Reporter | Lou Xiaojing
Edit | Towney
Due to the recent development and spread of the new coronavirus epidemic, Art Basel 2020 in Hong Kong was officially cancelled.
On 20 March 2020, Art Basel will officially launch its online exhibition hall for the first time, providing an opportunity for participating galleries to present works originally planned for Art Basel in Hong Kong. An online virtual exhibition space that is regularly accessible to the public is a completely new field for most galleries, and it will be a whole new turning point for the convergence of art and technology.
Art Basel Asia Director, Yajun Wong, said: "We are delighted to launch our new programme at this time. Although the online showroom cannot replace our Hong Kong 2020 show, we firmly believe it can provide strong support to all galleries affected by the cancellation of the March fair. ”
Among the art galleries that were planned to participate in the Hong Kong fair this year, 231 art galleries decided to participate in the new challenge of the online exhibition hall. Each gallery is no longer limited by the original white space, and can choose a unique curatorial theme for its own virtual space. From masterpieces to outdoor sculptures, take visitors to the surprises of Art Basel's online exhibition hall in advance.
Are your favorite artists and galleries also in this online showroom? The online exhibition hall will officially launch at 6:00 pm on March 20, 2020 and end at 6:00 pm on March 25, 2020, and a perfect art weekend of watching the exhibition at home is waiting for you to discover.
Art Basel also announced that from March 25 to 27, 2021, Art Basel will be held again in Hong Kong.
<h3>Large-scale art installations</h3>
From Kim's Deductive Object at The Axel Vervoordt Gallery to 2000's 8.8-meter-tall work by Vivian Suter at Karma International Gallery, stretching from the wall and spanning the floor, it's a "stand on top of the sky". The biggest advantage of the virtual realm is that it can cost-effectively present art installations that are the size of an entire gallery to a wide audience. Some see this new display space as an excitation method and take the courage to meet this challenge.
Pilar Corrias will bring French artist Philippe Parreno's art installation My Room is Another Fishbowl for turbine hall at London's Tate Modern; Galeria Continua will present Antony Gormley uses phosphorus to create a virtual "spatial frame" in the air, using time and light to compose the work "Breathing Room II"; the space of the OMR Gallery will present James Turrell's "Circular Glass", implanting electronic LED lights into the work, and the size of the work will change arbitrarily according to the size of the space presented in future works. If there are any more virtual works, a lucky collector will have the opportunity to buy Yayoi Kusama's infinite space Life Shines On, which you can explore freely during the opening hours of Hidenori Ota's online exhibition hall.
<h3>Rediscover modern work</h3>
Another advantage of the online showroom is that the physical distance between the works and the audience is greatly reduced, bringing more global attention to the participating galleries at Art Basel In Hong Kong. This is most evident when selecting masterpieces from the Middle East, Asia and Southeast Asia that are less familiar to Western markets.
The most noteworthy of these is the late artist I Gusti Ayu Kadek Murniasih, a pioneering Balinese artist who boldly conveys the themes of pleasure and sexuality in his paintings. In the elaborately designed spaces of the Selma Feriani Gallery, Moroccan painter Mohamed Hamidi blends traditional African symbols into abstract works of flat forms that modernism is customarily used.
In addition, Watanuki Ltd. | Toki-no-Wasuremono will bring works by Japanese avant-garde artist Toshinobu Onosato, who took inspiration from traditional textile motifs and magnified it into macroscopic works presented in op art (op art or light effect art).
<h3>Local practice</h3>
From Canada to the Pacific Rim, the revival of indigenous craftsmanship in contemporary art, or sometimes craftsmanship, is becoming a trend. The Silverlens Gallery, which focuses on materials and creators, will showcase works by Malay artist I-Lann Yee, whose weaving mats using horse chestnut orchids or bamboo give new contemporary political meaning to traditional objects.
Sylvia Kanytjupai and Tjungkara Ken from Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, an Aboriginal region of South Australia, will present an exhibition of artists with a passion for colour, based on the region's thousands of years of historical and artistic heritage.
<h3>Fine geometric design</h3>
Precise mathematical models can be seen in the online exhibition halls of several art galleries, often serving as a bridge between Eastern and Western art. The work of Carl Andre and Sol LeWitt, the godfathers of minimalist art, will be presented by Alfonso Artiaco gallery and Konrad Fischer gallery, and André's bronze sculpture 2x18 Cyprigene and Yuji Takeoka's copper base column work Golden Base are cleverly combined.
Sabrina Amrani Gallery will present Egyptian artist Chant Avedissian's Formation of a Square II, using plastic colours to blend the colours, architectural forms and patterns of the Silk Roads into one piece. Meanwhile, The Third Line evokes an inspired dialogue about geometric figures through Rana Begum's aluminium reflections and Jordan Nassar's hand-embroidered work.
<h3>Rare treasures</h3>
Other galleries, through the relative proximity and cohesion of the online exhibition halls, give new historical significance to the early and unusual works of some of the masters. Hanarts presents collages by Hong Kong arts maestro and ink painter Chen Fushan; Meyer Riegger Gallery presents chalk paper paintings by Miriam Cahn in 1987; and Espace Gallery will present two cast paper works by Indian artist Zarina.
<h3>Cutting-edge video work</h3>
As the strong line-up of online showrooms foreshadows, the web is naturally an excellent platform for displaying photographic and video works. Chi-Wei Gallery will present a video collection "Just Kids!" created by a group of young Taiwanese photographers and artists. Among them, Yu Zhengda and Victoria Sin's artistic practice of cross-dressing culture is the focus of the series.
Instead, David Lewis gallery has only one video work presenting Madame de Void: A Melodrama, a 45-minute film by artists Felix Bernstein and Gabe Rubin, which has also been hailed as "through Rainer Werner Fassbinder's The Bitter Tears of" Petra von Kant' footage of 101 Spotted Dogs. ”
<h3>Panoramic photos</h3>
Photography encompasses everything from modern black-and-white classics to the conceptual use of cameras or the use of cameras as a tool of movementism. The Vitamin Art Space presents Cao Fei's 2018 retro-futuristic work Nova ;P eter Kilchmann Gallery presents Teresa Margolles' 40 kilómetros (40 kilometers), which photographs a violent sign on a notorious highway in northern Mexico.
The exhibition hall of the Third Gallery Aya is the work of Eiko Yamazawa, Japan's earliest female photographer. She was born in Osaka in 1899 and became a representative of abstraction in her twilight years through color photography and gelatin silver engravings.
<h3>Small sculptures</h3>
If your home can't accommodate large-scale works like Joel Shapiro or Ugo Rondinone, there are also small sculptures in the online exhibition hall that can play a strong presence. In the exhibition hall, Take Ninagawa gallery presents gold-plated cardboard boxes by Danh Vo, a Danish-Vietnamese artist, to reflect on consumerism.
In the online showroom of Fortes d'Aloia & Gabriel, Valeska Soares' Self-portrait in denial will repeat the theme of "don't look at what you don't see, don't listen to" in the specular reflective space. The Matthew Marks gallery will present Ron Nagle's sculptures, humorously named "Señor Sensimilla" and "Dietary Indiscretion," incorporating the artist's personality into the two pieces of less than 7 inches.
The Art Basel web showroom is accessible via the Art Basel mobile app and website.
Image source: Basel Art Exhibition official WeChat