My plan to write short blog posts throughout the duration of the fair obviously did not pan out. How does anyone have the time and energy to do anything after an event like this? I was passed out in bed by 11 most nights, with barely enough energy to answer emails. So this post might be long one.
DAY ONE: Vernissage & After Party
I arrived in Hong Kong under bad weather conditions, after having been stuck on the tarmac in Pudong for over three hours and missing the private view of the fair completely. I didn't get to the fair until 5:30 so I just did a quick walk up and down the aisles, not stopping into the booths themselves. Almost immediately, I ran into Zain Masud, of Art Dubai, and Robin Peckham, who would be a feature in my IHT article that would come out the next day. We had a quick coffee before Zain and I spent a little time walking the fair and catching up. We parted ways at Leo Xu's booth, who was giddy after a successful run at Frieze in New York and a write up by Roberta Smith in the New York Times. At some point, I heard someone yell my name and turned around to see New York-based art critic Barbara Pollack with her husband. They are really lovely people and it's always nice to catch up with Barbara; hopefully, I'll see more of her when I'm in NYC for the summer. Later, I caught up with Rebecca Catching, who was meeting with local artist Phoebe Man whom she's shown at OV Gallery. I chatted with them and another artist Bovey Lee for a bit until Rebecca and I left to join the Randian team at a Malaysian joint in the neighborhood.
We then headed to the K11 after party in the Grand Hyatt, which turned out to be a disaster, at least when we got there. They had moved it from the pool to the lobby mezzanine on account of the weather so people were standing shoulder to shoulder in a hot (this was Hong Kong. Where was the AC??), too small space. Adrien Cheng, K11's founder, was walking through the party surrounded by HK ladies dressed to the nines in ball gowns and dripping with jewels. Wherever I tried to walk, they seemed to be there in all their satin glory blocking my way. I ran into Aimee Lin of ArtReview, who was headed to the Artsy party at the Asia Society, and artist Zhang Enli with his wife. I told him he should just skip the party but he never misses an opportunity to mingle (odd, since he is so soft spoken and unassuming).
I had enough so I just left without saying goodbye to anyone. Which left me with the problem of how to get back to my hotel. The taxi line outside the Grand Hyatt snaked on forever so I tried my luck at the line outside the convention center. The line was indeed shorter but I quickly realized there were no taxis. I wish the organizers had planned for this kind of situation and provided shuttles to various hotels around the city, not just the Mandarin Oriental (the partner hotel of the fair).
DAY TWO: The Fair
I had blocked out the entire next day for the fair so I could see booths in detail and meet some new people. The slideshow above gives some highlights (and one or two lowlights) from the show. I'm glad to finally be able to show you what MadeIn was working on in their studio. It's a latex & leather bondage cathedral, accessorized with whips, chains, and various other S&M paraphernalia. Here what it looked like in the studio when I visited a couple of months ago:
DAY ONE: Vernissage & After Party
I arrived in Hong Kong under bad weather conditions, after having been stuck on the tarmac in Pudong for over three hours and missing the private view of the fair completely. I didn't get to the fair until 5:30 so I just did a quick walk up and down the aisles, not stopping into the booths themselves. Almost immediately, I ran into Zain Masud, of Art Dubai, and Robin Peckham, who would be a feature in my IHT article that would come out the next day. We had a quick coffee before Zain and I spent a little time walking the fair and catching up. We parted ways at Leo Xu's booth, who was giddy after a successful run at Frieze in New York and a write up by Roberta Smith in the New York Times. At some point, I heard someone yell my name and turned around to see New York-based art critic Barbara Pollack with her husband. They are really lovely people and it's always nice to catch up with Barbara; hopefully, I'll see more of her when I'm in NYC for the summer. Later, I caught up with Rebecca Catching, who was meeting with local artist Phoebe Man whom she's shown at OV Gallery. I chatted with them and another artist Bovey Lee for a bit until Rebecca and I left to join the Randian team at a Malaysian joint in the neighborhood.
We then headed to the K11 after party in the Grand Hyatt, which turned out to be a disaster, at least when we got there. They had moved it from the pool to the lobby mezzanine on account of the weather so people were standing shoulder to shoulder in a hot (this was Hong Kong. Where was the AC??), too small space. Adrien Cheng, K11's founder, was walking through the party surrounded by HK ladies dressed to the nines in ball gowns and dripping with jewels. Wherever I tried to walk, they seemed to be there in all their satin glory blocking my way. I ran into Aimee Lin of ArtReview, who was headed to the Artsy party at the Asia Society, and artist Zhang Enli with his wife. I told him he should just skip the party but he never misses an opportunity to mingle (odd, since he is so soft spoken and unassuming).
