This is the first part of my review of the fair, featuring contemporary artworks by many artists who seem to be new faces at Art Basel Hong Kong. I think a lot of the galleries who showed this year were first-timers at the fair as well, which would explain the fresh selection of artists.

The second part of my review features the works of old and famous modern masters (and a little contemporary), which you can read here!

Tromarama (Febie Babyrose, Ruddy Hatumena, and Herbert Hans), Private Riots, 2014-2016, video animation, LCD monitor, boards, metallic wire, metallic frame, Edouard Malingue

This giant installation is part of the Encounters sector, which is a selection of large installation works placed across the grounds of the fair and which I considered the anchor of the event. Private Riots was one of the better works, but I was honestly disappointed by this year’s choices. My expectation was that the Encounters would be the most eye-catching works, but I was mostly disinterested.

Private Riots is so named as it means to talk about the different components involved in protest, and each image on the boards represents one such component. I seemed to have missed the TVs and the animations they will playing altogether, oops! I’m not too sure about the protest idea, but it appeared as if the images represented different aspects of our daily lives, and that appealed to me.

Huang Yong Ping, L’Arc de Saint-Gilles, 2015, wood, iron, fiberglass, taxidermic deer, gold leaf, kamel mennour

Huang Yong Ping just had an exhibition at the Power Station of Art in Shanghai with one work featuring headless animals which honestly creeped me out, so I’m glad to see that this deer has its whole body intact, HAHAHA.

Lina Ben Rejeb, Mémoires, à Toucher, 2015, mixed media on paper, Selma Feriani Gallery

Charles Avery, Tree no. 5 (from the Jadindagadendar), 2015, mixed media, Ingleby; Pilar Corrias

Huang Rui, Monkey, 2015, steel and restored furniture, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery

Huang Rui, Quadruple Happiness, 2014, steel and restored furniture, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery

This is a fun play on the “double happiness” character often seen on Chinese red decorative papers for weddings, but Quadruple Happiness is just more happiness to go around! (By the way, the “double happiness” character doesn’t make a real Chinese word, but a “single happiness” actually is a real word.)

舟 Fune, 1982, ink on Japanese paper; Wang Keping, Sitting Woman 1 WK14, 2012, plane, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery

Fune totally passes off an ink painting of a sitting woman, doesn’t it? I totally thought so until I realized it was purely a work of Japanese calligraphy.

Zhang Ding 張鼎, 18 Cubes 18個立方, 2016, man-made crystal, stainless steel plated in gold, ShangART; Krinzinger

Zhang Ding’s 18 Cubes is my favorite Encounters piece! It consists of 18 gold reflective cubes, which apparently you’re encouraged to “destroy” or “vandalize” or scratch off the gold or something. I wish there was a sign saying that; the kids could have gone crazy on this instead of reportedly touching and knocking artworks that they weren’t supposed to.

On that note, if you have noticed in the photos above, there were just SO MANY people when I went, definitely much more compared to last year. There were announcements repeated every few seconds asking visitors to please not touch/bang/knock into artworks, although there were really so many people it was quite easy to accidentally back into an artwork.

Ebru Uygun, LOVE, 2016, mixed media on canvas, Dirimart

There was quite a collection of mirrored/cracked mirrored works…

Lee Bul, Civitas Solis, 2016, acrylic mirrors, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac

Zhao Zhao 趙趙, Fragment 碎片, 2015, brass, Tang Contemporary Art

Tatsuo Miyajima, Moon in the ground no. 2, 2015, stainless steel, light emitting diode, IC, electric wire

Yang Fudong, Ms. Huang at M Last Night 5, 2006 (left), Seven Intellectuals in Bamboo Forest, Part 5, 2007 (right), black and white inkjet print, Marian Goodman Gallery

Liu Ye 劉野, Snow White 白雪公主, 2006, Dominique Lévy

I was drawn by the light effect of Liu Ye’s painting! The contrast between light and dark got exaggerated on camera, but the painting essentially depicts Snow White in a circle of light on a blue background.

