Art Basel To Replace ART HK With New Hong Kong Fair In 2013

Art Basel

Art Basel have announced plans for a Hong Kong edition of the fair that will take place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in May 2013

Annette Schönholzer, Co-Director of Art Basel, spoke of how, having been ‘observing the phenomenal growth in the art scene in Asia for years’, she is ‘delighted to be launching a new Art Basel show in Asia’: ‘This new show aspires to play a central role in creating new bridges between the Western art scene and the rapidly emerging contemporary art scene throughout Asia’, she added.

Her Co-Director Marc Spiegler concurred, saying: ‘Art Basel’s new Hong Kong show will excellently compliment our established shows in Basel and Miami Beach. …[and] As is the case in Basel and Miami Beach, the Hong Kong show will draw more than 50 percent of its galleries from its home region – Asia and the entire Eastern hemisphere.’

Magnus Renfrew, whose leadership made ART HK the premier art show in Asia, has been appointed as Art Basel’s Director Asia. And thus the Art Basel show in Asia will replace ART HK in 2013. As a member of Art Basel’s Executive Board, which will be co-chaired by Schönholzer and Spiegler, Renfrew will lead Art Basel’s edition in Hong Kong, and spearhead Art Basel’s activities in Asia.

‘It has been a privilege to be part of the extraordinary growth of the art scene in Hong Kong and in Asia in the last five years’, he explained. And for him, ‘The launch of Art Basel in Hong Kong heralds a new chapter in this development.’

The new show will present more than 250 of the leading galleries from Asia, Europe, the Americas and the rest of the world, selected by a newly formed Selection Committee. More than 2,000 artists, ranging from young emerging artists to the Modern masters from both Asia and the West, will be represented in the show’s multiple sectors. The exhibition will include the highest quality paintings, sculptures, drawings, installations, photographs, video and editioned works from the 20th and 21st centuries, from Asia and the rest of the world. Gallery applications will open on Monday, June 11, 2012. Full details about the sectors and the Selection Committee will be released then.

Founded in 1970, Art Basel stages the world’s premier art shows for Modern and contemporary works in Basel, Switzerland, and Miami Beach, Florida, in the United States. With the addition of the Hong Kong show, Art Basel will be active in three major regions: Asia, Europe and the Americas. While all three shows will feature leading international galleries from around the world, each show will be unique, defined by its host city and region.

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