I had enough so I just left without saying goodbye to anyone. Which left me with the problem of how to get back to my hotel. The taxi line outside the Grand Hyatt snaked on forever so I tried my luck at the line outside the convention center. The line was indeed shorter but I quickly realized there were no taxis. I wish the organizers had planned for this kind of situation and provided shuttles to various hotels around the city, not just the Mandarin Oriental (the partner hotel of the fair).
DAY TWO: The Fair
I had blocked out the entire next day for the fair so I could see booths in detail and meet some new people. The slideshow above gives some highlights (and one or two lowlights) from the show. I'm glad to finally be able to show you what MadeIn was working on in their studio. It's a latex & leather bondage cathedral, accessorized with whips, chains, and various other S&M paraphernalia. Here what it looked like in the studio when I visited a couple of months ago:
In the studio with MadeIn
After having an unplanned coffee break with Chris and Daniel of Randian, I ran into my friend Bettina Kames immediately upon entering the fair at the ShanghArt booth. She was going to inquire about Birdhead, whom she collected a few years back on a trip to Shanghai. I had a nice chat with the people at Sikkema Jenkins & Co., who were showing silhouette installations from Kara Walker. I love her work but I know an Asian audience would not get the historical context in her work. But the gallery said they were getting positive responses nonetheless, especially after explaining the artist's exploration of gender oppression.
My cousin joined me later in the day to get her fill of art. She generally does not understand the appeal of most contemporary art but I was glad to see she fully appreciated and got a kick out of MadeIn's cathedral piece. We talked about the new Ai Weiwei music video that debuted the day before; she loved it but could not understand why he had to sing it himself. I say it's just more punk rock that way. We made a little detour to the VIP, where I ran into Bettina again. She introduced me to Daniel Lechner of Cheim & Read; his gallery didn't have a booth this year (one of several who opted out this year) so he was finally able to enjoy Hong Kong like a real tourist.
I always enjoy my time with my cousin. She is one of the most cheerful cynics I know. Our conversations always lead to talk of corruption in China and she has provided me with some enlightening insights in the past about auctions, Chinese officials and the Hong Kong collector. She is a collector herself (of jades and small bronzes) and laments her early years as an uninformed novice who was tricked into buying fakes. She went on to say that the normal Hong Kong buyer doesn't care (Hong Kong was the center of the antiques market many years before it became a contemporary art hub) about what they're buying, which led her to that gem of a quote that is now the title of this post: "They don't actually know anything. They just have money." Which, let's be honest, can be applied to most collectors, be they contemporary art or antique collectors.
My cousin joined me later in the day to get her fill of art. She generally does not understand the appeal of most contemporary art but I was glad to see she fully appreciated and got a kick out of MadeIn's cathedral piece. We talked about the new Ai Weiwei music video that debuted the day before; she loved it but could not understand why he had to sing it himself. I say it's just more punk rock that way. We made a little detour to the VIP, where I ran into Bettina again. She introduced me to Daniel Lechner of Cheim & Read; his gallery didn't have a booth this year (one of several who opted out this year) so he was finally able to enjoy Hong Kong like a real tourist.
I always enjoy my time with my cousin. She is one of the most cheerful cynics I know. Our conversations always lead to talk of corruption in China and she has provided me with some enlightening insights in the past about auctions, Chinese officials and the Hong Kong collector. She is a collector herself (of jades and small bronzes) and laments her early years as an uninformed novice who was tricked into buying fakes. She went on to say that the normal Hong Kong buyer doesn't care (Hong Kong was the center of the antiques market many years before it became a contemporary art hub) about what they're buying, which led her to that gem of a quote that is now the title of this post: "They don't actually know anything. They just have money." Which, let's be honest, can be applied to most collectors, be they contemporary art or antique collectors.
My husband & Miro at Ben Brown Fine Arts DAY THREE: Pedder Building Galleries
My husband finally arrived Thursday night and was able to join me Friday morning to catch up on all the gallery shows in the Pedder Building and White Cube.
Our first stop was Ben Brown Fine Arts, who had marble landscapes by Not Vital (poorly done and not as interesting as traditional furniture that employ the same techniques), portraits by Frank Auerbach, and a back room with Joan Miro works. Next door, Simon Lee Gallery had an Angela Bulloch show, which featured pulsating light boxes and a twinkling constellation installation. Her drawing machine at the fair was a big hit; it reminded me of Roxy Paine's sculpture machines.
