Hong Kong's artists can't just ride on Art Basel's coat-tails
Hong Kong should set up its own schedule on the art fair calendar instead of riding on Art Basel, writes John Batten
A story should have a beginning, a middle and an end, but not necessarily in that order," says Alexie Glass-Kantor, a curator with Art Basel Hong Kong, quoting French director Jean-Luc Godard. Art fairs are the art world's supermarkets, and despite a utilitarian approach, their dalliance with luxury, money and ego can distort the purity or intention of much of the exhibited art. But, Godard reminds us, nothing is necessarily straightforward and conventional - even art fairs.
There was something for everyone in the recent week of fairs and art events spread across Hong Kong. The cynical found time to bemoan the offerings, but within the art market's wheels of frantic activity any art lover could find pockets of enjoyment. It's somewhere in the middle that it gets hazy: the market does not necessarily filter the best art to the "top" and, in a marketing fog of accolades, much can be confusing, mediocre or banal.
Art Basel's Encounters section, curated by Glass-Kantor, exhibited large installations selected from proposals by participating galleries. Strategically located at the fair's meridian points and as a "city within a city" inside the fair, these pieces were visually stronger than 2014's, but many of the works relied on sheer size for impact.
The best included American Carlos Rolón's (2013), an installation that draws on vernacular responses to middle-class aspirations and decoration. Rolón's oversized chandelier, tiles, boom box and golden objects have been re-imagined from the artist's Chicago-Puerto Rican childhood home. Ironically, it reflects the self-same art fair allusions of luxury.
Similarly, the bloated, hybrid animals of Yang Maoyuan's (2014) display the artist's view of luxury consumerism. And, like the thrill to "buy, buy, buy", these grotesque animals are seductively attractive and abhorrent. Taking a selfie is now part of the consumerist package of grabbing luxury by association.
Understandably, this year even more luxury brand marketing sidled alongside Art Basel, piggybacking on the fair's timing and image. The Peninsula sponsored British artist Richard Wilson's bus sculpture (using the film as inspiration), which hangs over the hotel's façade until April 8. (Social media immediately saw a visual similarity with the bus involved in the 2010 Manila hostage crisis and some described the installation as "insensitive"; it is a reminder that artistic imagery has uncontrolled associations.)
