ML - Michigan Avenue

2014 - Issue 3 - May/June

Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!

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I n just a few years, Hong Kong has evolved from a city that many considered a cultural desert to the fourth-largest global market for contemporary art. More than $130 million in fine art was sold in the region in 2013, according to art market information source Artprice, partially due to record-setting auc- tions and the rise of billionaire art collectors in China. As recently as 2008, Hong Kong had no major art fairs, but the visionaries behind the inf luential Art Basel shows in Switzerland and Miami Beach helped push the cultural renaissance forward last year when they debuted Art Basel in Hong Kong. Asia's second annual Art Basel fair—which opens May 15 and features 245 of the world's most inf luential galleries from 39 countries—will help add even more international exposure to the Asian art market. "Art Basel in Hong Kong aspires to provide a fair for Asia of global stature and the highest qual- ity while retaining its unique regional f lavor," says show director Magnus Renfrew. "Hong Kong has long been regarded as the portal connecting the East and the West. It's a major financial hub, and as such is [positioned] to allow for efficient transactions [between galleries and collectors]." This year's show will be marked by the strong programming that is a hall- mark of the two other Art Basel shows. The Discoveries sector, dedicated to solo and two-person exhibitions by emerging artists, is building particular buzz. Also creating excitement is the Encounters sector, featuring large- scale sculptural and installation pieces curated by Japan's highly regarded Yuko Hasegawa of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo. "Last year Yuko's selection spurred a compelling discourse around contrasting genera- tional and cultural approaches to artistic practices," says Renfrew. "I have every confidence that her program this year will again present ambitious works that act as conversation points." And one of Art Basel Miami Beach's most beloved events—the Film sector—will debut in Hong Kong this year, developed by Chinese multimedia artist and curator Li Zhenhua and hosted in partnership with the Hong Kong Arts Centre. These collaborations with local institutions help Art Basel support the bur- geoning contemporary art scene in Hong Kong. Not only is the government pouring billions of dollars into developing a cultural district in West Kowloon, but the new M+, a world-class museum slated for completion in 2017, further illustrates Hong Kong's commitment to the visual arts. Perhaps the most sig- nificant indicator is the number of respected Western galleries—including Rising in the East THE EYES OF CHICAGO'S ART WORLD TURN TO ASIA AS ART BASEL HONG KONG LAUNCHES INTO ITS SECOND YEAR. BY SUE HOSTETLER continued on page 90 Bouquet 1 by Jennifer Steinkamp, 2013, from Lehmann Maupin, one of the blue-chip US galleries with an outpost in Hong Kong. 88 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM ART FULL 088-090_MA_SC_ArtFull_May-June_14.indd 88 4/14/14 2:16 PM

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