 6 images, mostly sculptures at the fair and the concurrent Seoul Auction. Artists Mu Boyan, Yi hwan Kwon, Yayoi Kusama, Damien Hirst, Lin Yilin.

Insider Art Fair – Artinfo – May 13 2009 – Short list of artists’ works and prices brought to the fair by leading galleries.

 Prefair coverage

Much of the prefair coverage republishes the press release or gives other repetitive promotional content. A couple of links covering the basics are given here and a more complete list can be found on the Hong Kong art fair site.

Magnus Renfrew on ArtHK09 – Artinfo – May 12 2009 – Pre-fair interview with director Magnus Renfrew. Great questions, predictable answers. Content is mainly promotional but does cover failure to get sponsorship this year. Claims Hong Kong is superior location in Asia for art fair: well-positioned geographically to tap mature collector groups in Taiwan and South Korea as well as latent potential of future Chinese market; tax benefits.  Gallery mix is 65% Asian, 35% international. MR also claims that HK art fair is more regional than competing fairs.

Hong Kong’s contemporary art fair – Financial Times – May 9 2009 – A somewhat promotional pre-fair piece which lists participant galleries and side events.  Based on a news angle which suggests Hong Kong (and environs) is a rising star in Asian art scene. Evidence for its growing importance as a cultural hub is given as 1) Guangzhou Triennial “widely considered China’s most important art event” 2) last year’s budget approval by HK government for the development of West Kowloon cultural district –  a 40 hectare site for the arts 3) Hong Kong has become third largest art market by auction sales in world 4) last year’s introduction of ArtHK, Hong Kong art fair.

 Related posts:

• Art Dubai who sold what to whom? 15 galleries talk to Art Radar – Mar 2009
• Who are the top artists at art fairs? – Mar 2009
• Arco Madrid art fair newslink round up – Feb 2009
• Which are the top 10 international contemporary art fairs? – Jan 09

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