Two floors up was Hanart TZ and their fantastic Qiu Zhijie solo show. He continues his exploration of maps and their social & political relevance with new ink paintings of landscapes viewed from a bird's eye view. It seemed that all the scroll paintings could be put together to create one, giant scene.
My husband finally arrived Thursday night and was able to join me Friday morning to catch up on all the gallery shows in the Pedder Building and White Cube.
Our first stop was Ben Brown Fine Arts, who had marble landscapes by Not Vital (poorly done and not as interesting as traditional furniture that employ the same techniques), portraits by Frank Auerbach, and a back room with Joan Miro works. Next door, Simon Lee Gallery had an Angela Bulloch show, which featured pulsating light boxes and a twinkling constellation installation. Her drawing machine at the fair was a big hit; it reminded me of Roxy Paine's sculpture machines.
Two floors up was Hanart TZ and their fantastic Qiu Zhijie solo show. He continues his exploration of maps and their social & political relevance with new ink paintings of landscapes viewed from a bird's eye view. It seemed that all the scroll paintings could be put together to create one, giant scene.
Qiu Zhijie at Hanart TZ Next up was the new Lehmann Maupin space, which was smaller than I had expected. Their exhibition, Writings without Borders, explores the use of text in contemporary art and included a great piece by Zheng Guogu. I prefer Rockbund's show (discussed in my previous post) about gestures and language in art.
We quickly stopped by Pearl Lam's space, although I knew what to expect. Their Zhu Jinshi show was already shown in Shanghai earlier this year, and my eyes still glaze over when looking at his thick, bulging canvases in Hong Kong. I admire the gallery's promotion of abstract art but when it's as bland as this, you can't help but be bored. The artist Zhang Huan was walking around the show, being fawned over by the star struck gallery assistant, but he did not seem to care too much about the show either.
Our last stop in the Pedder Building was Gagosian Gallery. They had a big Basquiat show, a timely one after the artist's record breaking sale at Christie's the week before. This was my husband's first time seeing so many of his works in one place and he chided me for wanting to rush through the exhibition. It was admittedly a great selection; my favorite was a small painting of African masks by the door.
We quickly stopped by Pearl Lam's space, although I knew what to expect. Their Zhu Jinshi show was already shown in Shanghai earlier this year, and my eyes still glaze over when looking at his thick, bulging canvases in Hong Kong. I admire the gallery's promotion of abstract art but when it's as bland as this, you can't help but be bored. The artist Zhang Huan was walking around the show, being fawned over by the star struck gallery assistant, but he did not seem to care too much about the show either.
Our last stop in the Pedder Building was Gagosian Gallery. They had a big Basquiat show, a timely one after the artist's record breaking sale at Christie's the week before. This was my husband's first time seeing so many of his works in one place and he chided me for wanting to rush through the exhibition. It was admittedly a great selection; my favorite was a small painting of African masks by the door.
The Chapman brothers at White Cube Leaving the Pedder Building, we went to White Cube; last year, they had a mediocre Anselm Kiefer show so I was pleasantly surprised (and taken aback) by the strange Nazi zombie party thrown by the Chapman Brothers, Jake and Dinos. Their vision of the apocalypse seems to pit these Nazis against Ronald McDonald. They made several, huge, intricate dioramas, each depicting graphic scenes of the end of the world, like Nazi heads on stakes, or several Ronald McDonalds hung from ropes. It was like Salo meets any number of zombie movies, but on a much grander, freakier scale. My husband and I were both very amused and entertained.
Dinner with artists That night, we went to a dinner thrown by ShanghArt Gallery and the H2 Foundation for Arts & Education held at the Asia Society. The night started with drinks on the rooftop garden, which had a beautiful view of the city. I was exhausted from walking around the fair and looking at art so I couldn't motivate myself to mingle, even though I knew there were several artists in attendance. I did manage to introduce my husband to Wu Yiming, an artist he admires. Just days before, I had visited his studio in M50.
Wu Yiming in his studio in Shanghai
We were finally seated after what seemed like hours and my husband and I found our table in the back. Birdhead were already seated and soon a lady from Artron joined us. When it became clear that we were the only guests at the table, she took off to sit with her friends. I prepared myself for an awkward night, just me, my husband and the surly art duo sitting at a big empty table. But fate would be kind to us that night. Just as the speeches started, the artist Zeng Fanzhi bounds up to our table and plops down. I am giddy at this point because this is my husband's favorite artist. Zeng's show at ShanghArt's space in Fuxing Park back in 2003 was one of the first Chinese artists he experienced. "Who's that," my husband asks. "Zeng Fanzhi!" I whisper shout. After the speeches, I introduce myself and we talk about his new shows this year and his art space in Beijing. Apparently, he was stressed out sitting at his own (VIP) table, surrounded by foreigners and unable to talk. So he decided he rather hide in the back (with us plebs).
