Art Basel Hong Kong first look: small is beautiful, kitsch is out at international art fair

A visitor in front of a work by Thai artist Natee Utarit at Richard Koh's Art Basel Hong Kong booth. Photo: Enid Tsui

Kitsch is out, small is good. That’s our first impression of this year’s Art Basel Hong Kong, Asia’s biggest contemporary art fair, which opened its doors to VIPs on Wednesday.

Compared to previous editions, the art seems quieter. Even the large pieces in the “Encounters” section are relatively subdued, apart from Lee Bul’s Willing to Be Vulnerable – Metalized Balloon (2019), which is a giant silver zeppelin, and Mit Jai Inn’s brightly coloured Planes (Electric) (2019).

With just one gratuitous lifelike female nude, this year’s fair features quite a few presentations that have thoughtful and substantial content, including a number of historical exhibitions.

For example, 10 Chancery Lane’s booth is dedicated to China’s Stars art movement that began in the late 1970s. Beijing’s Star gallery has a solo exhibition of Hong Kong-born photojournalist Liu Heung Shing’s most iconic images, shot during important moments in China and the former USSR.

Photographer Liu Heung-shing at his Art Basel Hong Kong exhibition. Photo: Enid Tsui

David Zwirner's booth this year features works by the American artist Carol Bove. Photo: Enid Tsui

For the 10th anniversary of his Hong Kong gallery, Ben Brown has brought his mother Rosamond Brown's paintings to his Art Basel booth. Photo: Enid Tsui

Ben Brown is celebrating his Hong Kong gallery’s 10th anniversary by presenting paintings by his mother, Rosamond, at his booth with an archive of exhibitions she took part in during the 1970s, when she was a key member of Hong Kong’s burgeoning Western art scene.

There is a quite a lot of experimentation using unusual materials and digital manipulation, but those works tend to strive for a resemblance to classical forms. Others use traditional genres to represent contemporary issues, such as Perry Grayson’s Battle of Britain (2017), a 3-metre by 7-metre tapestry, on sale at Victoria Miro’s booth, and Natee Utarit’s oil paintings at Richard Koh Gallery.

Battle of Britain, a giant tapestry by Grayson Perry at Art Basel Hong Kong. Photo: Enid Tsui

Art Basel visitors in front of Michelangelo Pistoletto's I Testimoni. Photo: Enid Tsui

British comic actor Rowan Anderson’s character Johnny English caricatured in “Age comes wisdom”, by Chow Chun-fai. Photo: Enid Tsui

On the whole, gallerists seemed reassured by the first day’s sales.

David Zwirner sold a painting by Alice Neel for US$1.7 million and a painting by Luc Tuymans for US$1.5 million, as well as four of Carol Bove’s sculptures. Hauser & Wirth said it closed three multimillion-dollar sales of works by Mark Bradford, Jack Whitten and Arshile Gorky. It sold all the Louise Bourgeoise at its gallery in H Queen’s tower in Central. Paula Cooper, in Hong Kong for the first time, sold a work by Cecily Brown.

However, there is clearly a downsizing of works in general, with prices around the US$50,000 mark less rare than before, a reflection perhaps of sentiment about the global economy.

Francois Ghebaly's booth is a solo presentation of Candice Lin's works. Photo: Enid Tsui

Works by Jos de Gruyter and Harald Thys at the Isabella Bortolozzi booth at Art Basel Hong Kong. The artist duo are representing Belgium at the 58th Venice Biennale. Photo: Enid Tsui

Art Basel Hong Kong is held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre until March 31.