Kader Attia, Sacrifice and Harmony, 2016, sanded steel and feathers

Zhang Xiaogang 張曉剛, Flashlight 手電筒, 2008-2015, oil on canvas, Pace

Claire Fontaine, Foreigners Everywhere (Chinese), 2008, suspended, wall or window mounted neon (ruby red) framework, electronic transformer, cables, Air de Paris

Paul Chan, Greene Naftali

This was really quite… questionable. It’s made of those long balloon things that are pumped from the bottom and the air moves upwards – I always saw them outside estate showflats. Here, three of them have been shaped into women’s puffer jackets, in black to match the Hong Kong taste, and they move from side to side in a mad fashion. I had to capture a bit of it on video, which will be coming up soon!

Stella Zhang, all part of 0-Viewpoint series, Galerie du Monde

This felt like a continuation of what was happening just above, with a smattering of black stuff covering the entire gallery booth. I’ve seen other works by Zhang, but this just doesn’t work for me.

Zhang Xiao, Since there is a dream, 2015, archival inkjet print, clocks, Blindspot Gallery

The images on the multiple clocks come together to form a big picture of Tiananmen (Gate)! The outside of the clocks have some prints about CCTV… I wonder if this work is making a jab about Chinese politics. Very interesting.

Chen Zhen 陳箴, Opening of a Closed Center 打開密封的中心, 1997, mixed media of wood, metal, found objects, furniture, de Sarthe Gallery

Big question: Are the security staff part of the artwork?

I mean, this could be a new form of half-installation, half-performance art (with live people performing an act as part of an artwork)! I thought the title could give me a better idea, but it just sounds as if the security staff could possibly be part of it. I couldn’t stand not knowing, so I decided to get over any potential embarrassment and ask them.

So, it turns out they weren’t part of the artwork. They were there to prevent people from possibly knocking everything down. Only in Hong Kong, people! I’m convinced there won’t ever be such a sight at Art Basel in Basel or Miami.

Antony Gormley, rooftop sculpture part of Event Horizon, Nov 2015 – May 2016

Antony Gormley, Transfuser IV, 2002, mild steel rings, Galerie Thomas

What happens when the standing man goes horizontal.

Keiji Uematsu, Invisible axis – distance and angle, 2016, stainless steel, granite, stainless steel wire, Yumiko Chiba

Tintin Wulia, Five Tonnes of Homes and Other Understories, 2016, mixed media of metal, paper, ink, Osage

This Encounter installation is made up of cardboard “waste,” and it stems from the artist’s involvement in the cardboard recycling network in Hong Kong’s Central district. I didn’t know there was so much cardboard recycling going on in Central, but that’s good to know. I appreciate artists putting a focus on ideas or issues that we might not easily encounter in our daily lives in their art, but aesthetically, piles of cardboard would understandably not look so great. I think it’s not the most well executed artwork, but that could be said for many other contemporary artworks too.

Gavin Turk, American Bag, 2015, painted bronze, Ben Brown Fine Arts

Another piece of trash Refuse – okay, it’s come back as an American Bag this year.

Vik Muniz, Golden Gate Bridge (Postcards from Nowhere), 2015, digital C-print, Ben Brown Fine Arts

Qiu Deshu 仇德樹, Fissure, ShangART Gallery

Qiu Deshu 仇德樹, A Lot of Snow Looks Very Clean and Cold 積血清寒, 2005, acrylic on rice paper on canvas, Alisan Fine Arts

I’d seen an exhibition of Qiu Deshu at ShangART in Singapore last summer, and I was really impressed by Qiu’s contemporary take on shanshui (literally mountain water) paintings pieced together by torn bits of tissue paper, if I don’t remember wrongly. It comes out really nicely, especially in his immense wall-length quad-typch piece.

It was nice to see Qiu’s works again at Art Basel, but here they’re smaller in size and made with different materials, and have some stylistic differences as well.

Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg, A Thief Caught in the Act, 2015, wood, metal, canvas, modelling clay, acrylic paint, Lisson

It’s not one thief, it’s a bunch of birds stealing jewelry in the last Encounter installation of this post. There are lamps on each table that alternately go on and off, highlighting the whole caught in the act thing. I like that pink owl on the left because, pink! owl!

Overall, I thought that the fair this year was a step down from the fairs the last two years, and I found myself walking by too many artworks without being attracted to look at many in detail. The setup of an art fair itself, especially with so many visitors cramped into the space, doesn’t allow for long insightful studies of artworks. I just hope to discover new works and artists by how well artworks were able to attract my attention. I definitely prefer to go to orderly curated exhibitions, but going to an art fair is still fun – it’s not often you get to see so many artworks of different media, styles, sizes, and cultures all gathered under one roof.

The post Art Basel Hong Kong 2016 | The New and the Curious appeared first on Wording Art.

| Cover picture: Alighiero Boetti, Rinaldo Annamaria Luna Rossi, 1993-94, blue ballpoint pen on cardboard on canvas, Tornabuoni Art |

303 Gallery

Another mirror piece in the fair – right side up this time! So perfect for selfies.

Liza Lou, Untitled, #14, 2011, Untitled, #15, 2011, Untitled, (Grid), 2012-14, Untitled, #12, 2011, woven glass beads on linen, Goodman Gallery

Kendell Geers, Four Letter Brand (Evil) 1, Four Letter Brand (Fate) 1, Four Letter Brand (Life) 1, Four Letter Brand (Gift) 1, plexiglas mirror and charred wood, Goodman Gallery

Alfredo Jaar, Other People Think, 2012, lightbox with transparency, Goodman Gallery

Hey, I do too!

Julian Opie, Walking in the rain, London, Walking in the rain, Seoul, 2015, screenprints, Alan Cristea Gallery

Polígrafa Obra Gráfica

Every gallery booth has a table and chairs for their staff, sometimes also for the laying out of books and brochures and whatnot, but this cardboard-style desk and chairs set looked very interesting!

Isabel Nolan, There will be time no longer, 2014, mild steel, wadding, wool and thread, Kerlin Gallery

Isabel Nolan, The emptied room: A rug for the 20th Century, 2014, hand tufted wool, Kerlin Gallery

Liam Gillick, Intermodal Elevation, 2015, powder coated aluminium, plexiglas, Kerlin Gallery

So many people at Art Basel! Just don’t stand too still to be thought of as a sculpture…

Norberto Roldan, Viper, 2015, oil and acrylic on canvas, Arndt

Love it! The quote is perfect, and I like the juxtaposition with an image of a fighter jet.

Leung Mee Ping, Expected Departure, x-rays, light boxes, 2006-14, Osage

I actually find this concept of x-ray images of various vomit bags really interesting! There’s a Hello Kitty bag, Thai Airways bag…

Yifei Chen, Early Morning (Suzhou), 1983, oil on canvas, Hammer Galleries

Yifei Chen, Leisurely Boat Ride (Suzhou, China), 1983, oil on canvas, Hammer Galleries

Yang Maoyuan, THEY are coming to Hong Kong, 2014, mixed media, Platform China

The title made me crack up so hard, HAHAHA! My favorite is the horse, there’s also a mutated camel and blue ball monster in the background. Weird creatures or not, doesn’t the horse look so real? You can really see the meticulousness that Yang put into his work in the details of the horse’s face, with small sweat/saliva beads on its little hairs.

João Vasco Paiva, Mausoleum, 2015, acrylic on stone resin modules on galvanized mild steel structure, Edouard Malingue Gallery

I first saw Paiva’s works in his Near and Elsewhere exhibition at Edouard Malingue Gallery at the end of 2013 and I remember my favorite were his stone resin works representing the styrofoam boxes you often see at wet markets in Wanchai (Hong Kong). That was my first foray into contemporary art! It was really nice to see Paiva’s works again but now in a larger than life format!