Our table ended up being THE table to be at. Some brazen art groupie, a pretty young Chinese woman, slid in between me and Zeng Fanzhi and proceeded to take a picture of the two of them (without asking!). The artist Shi Yong joined us (he and Zeng seemed like very close friends), as did Thomas Fuesser, who's new book Short Cuts was placed at every table (that's Zeng holding it in the picture above); he gave Zeng a private "viewing" of his book, which included a portrait of the artist as a very young man in Hamburg in 1991. Various other people came and went; some took pictures, some just wanted to say hi. Throughout it all, he was gracious and kind but never left our table. He and his media assistant Jane Jin told me about their new museum, which is slated to open in 2016, and he seemed excited about. My husband was having a blast, hanging out with his favorite artists, talking up a storm with Birdhead (who are usually so aloof!), and meeting new people, including Zheng Kai, who is in charge of purchasing art for this new museum in Wuhan. I caught up with my old friend David Chan (formerly of the Shanghai Gallery of Art), who is spending more time in Hong Kong and is also a new father! And like all new fathers, he showed off pictures on his phone. We ended the night smoking cigarettes with Birdhead and taking pictures with Sun Xun (another one of the artists my husband admires!) and Zhou Tiehai. All in all, a great night!
From left: Sun Xun, Thomas Fuesser, my husband, Zhou Tiehai
DAY FOUR: Fo Tan
Saturday turned out to be my final day of art in Hong Kong. While my husband went to hang out on a boat with some friends from business school, I headed out to Aberdeen, on the southern part of the island, to check out some far flung shows. I started at the Spring Workshop, which had a Qiu Zhijie (again! He was everywhere in Hong Kong!) show using maps again. This time he collaborated with students to create a map of ink and found objects. This was much more conceptual than his Hanart works but was nonetheless a great companion show. Afterwards, I stopped by Pekin Fine Arts, whose space I had seen in its raw form two years ago when Meg Maggio threw a rooftop party during the fair. She had video installations by Fang Lu, absurdist performances which showed the artist putting spaghetti in her hair, painting pig's feet toenails, and spitting what looks like chocolate out of her mouth onto canvas.
Saturday turned out to be my final day of art in Hong Kong. While my husband went to hang out on a boat with some friends from business school, I headed out to Aberdeen, on the southern part of the island, to check out some far flung shows. I started at the Spring Workshop, which had a Qiu Zhijie (again! He was everywhere in Hong Kong!) show using maps again. This time he collaborated with students to create a map of ink and found objects. This was much more conceptual than his Hanart works but was nonetheless a great companion show. Afterwards, I stopped by Pekin Fine Arts, whose space I had seen in its raw form two years ago when Meg Maggio threw a rooftop party during the fair. She had video installations by Fang Lu, absurdist performances which showed the artist putting spaghetti in her hair, painting pig's feet toenails, and spitting what looks like chocolate out of her mouth onto canvas.
Early work of Qiu Zhijie (pictured center) On my way to Gallery Exit, I stopped by Blindspot Gallery for their show of Chinese avant-garde photography from the 80s and 90s. Qiu Zhijie pops up again; at this point, he should claim Hong Kong as his territory. Also included in the show is Ai Weiwei, Han Lei, Rong Rong (who took pictures of Zhang Huan's early performances in Beijing, before he became a superstar), Zheng Guogu, and Gu Zheng, who is a very important figure for young photographers in Shanghai. He regularly curates shows of his talented students.
I never did find Gallery Exit but at this point, it was raining and I was beyond exhausted. My time in Hong Kong (at least my time spent with art) ended there in Fo Tan (except for my random run-in with Zhang Enli and his wife at the HK airport. He's everywhere!). There were so many more shows I never made it to but I'll be back in Hong Kong in two weeks (my husband's business school reunion). Hopefully I'll have time to see what I missed this time around. Check back for a more critical eye on Art Basel in my next post!
I never did find Gallery Exit but at this point, it was raining and I was beyond exhausted. My time in Hong Kong (at least my time spent with art) ended there in Fo Tan (except for my random run-in with Zhang Enli and his wife at the HK airport. He's everywhere!). There were so many more shows I never made it to but I'll be back in Hong Kong in two weeks (my husband's business school reunion). Hopefully I'll have time to see what I missed this time around. Check back for a more critical eye on Art Basel in my next post!
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