Impressions from Art Basel Hong Kong 2013

Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Centre, 22 May – 26 May 2013

My first impression was definitely linked to the new name: Is this event taking place in Basel or in Hong Kong? Will the Art Basel fair now be called “Art Basel Basel”  to conform to the new naming convention? Below, three deja-vues and one first time from the Art Basel Hong:

Deja-vu no.1: Au Hoi Lam at Osage

Before reading the artist’s name, I was quite sure that this was Lee Kit’s work… My first thought was “hm.. another clone of Lee Kit…?”. Now I am not sure anymore. Because we all know how it goes with ideas. It may well have be that Au Hoi Lam was the one who inspired Lee Kit, who then was just a bit more lucky to make the break through slightly earlier. I did not do any in depth study on these artists, so I can just speculate… maybe this style is the ‘spirit of the time’ in Hong Kong? Also, after a bit of googling I realized that actually Au Hoi Lam’s other works diverge much more from Lee Kit’s… but then, why did Osage pick exactly this works and painted the background wall in turquoise color… because Lee Kit sold so well last year?

 

 

Deja-vu no. 2: Chen Chie-jen at … (I forgot)

When I saw this ‘new’ artwork by Chen Chie-jen I also had an eerie feeling that I have seen this somewhere before. After a bit of pondering, I managed to dig it out from the depths of my brain: Chen Chie-jen’s ‘new’ work on display at Art Basel Hong Kong has been shot on the same (‘old’) set as “Happiness Building”, the movie which premiered at the Taipei Biennale last year. During the Taipei Biennale, the movie set was also accessible as one enormous installation, quite impressive. So Mr. Chen managed to shoot not only one, but two movies in the same set, and transform the set in an large-scale installation. Who knows maybe he has a third movie still in his drawer… (The movie on display – whose title I forgot – was a portrait of one person – allegedly the artists friend – who quit his job in a factory to become free, drifting around as he likes.)

Deja-vu no. 3: Georg Baselitz at Galerie Thaddeus Ropac

Now this deja-vu not a surprise at all for most of you I guess, as Baselitz paintings are to be expected at a show like Art Basel Hong Kong. This has more of a personal twist, because last year I have visited a Baselitz-show at the original Thaddeus Ropac gallery building in Salzburg. In the beginning I even thought I have seen the same painting that I took a photo in front of it last summer… but after a quick search I realized that there are quite a few of these paintings with not too many variations.. Anyway, nice meeting you again, Mr. Baselitz. Also brings back memories of last summer in Salzburg…

First time!: Angela Bulloch at (I think…) Witte de With

Agela Bulloch’s drawing machines exist for almost twenty years, but this was the first time I saw one with my own eyes. This was a yellow kind, and it was steered by a yellow vinyl recording, which made it even more interesting for me, as I am quite interested in the musical aspect of artworks. In the context of Bulloch’s work, it was probably ‘just another way’ to control her drawing machines… but still, I was intrigued about what the sound was and where it came from “Short Big Drama” by George van Dam is what the label of the record said… but there was not much information available… Anyway, it was nice to have my ‘first time’ with Angela Bulloch’s Short Big Yellow Drawing Machine.