Fernando Botero, Man with dog, 2005, oil on canvas, galerie gmurzynska

Pablo Picasso, Femme à la robe verte, 1956, oil on canvas, Acquavella

I love how this painting was hung beside a photograph of Picasso at work. Can you spot the painting in the photograph? :)

Wayne Thiebaud, Four Heart Cakes, 1971, pen and ink on paper; Ten Candies, 2000, pastel on paper, Acquavella

Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild (568-1), 1984, oil on canvas, Van de Weghe Fine Art

Jeff Koons, Flower Drawing (Red), 2011, mirror-polished stainless steel with transparent color coating; reflecting Andy Warhol, Endangered Species (Ram), 1983, synthetic polymer paint and silkscreen ink on canvas, Van de Weghe Fine Art

Kitty Chou, Conflation #2, 2012, inkjet on Hahnemühle photo rag paper; Wang Keping, Femme, 2006, acacia;  Tseng Kwong Chi, Paris, France (Female Figure and Eiffel), 1983, silver gelatin print, Ben Brown Fine Arts

Alexander Calder, Poisson Avec Tête Humaine, 1976, metal painted hanging mobile, Ben Brown Fine Arts

Vik Muniz, Forbidden City (Postcards from Nowhere), 2014, digital C-print, Ben Brown Fine Arts

I love Muniz’s Postcards from Nowhere series! He builds images of places and people with scraps of paper, postcards, and the like, with the scraps themselves containing images related to the overall image Muniz creates. The final piece we see is a photograph of his work.

Gavin Turk, Refuse, 2012, painted bronze, Ben Brown Fine Arts

This is too funny. It’s the shiniest and most refined bag of trash I’ve seen because it’s made of bronze! I really wonder where this artwork can be displayed though…

William Tillyer, The Frobisher Paintings, Oranges on a Plate, 2015, acrylic and mesh on canvas, Bernard Jacobson Gallery

Andy Warhol, Mao, 1973, synthetic polymer and silkscreen on canvas, Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art

Andy Warhol, Flowers, 1970, set of ten screenprints on paper, Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art

Andy Warhol, Jackie, 1964, acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas, Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art

It’s again great to see works from modern artists like Pop Art forerunner Andy Warhol at Art Basel. I’m not a big fan of Warhol’s, but I do find his ideas interesting!

Alighiero Boetti, Mappa acquolina in bocca nell’anno 84 Alighiero e Boetti Afghanistan, 1983-84, embroidery on cloth, Tornabuoni Art

Pinaree Sanpitak, The Hammock, 2014/15, blown glass and steel, Yavuz Gallery

When I was younger, I always had this dream to sleep in a hammock. I never did, and I still haven’t!

Haegue Yang, Sonic Figure – Ancient Revenant, 2015, steel stand, metal grid, powder coating, casters, copper plated bells, nickel plated bells, metal rings, Galerie Chantal Crousel

Yoshitomo Nara, Setsuko the Cat, 2012, bronze, Blum & Poe

Bronze sculptures make up another part of Nara’ wide repertoire. I find this looks a little creepy, I prefer the little girls!

Pablo Picasso, Compotier et bouteille sur un guéridon (Fruit bowl and bottle on a pedestal table), 1913-17, oil on canvas, Richard Gray Gallery

Picasso’s Cubist pieces are always so fun to decipher! Love his work.

Jaume Plensa, Blake in Venice (In Seed Time Learn…), Blake in Venice (Exuberance is Beauty), Blake in Venice (One Thought Fills…), 2013, murano glass, Richard Gray Gallery

Roy Lichtenstein, Sky, Land, and Water, 1984, oil and magna on canvas, Richard Gray Gallery

Cy Twombly, Untitled, 1973, drawing paper, transparent adhesive film, staples, oil, charcoal and oil crayon on paper, Galerie Karsten Greve

That’s the end of my review of Art Basel Hong Kong 2015! I highly recommend it! Tickets are pricey, but the numerous artworks you see is worth it. What’s interesting is also all the different types of people attending the fair – besides the art collectors and buyers, there are many families, couples, students and kids! It’s a fun outing idea for everyone. :D

Dates for next year’s Art Basel in Hong Kong have already been released, it’s going to be held a little later during March 24-26, 2016! The Art Basel fairs are apparently planned a few years in advance. O.O

Till then, can’t wait to see what’s in store for next year’s fair!

