From Tradition to the Avant-Garde: Hong Kong Art Week in Review

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Written By Renée Vara & Valentina Scarzella

Art Basel | Hong Kong 2024: Main Entrance, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Photo © & Courtesy of Emma Howard.

The Main Event: Art Basel | Hong Kong

Art Hong Kong, just wrapped up from March 28th to 30th and welcomed approximately 75,000 visitors from around the world. The week was highly attended, and fairs and museums were oversaturated with many visitors sporting cameras and eyes bigger than their purses. Unlike other art fairs, the week was populated by viewers as well as buyers and created an atmosphere that was markedly different from Western art fairs, where collectors and viewers do not intermingle at events or opening days. 

Of course, the main attraction and for the week was Art Basel|Hong Kong, featuring around 242 galleries in this year’s 4th Edition and marked the first return of its pre-pandemic size, scale, and crowds. Sales started early, with a subtle tone and slow pace, during the VIP preview, unlike the frenzy of its Western edition. Buyers showed a clear preference and market selectivity in acquiring paintings. Many buyers were of a new generation, younger and new to the market, their preference for paintings reflecting a more conservative approach to collecting with a strong interest in “investment grade art” and aesthetics underpinned by a bias for pictorialism, realism, and figurative paintings. 

One left with an overwhelming sense that dealers, especially those from the West, were highly selective in their exhibition of works that were safer, traditional, and less radical than typically found in such an important fair. Large installations, vibrant neon colors, shimmering glitters, and stunning statues were the mark of this fair, seeming a bit gimmicky at times with a focus on the “Insta” reality of consuming art rather than the quality of buyers' experience. As many fairgoers were armed with their cameras, the plethora of photo opportunities lessened the fair experience overall.

A noticeable difference between Art Basel|Hong Kong and Art Basel|Miami is its concentration of high-quality Modern Art, which represents an important segment of the art market and is a focus of a majority of Asian collectors, who appreciate art within the Western art canon as a validated asset. Surprisingly, a sign of the drawbacks of the globalization of art fairs, was the notable repetition and reoffering of works, easily recognizable from the 2023 Art Basel|Miami fair. For a seasoned viewer and buyer, this did not feel adventurous nor fuel one’s excitement in finding new artists, which should be an essential advantage of traveling so far to attend a fair. With a seasoned eye, we have faith that it is still possible to discover new works and artists, and our strong recommendation to dealers, especially those from the West who regularly appear on the art fair circuit, is to keep it “fresh” – as both collectors and curators want to find new perspectives and expressions, no matter where they venture. Quite simply, more is less, and new is better. Furthermore, there was too much of what we colloquially call the “mixed salad” approach to booth curation – amalgamations or samplings from all the artists with little focus on the dialogue the booth creates between the art and a loss of a sense of integrity or context. 

A few highlights of the fair, which was massive in size, scope, and offerings are as follows:

Angela Lane: Lure, 2023. Anat Ebgi Gallery [Booth Level 3 - 3C01]. Photo © & Courtesy of Valentina Scarzella.
Artist Info: http://www.angela-lane.com/
Anat Ebgi Gallery: https://anatebgi.com/

One unique example of a booth that was courageous enough to curate a solo showing was Chini Gallery, which chose to carefully integrate new works by artist Ho Kan, preferring to display the depth and breadth of his artistic practice, even if more economically risky than a mixed artist booth. 

CHINI Gallery: Booth Level 3 (3C32). Photo © via Instagram @CHINIGALLERY
Artist Info: https://www.chinigallery.com/en/load_page/get_artist_autobiography/1
CHINI Gallery: https://www.chinigallery.com/

Satellite Art Fairs

Art Central Hong Kong: Located along the Central and Western District Promenade, between Tamar Park and the Star Ferry Terminal (https://artcentralhongkong.com/). Photo © & Courtesy of Emma Howard

Although the cornerstone event of Hong Kong Art Week is Art Basel|Hong Kong, among the highlights of the week were the satellite fairs, exhibitions, and events, which were fresh and more intimate, and appeared to take more risks. One must-see was the satellite fair Art Central. Founded in 2015, it brought to Hong Kong more up-and-coming galleries based in Asia, providing a treasure trove of Asian talent that affords a Western buyer deeper exposure to new galleries and artists. The focus of the fair was mostly on contemporary art at more modest and accessible price points, which offered amazing opportunities for emerging collectors to hone their eyes and instincts. The fair was also marked by interesting lectures and live performances sponsored by emerging artists, and due its more reasonable size and number of galleries, walking this fair allowed one to stumble upon artworks by both Asian and international artists in a more organic experience.

Sunayama Norico: A Sultry World, 1995. Art Central 2024, Hong Kong. Photo © & Courtesy of Emma Howard.
Artist Info: https://artcentralhongkong.com/programme/sunayama-norico/

Perhaps the most stunning and arresting work that grabbed attention as visitors entered the fair was a monumental, voluptuous red skirt. It is wrapped and draped around a stool where a woman is sitting, inviting viewers to come closer. The performance piece, by Norico Sunayama, titled A Sultry World stretched the boundaries between public and private sensibilities and was one of the most memorable pieces of the week. For a viewer to enter this work, they have to become part of the performance, forced to crawl under the sitter’s billowing skirt in utter blackness, which persists until they reach an interior space with cushions placed under the stool and are confronted by a solitary experience of her nakedness, which they can record in a sketchbook thus becoming an official part of the piece. 

This work literally suspended your vision, muffled your speech, and heightened your smell, as you were coerced into darkness whilst you scrambled for some resolution, only to find that you were enclosed in a liminal space that approximates a womb experience of feminist empowerment. Sunayama’s work represented a memorable starting point for fair viewers, who found themselves continuing with an accelerated heartbeat, left with the adrenaline from freeing themselves from the weight of the red fabric, and the struggle to exit out of the piece that triggered a sensibility of remembering being born. 

