Artifacts: Creativity and commmerce

Vanessa Moore

Hong Kong has been hitting the headlines for all the right reasons over the past few days with its current contemporary cultural happenings attracting the worldwide glitterati. The third edition of Art Basel, which closed its doors yesterday, was at the centre of art week in Hong Kong, a time when art and commerce expertly blended together. And of course HK being HK, everything was indeed up for sale. Aside from the art though, the Hong Kong social scene went into overdrive with gallery openings, warehouse parties, charity auctions and artsy dinners, all accompanied by copious champagne quaffing by the likes of Jack Ma, Gwyneth Paltrow, Susan Sarandon and Kate Moss.
Evidently from the above guest list, it takes no Einstein to deduce that Hong Kong is where it’s at now. Art has always followed money and power, and evidently the global axis for both has now firmly shifted eastwards. Celebrities, bankers, expats, nouveau riche mainlanders and the international moneyed elite in search of new pieces for their multiple homes all descended on the city to pore over trillions of dollars worth of art over the weekend, with as many as 233 galleries from 37 countries displaying USD3 billion worth of art. As a result, the city has suddenly become a permanent fixture on the international art calendar – which is no small feat in itself.
Under the Art Basel umbrella of global events, also comprising Miami and Switzerland editions, HK now provides an anchor in the eastern hemisphere to foster the Asian and Chinese art market. While international dealers tend to dominate Art Basel, 65 per cent of the contemporary galleries at this year’s event were from greater Asia, with 18 from Hong Kong alone. It seems that for some reason the art world was initially slow to wake up to Asia’s potential, lagging behind the rest of the world in getting to grips with its financial prowess.
But things have definitely changed. From being known primarily as a financial hub, in a few short years HK has succeeded in cultivating its burgeoning art scene to appeal to a wider international audience. Aside from celebrities and gallerists, the general public is also benefitting from the change with projects like the M+ museum in the pipeline as well as a plethora of events adjacent to Art Basel also popping up. Several other satellite events also complemented the main behemoth Basel experience, with the Art Central art fair launching for the first time this year in a tent on the HK island harbour side waterfront. Aimed at those with more modest budgets, the pop-up brought an edgier side and more galleries to the city’s weekend of art.
Fairs like Art Basel present an occasion to see stimulating and thought-provoking oeuvres all under one roof, offering up an assortment of different artists –
much like a variety box of liquorice allsorts. However HK has managed to harness its unique competitive advantage of being the most western-friendly Asian city to become a place for Western collectors to discover work by Asian artists, helping to fill the artistic knowledge gap for Western audiences unfamiliar with modern Asian art. Likewise, in a similar but contrasting approach, the fair does the same for mainland audiences, offering a gateway for Chinese buyers to access the Western market and familiarise themselves with both European and American contemporary artists.
As part of this year’s Art Basel, international galleries from Tokyo, Zurich, Beijing, New York, London and Sao Paulo (to name but a few) all presented diverse offerings by renowned modern artists. Famous names included Yaoyi Kusama, Masaya Chiba, Grayson Perry, Sam Falls, Sarah Lucas (who will represent the UK at this year’s 2015 Venice Biennale), Pamela Rosencraft (the curator of this year’s Venice Swiss pavilion) and Joana Vasconcelos (who represented Portugal in the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013).
For those who missed out on Art Basel, fear not. Vasconcelos is also displaying a dramatic installation at Macau’s MGM that runs through until the end of October. Titled “Valkyrie Octopus”, the mammoth embellished fabric sculpture forms part of the artist’s first solo exhibition in China and has been specifically created for the space. While it’s true that Macau is no Miami, thanks to Vasconcelos, for the next few months we can at least experience a little of the Venice effect.