The post Art Basel Hong Kong 2015 | Part II appeared first on Wording Art.

As with last year, I’ve given in to the fact that I would miss some works that I would have really really wanted to see but the halls are just too big not to miss some here and there. The art fair is split into two exhibition halls, Hall 1 and 3, at the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Centre and this post is dedicated to Hall 1!

Qin Jun, void G-1, 2015, acrylic on canvas, White Space Beijing

Zhou Jie, Wonderful Plan, 2015, steel wire, Bejing Art Now Gallery

Zhou creates a room setting with a multi-colored wall and floor with steel panels sticking out and up, along with armchairs and a small table, a pair of slippers and a rabbit “soft” toy! I found the rabbit an adorable touch. :)

Keisuke Tanaka, Black Box, 2015, camphor tree, Yamamoto Gendai

I have a compulsion to stick a picture in the frame when I see this, but the details are all in the frame itself!

Motohiko Odani, Aero Former – The Thinking Ground, 2014, cast aluminium, Yamamoto Gendai

Thilo Heinzmann, O. T., 2014, oil, pigment on canvas behind plexiglass cover, Carl Freedman Gallery

Julian Opie, Sport man, 2014; Woman texting with man looking on, 2013; Checkered umbrella, 2014 (left to right), silkscreen on painted wooden board, Gerhardsen Gerner

There were plenty of works by Opie at the fair and I’m a new fan! I love cities, so Opie’s works based on contemporary city life are right up my alley.

Georg Herold, Untitled, 2014, aluminium, lacquer, Gerhardsen Gerner

Joseph Kosuth, P.G. #9, 1991, warm white neon directly mounted to the wall, Lia Rumma

Ettore Spalletti, Parole di colore, rosso porpora, 2011, mixture of color on panel, Lia Rumma

I have to say I’m not a fan of color field painting, which started in the 1950s and is part of the art period Abstract Expressionism. So this contemporary take is not a particular favorite, but I do like the color! I wonder how many selfies were taken with this…

Erik Schmidt, White Night Dream, 2015, oil on canvas, carlier gebauer

Hrair Sarkissian, istory (No. 5); istory (No. 8) (left to right), 2011, archival inkjet print, Kalfayan Galleries

Nina Papaconstantinou, Giorgos Cheimonas, Peisistratus, 2011; Karagatsis, 2010; Nikos Kavvadias, 2011; Miltos Sachtouris, Colorwounds (clockwise from top left), 2011, carbon copy on paper, Kalfayan Galleries

Hrair Sarkissian, Stand Still, 2009, archival inkjet print, Kalfayan Galleries

I really like this one! I found the stillness striking, and that was before I read its apt title.

Brendan Huntley, all Untitled, Tolarno Galleries

I found this row of small sculptures both quirky and weird, but I found it interesting how they were distinct from each other when viewed from both the front and back. Three out of this row of seven had already been sold on the day I went to the fair, as you can see from the stickers on their didactic panels. Which would you have chosen? ;)

Tim Maguire, Trees and Snow I, Trees and Snow II, Trees and Snow III, Trees and Snow IV, Trees and Snow V, 2014, latex ink on paper, framed, Tolarno Galleries

Seungyul Oh, Dottori, Dottori, 2014, fiberglass; Periphery, Periphery, 2015, acrylic on canvas, One and J. Gallery

Oh’s works are so cute and lively! The two Periphery with their color blocking borders and the two Dottori that look like acorns to me seem so random when placed together but it works, don’t you think?

