East rising

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A work on display at Art Basel Hong Kong

The recently concluded first edition of Art Basel at Hong Kong suggests the emergence of East as the market of the future. The Swiss based art fair first saw a move westwards when it also started a show in USA at Miami in the winter in 2002 along with the traditional summer show at Basel.

With the increase in commercial as well as aesthetic interest in art from China and Japan, the move to acquire the established Art Hong Kong by the Art Basel seems logical.
And it does seem that Art Basel is a commercial opportunity for Asia to stand up and be counted in the art world with about 60,000 visitors to the fair. All of Zhang Xiaogang’s newly made painted sculptures on display, along with four oil paintings by the Chinese artist Liu We, and Yan Bing’s giant peasants’ tools dressed in suits were sold. Japanese artist Takashi Murakami too had many takers for his sculptures.
Amongst Indians two prominent sales reported are of works by Jitesh Kallat and Bharti Kher, albeit by foreign galleries such as Arndt. Bigger Indian galleries also made their presence felt such as Delhi Art Gallery, Chemould, Vadehra Gallery, Exhibit 320 and Sakshi among others, most depending on the artists in their stables to put their best foot forward. But the push towards projecting emerging artist is apparent given the limited sourcing for the works by established master artists.
Art Basel Hong Kong is not just about selling Western masters to newly minted ‘Oriental’ billionaires, who can easily acquire these from established auction houses that already have a strong presence in Hong Kong, rather it is an attempt to build a bridge between arts of all regions.
What is refreshing about art fairs abroad is the transparency in commercial transactions that are openly discussed and displayed as they happen rather than being wrapped in secrecy, accompanied by speculation, rumours and conspiracy theories as it happens in Indian Art fairs.