For October It's All About Fine Art; 3 Big Exhibitions From 3 Big Galleries. John Wesley, Claude Lalanne, and Zeng Fanzhi in Hong Kong
Its a great week for Art in this city when it’s all about big shows, big galleries, and even bigger Artists making a mark right now in Hong Kong, culminating in the Vernissage of FINE ART ASIA 2012 on Sunday. If you haven’t read my previous post, FINE ART ASIA is absolutely “the Met” of Art Fairs in this region, with international galleries exhibiting everything from bronzes and antiques to impressionist and modern paintings from Asia and the West.
RELATED ARTICLE: “The MET” of Art Fairs, FINE ART ASIA 2011 in HK
In the run up to the FINE ART ASIA, three International galleries are debuting new exhibitions in Hong Kong this week of the finest artists in their roster. From a Master Chinese Contemporary Painter, to an American Pop Artist, to a Master of Sculptural Furniture, I have to say, the shows couldn’t be any further unrelated to each other geographically, thematically, and medium-wise, but overall it should be fun to check all of them out if only to get a good variety on what is currently on offer for Fine Arts in Hong Kong right now.
+ Zeng Fanzhi / GAGOSIAN GALLERY 09.24 to 11.05.2011
Last Saturday, the Gagosian Hong Kong debuted the paintings of Zeng Fanzhi for the first time. Zeng is most known for his collection of works from the 1990’s of Chinese individuals wearing “masks”. In 2008, one of the paintings from the “Mask Series” was sold at auction for $9.7Million, a record for any Contemporary Asian Art. Zeng, known worldwide as a master of Modern Chinese Art, produces work which completely epitomizes the cultural shift that happened in China in the last two decades. His subject matters range from masked persons to close-up portraits completely abstracted, stylistically speaking, yet underpinned with an intense “pychological tension” capturing the social pressures his subjects faced in their time.
GAGOSIAN GALLERY, 7F Pedder Building, 12 Pedder Steet, Central Hong Kong / Tue-Sat 11am - 7pm / 2151.0555 / GAGOSIAN ONLINE
+ Claude & Francois -Xavier Lalanne / BEN BROWN FINE ARTS 09.28 to 11.12.2011
A favorite of genius Fashionaries like, Tom Ford and Marc Jacobs, to past ones like Valentino and Coco Chanel, Claude Lalanne debuted her first exhibition in Asia last night via Ben Brown Fine Arts Hong Kong with the latest collection of dazzling sculpturalfurniture with animal themes and other not-so-everyday domestic bits and bobs. With a cult following like she and the late Francois-Xavier Lalanne have, one can only imagine how each timeless piece produced could only inspire. I saw it for myself and these photographs below do not do the work justice. You really need to go to Ben Brown and check it out yourself. The works are intricate and engages their spaces completely.
Gorille Consoles 1 of 8 pieces on exhibit here in Hong Kong.
And the only Croco Console in the world also on display.
Designers tend to populate their homes with these guys because A) they’re fun, B) it’s “Gold” (as in the color), and C) each work has a sharp tongue-in-cheek attitude. The works are obviously NOT for everyone and modern purists beware, the works on display are defined by their gold intertwining vines and animal skin. If you’re interested, this exhibit runs in Hong Kong until the end of November. The show follows the heels of a full retrospective of their works at Museé des Arts Décoratifs last year.
BEN BROWN FINE ARTS, 301 Pedder Building, 12 Pedder Steet, Central Hong Kong / Tue-Sat 11am - 7pm / 2522.9600 / BEN BROWN ONLINE
Claude and Xavier in their Studio. (via THESELVEDGEYARD)
+ John Wesley / de SARTHE GALLERY 10.01 to 11.12.2011
(NYTIMES 2009 Copyright via NYTIMES / Todd Heisler)
deSarthe Gallery in Hong Kong will be exhibiting a selection of 11 fine works dated 1967-2002, from American “minimalist-pop” artist John Wesley, starting this Saturday for a rare full month’s show. While many artists of his generation such as Andy Warhol and Tom Wesselman have used the popular image to explore the cultural landscape, Wesley has employed a comic strip-style and a compositional rigor to make deeply personal and often hermetic paintings that deal with primal fears, joys, and desires, which are characteristically “American”.
Most recently, Wesley exhibited for the 2009 Venice Biennale at the Fondazione Prada and a large collection of his work is permanently installed at the Donald Judd Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas.
de SARTHE GALLERY, 8/F, Club Lusitano Building, 16 Ice House Street, Central Hong Kong / Tue-Sat 11am - 7pm / 2167.8896 / de SARTHE ONLINE
Some other cool paintings by John Wesley. (via GEOMETRICSLEEP)
(via MYOWNPRIVATEVENICE)
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Enjoy the shows guys and see you at FINE ART ASIA 2011!
JJ.
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