Henning Strassburger, Think Radically, 2015, Sies + Höke

Li Qiang, 2014 visual diary, 2014, oil on canvas, Mizuma Art Gallery

Meng Huang, Space 4, Space 1, Space 2, Space 3, 2009, oil on canvas, Galerie Urs Meile

Xu Longsen, Beholding the Mountain with Awe No. 1, 2008-09, ink on paper, Hanart TZ Gallery; Wang Keping, Les Spectateurs (Man and Woman), 1999, wood, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery; Shooshie Sulaiman, SEA Brothers Rubber Estate of 16 March, 2005, rubber sheets, wood structures and zinc roofing, Tomio Koyama Gallery, Encounters (back to front)

One of the highlights of Art Basel is its Encounters sector that specially feature sculptures and installations that are both attention-grabbing and eye-catching. It’s really something when you reach these designated spaces in the exhibition halls and see the massive artworks! And they make great markers for navigating the endless maze of white gallery booths, HAHAHA.

Anish Kapoor, Untitled, Gladstone Gallery

I think it’s going to become a tradition of mine to take a selfie with a mirrored artwork at every Hong Kong edition of Art Basel. Unconventionally, Kapoor’s piece offers an upside down selfie. Pictured here is my sister Kylene (citygirlcitystories.com) and I!

Kukje Gallery / Tina Kim Gallery

I can’t find the details of this piece but it’s a video/moving image piece showing people walking. Its placement beside Opie’s artwork pictured below is just perfect!

Julian Opie, Walking in Sinsa-dong. 1., 2014, silkscreen on painted wooden board, Kukje Gallery / Tina Kim Gallery

Sinsa-dong is a neighborhood (‘dong’ meaning neighborhood in Korean) in the district of Gangnam, Seoul. I’ve never been to Seoul but Kylene told me that Opie’s depiction of the people’s clothes here is accurate, with the women’s love for wedges and the guys with their baseball caps. I love these small details!

Anselm Kiefer, Untitled (under glass), 2007, mixed media on canvas, Kukje Gallery / Tina Kim Gallery

Siobhán Hapaska, Intifada, 2014, olive trees, aluminium, electric motors, electric cable, Kerlin Gallery

Hapaska’s installation was part of the Encounters sector and it features vibrating olive trees attached to electric motors. I found the noise generated from the electric motors annoying but you could say that was the desired effect. The Arabian word Intifada literally means ‘shaking off,’ but also has popular associations with rebellion or resistance. This installation however intends to convey an idea of “‘shaking off,’ which limits a better future.” (Information taken from the Encounters brochure.)

Tracey Emin, I Fell in Love here, 2014, neon, Lehmann Maupin

Emin has a large range of works but my favorite is definitely her neon word series with short sentences that cut straight to the point and are just striking.

UPDATE: Do check out Artsy’s comprehensive page on Tracey Emin here to know more about Emin and view more of her works! Artsy’s Tracey Emin page contains a short bio, a selection of art pieces including neon ones like I Fell in Love here, information about her recent exhibitions, and other articles by the Artsy team. Of course, Artsy also has many other artist pages and useful information that I’m always looking up myself! :)

Tim Rollins and K.O.S., A Midsummer Night’s Dream (after Shakespeare and Mendelssohn), 2014, watercolor, ink, fruit juices, Thai mulberry paper, collage, mustard seed, music score pages on canvas, Lehmann Maupin

Mary Corse, Untitled (White Inner Band, Beveled), 2012, glass microspheres in acrylic on canvas, Lehmann Maupin

Teresita Fernández, Golden (Constellation 1), 2015, gold chroming and india ink on wood panel, Lehmann Maupin

Love this! Love love love love love.

Adel Abdessemed, Queen Mary II (le fils), 2007, metal, David Zwirner

Jeff Koons, Buster Keaton, 1988, polychromed wood, David Zwirner

Buster Keaton (1895-1966) was a famous American actor and iconic figure who probably doesn’t need any introduction but who I honestly have not heard of before. The name ‘Franz Wieser’ is imprinted at the bottom of this sculpture but I can’t find any information on what it might possibly mean.