Another notable booth which was a new find, Oi Ling Gallery, showcased a tightly curated exhibition featuring the works of Yuan Siwen. One of the more subtle works in the fair, an oddity in a sense because it required one to slow down and approach the work with a level of intimacy, was the work on paper, entitled Crossing the Buddha with All Your Heart, both eloquent and ethereal in its expression.

For additional noteworthy reporting on the fair, we recommend the following:

Yuan Siwen: Crossing the Buddha with All Your Heart, 2024. Oi Ling Gallery [Booth D18]. Photo © & Courtesy of Valentina Scarzella
Artist: https://www.artnet.com/artists/yuan-shiwen/
Gallery: https://www.instagram.com/oilinggallery/

Gu Dexin: 2021-11-1, 2000/2023. Photo © & Courtesy of M+. 
Artist Info: https://www.artnet.com/artists/gu-dexin/biography
Museum: https://www.mplus.org.hk/en/

No trip to Hong Kong week would be complete for contemporary art aficionados without visiting the M+ Art Museum. Love it or hate it, this museum houses the eponymous Sigg Collection, one of the first, largest, and most comprehensive collections of contemporary Chinese art, dating from 1972 to 2012, including 1510 works executed in a broad range of styles and mediums. The well-curated galleries display works from famous artists, including Zeng Fanhi, Geng Jianyi, Yue Minjun, and Ai Weiwei, all sharing an interest in the passage of time with a variety of positions to that metaphysical reality. One exemplary piece was by Gu Dexin, whose installation, titled 2021-11-12, was exhibited in its original form as a chair filled with fatty meat. Even if now the meat has been replaced by synthetic material, the experience of sitting remains almost unchanged. Viewers are given a palpable and visceral sense of flesh, as it provides visitors with the opportunity to sit on it and contemplate their unique sensory experience. The concept of this work is how things change over time, as the meat ages and offers visitors a shocking self-awareness, recalling the knowledge of their own flesh doomed to slowly decompose, smell, and rot.

Another standout work that left viewers equally stunned and confused was by Chu Yun, titled Who Has Stolen Our Bodies, known to many as simply the ‘soap piece.’ An artist who has a cult following, in particular to Chinese viewers, his practice culls from everyday materials to make the ordinary visible. In this famous piece, he collected used bar soaps from his friends to underline the passage of life and how, during it, we have to give away part of ourselves, transforming into new shapes and forms. The work is both poignant in its presentation and understated in using perishable materials, clearly reflecting on the ephemeral nature and commonality of human existence while subverting such universalism by glorifying the individual. No soap bar will fade in the same manner as others. The work also underscored how Westerners must consider that their history of art is different from the East, and in order to really appreciate the work and its contribution to Chinese art history, one must recognize how Chu Yun extends his place and art within a second generational response to the Beijing art scene starting with Tiananmen Square. His work as a second-generation performative artist takes on more significance and thus serves as a reminder that canonical art history needs to be expanded and become more inclusive of other valid histories for the avant-garde. 

Chu Yun: Who Has Stolen Our Bodies, 2002. Photo © & Courtesy of Valentina Scarzella.
Artist Info: https://www.mutualart.com/Artist/Chu-Yun/C19F96C2EA24C813/Biography
Museum: https://www.mplus.org.hk/en/ 

For additional details and noteworthy reviews of the museum, see the following:

The Centrality of Ancient Art in Hong Kong

Hong Kong Palace Museum: Gallery 2: Exhibition “From Dawn to Dusk.” Photo © & Courtesy of Emma Howard 

Perhaps the real jewel of Hong Kong Art Week was the Hong Kong Palace Museum, one of the oldest and most important cultural institutions with the sole mission of researching and educating on the history of Chinese art and culture. Amongst the various galleries hosting antiquities from ancient China, the most interesting were included in the exhibition called ‘Entering the Forbidden City: Architecture, Collection and Heritage.’ The section, ‘From Dawn to Dusk, Life in the Forbidden City’ retraces a day in the life of a Chinese Emperor, showcasing relics of this extraordinary civilization, including amazing ceramics and clocks, signets and jades plated with incisions, wall screens, and dresses. One experiences and accompanies the emperor through his day - from dawn to dusk - experiencing the dressing process, tea making, eating customs, and official meetings with courtiers and generals, finally ending with the intimacy of his private room at bedtime whilst he authors poems and exercises his great calligraphy skills. The exhibition, infused with an imperial aura and ethereality, offers viewers an extraordinary voyeuristic journey through life as a courtier, sharing those rituals and routines now lost to time, and represents a remote experience to any Westerner’s sensibilities, making it an unquestionable highlight of the week. The guides and curator-led tours provided a profound insight into this experience and therefore were a highly recommended asset.

Gallery 2: Five-piece altar set with lotuses and Buddhist treasures, Qianlong mark and period (1736 – 1795), imperial porcelain factory, Jingdezhen, Porcelain with overglaze Enamels © & Courtesy Palace Museum

For additional details reporting on the museum, see the following:

Reporting from the desks of….

  • Editorial by Valentina Scarzella, VARA ART & Sotheby’s MBA‘24 

  • Editorial by Renée Vara, VARA ART

  • Special Thanks to Emma Howard for photography 

VARA ART, known for its deep expertise and longstanding experience in contemporary art, provides curatorial services, artists’ rights advocacy, and expert valuation services to global collectors.

Inquiries: www.varaart.com & info@varaart.com

Follow us: @varaart

All rights reserved ©VARA ART. Images Courtesy & © Museums, Artists & Fairs

Renée Vara & Valentina Scarzella
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