John Baldessari, Beethoven’s Trumpet (With Ear), Opus 127, 2007, resin, fiberglass, bronze, aluminium, and electronics, Marian Goodman Gallery

Pace Gallery

Funny scenes at Art Basel Hong Kong…

Alexander Calder, Untitled, c, 1952, sheet metal, wire and paint, Pace Gallery

I love mobiles and I first saw one, also by Calder, at last year’s Art Basel Hong Kong. Calder’s mobiles are back again but I really wish to see more of them in the general art scene!

Alexander Calder, Untitled, 1972, sheet metal, wire and paint, Pace Gallery

Pablo Picasso, Buste de Femme Couchee, 1939, pencil on paper, Pace Gallery

Mark Rothko, Untitled, 1968, acrylic on paper mounted on masonite, Pace Gallery

Art Basel Hong Kong always brings in 20th century modern art and it’s really nice to see works from artists I learned about in class in real life! I think Picasso is a genius, but I didn’t like Rothko’s color field paintings so much and seeing his work here didn’t change my mind.

Xu Bing, Book from the Ground: From • to •, 2012, book, Eslite Gallery

Xu Bing, Men, Nursery, Women sign, 2000, screenprint, Eslite Gallery

Xu Bing, Book from the Ground, 2012, print, Eslite Gallery

Xu Bing, An Introduction to Square Word Calligraphy, Printed Textbook, 2000, woodblock hand-printed book and ink rubbings with wood cover; water-based ink on grass paper, Eslite Gallery

Before seeing Xu’s works here, I had the chance to hear Xu speak about his work at Asia Society Hong Kong’s Conversations with Artists event. He intentionally chose not to speak about his square word calligraphy work, and it was his other works that won me over. He mentioned his Phoenix installation which is absolutely stunning!

Anyway, I still find his square word calligraphy and book from the ground series very innovative. Book from the Ground: From • to • is also lovely because – it’s a pretty stack of books! Any book lover will understand, haha!

Dzine (Carlos Rolón), Around the way, 2013, mixed media: metal, 24Kt. gold leaf, glass, mirror, vintage jewelry, quartz crystals, and latex, Leeahn Gallery

Damien Hirst, Singapore, 2014, scalpel blades, skin graft blades, zips, stitching needles, aluminium fillings, pins, stainless steel studs, safety pins and gloss paint on canvas, White Cube

This crowd favorite gave me a vague sense of familiarity when I first saw it and it turned out to be an aerial view of Singapore! Hirst certainly got it well mapped.

Edmund de Waal, breathturn, II, 2013, 416 porcelain vessels in aluminium and plexiglass cabinet, Gagosian Gallery

Zeng Fanzhi, Untitled, 2012, oil on canvas; Untitled, 2014, cast silver, Gagosian Gallery

Piotr Uklański, Untitled (Nightflight to Venus), 2014, agate, coal, bismuth, chrysophase, electroplated gold thread and embroidery floss on velvet; Untitled (Immortal Enlightenment), 2014, electroplated embroidery thread, cotton, polyester embroidery floss, healing crystals, minerals, ceramic beads and glue on velvet, Gagosian Gallery

Nezaket Ekici, Emotion in Motion, London, 2013, performance installation, video performance, Pi Artworks

Nilo Ilarde, Faulty Landscape, 2002-2015, installation made from discarded paint tube caps, Artinformal

This ‘landscape of painting’ is fantastic – paint tube caps fill the entire wall of the booth, empty paint tubes spill out of a box, and the center display shows many tubes of paint in various colors, some in the shape of pressed paint tubes. Ilarde’s words on the wall sound a little sad, but I really like the novelty of his work.

Yoshitomo Nara, The Mini Puff Marshies (yellow), 2006, FRP (fibre-reinforced plastic), Johnen Galerie

It’s yellow, and it’s puffy! Kylene told me it reminded her of baos (Chinese buns) especially from the back (seen in the cover picture), HAHAHA.

Rodney Graham, Cylindro-chromatic Abstraction Construction #20, Cylindro-chromatic Abstraction Construction #19 (left to right), 2014, gouache auf Holz, gerahmt – gouache on wood, framed, Johnen Galerie

Wen Ling, Star Gallery

Mika Tajima, Furniture Art (Marseille), Furniture Art (Peshawar), Furniture Art (Carrefour), Furniture Art (Naoshima), Furniture Art (Venice), Furniture Art (Santiago de los Caballeros), 2015, spray enamel, thermoformed acrylic, Eleven Rivington

Taeyoon Kim, Evermore, 2014-15, customized software, multi-channel display, supported by LG Ultra HD TV, One and J. Gallery

Kim’s video installation in the Encounters sector is actually very cute, with bouncy polka dots floating around in a blue space. While taking a look at the didactic panel though, I also had to commend the general Korean talent for product placement.

Gao Weigang, Consume, 2014, stainless steel, titanium, Shanghai Gallery of Art

Robert Longo, Untitled (Belaggio), 2013, charcoal on mounted paper, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac

I still can’t believe this is not a photograph or at least some kind of digital piece. How does this look like charcoal at all!

Farhad Moshiri, Spin, 2013, embroidery on canvas, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac

I can’t say I like this artwork much, but I found the use of beads and sequins in forming this large image very impressive.

Myungkeun Koh, Duomo, 2014, digital film 3D-collage, plastic, Gallery Skape

Guan Yong, Untitled, 2014, oil on canvas, Magician Space

Li Jinghu, Counting Stars, 2005, roof tile, Magician Space

I was enamored with this artwork with its star shapes and the roof tile material. The bittersweet story behind it made me love it even more. It represents Li’s fond memories of sitting on the rooftops of now torn-down houses counting the stars, back in his home in Dongguan, Changan. There’s always news about the rapid development in China and its demolishment of old towns and villages, but it’s real stories like these that get to me.

Liu Shiyuan, Andersen’s Contemporary

This rocking chair on balloons was an Instagram favorite! I really wonder how this works, since the balloons never burst.

Spencer Finch, Aldebaran, 2014, powder-coated steel and fluorescent light, James Cohan Gallery

Claudio Parmiggiani, Senza Titolo, 1995, plaster and cadmium yellow pigments, Meessen De Clercq

I think seeing this, people will think of Michelangelo’s David, a Renaissance sculpture made in the years 1501-1504. The 16th century in Western art history saw a revival of the Classical (Greco-Roman) tradition, one of its identifying features being the interest in rendering and idealizing the human body. Later on in the 19th century, marked by the onset of modernity, artists rejected the Classical tradition.

But really, the best way to show your rejection of the Classical tradition would be to behead a human sculpture…

Fabrice Samyn, Untitled, 2014, oil and turpentine on canvas, Meessen De Clercq

Shintaro Miyake, Excursions in Asia – Hong Kong, 2015, ink and acrylic on board, Tomio Koyama Gallery

Shintaro Miyake, Excursions in Asia – Singapore, 2015, ink and acrylic on board, Tomio Koyama Gallery

Miyake was actually on-site painting but I missed seeing him! I like how he incorporates real details of both places in his works, but I prefer his interpretation of Singapore to that of Hong Kong.

Poklong Anading, Counter Acts II, 2012/2014, chromogenic transparency in lightbox, 1335Mabini

Poklong Anading, Anonymity, 2004-12, chromogenic transparency in lightboxes, set of nine images, 1335Mabini

Thomas Demand, Bloom, 2014, C-print / Diasec, Sprüth Magers Berlin London

Andreas Gursky, SH IV, 2014, Sprüth Magers Berlin London

I really like this but it has an aura of enigma to it. At the eye level, you see the glassy building for miles before spotting the two small figures at the bottom. There’s a figure all in black, and he’s facing a person dressed in what looks to be like a Spiderman suit. I actually really like Spiderman. Anyway, there’s no clear logic or reason to this and the title just adds to my confusion but I really like it!

There’s always a fun energy at Art Basel Hong Kong and I’m always happy to see so many great works of art. Part II will be up next, featuring artworks from Hall 3! In the meantime, check out my sister Kylene’s witty post Overheard at Art Basel Hong Kong on www.citygirlcitystories.com! ;D

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