Art Stage: At Asia’s intersection

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Singapore recently witnessed the 4th edition of Art Stage, running from January 22 to 25 under Lorenzo Rudolf’s careful guidance.

Boasting 152 galleries and 70% gallery presence from Asia, the regional art fair is living up to its catchy slogan “We are Asia”.


Slowing paving the way

Marina Bay is a surprising sight on arrival. Although still light years from Art Basel Hong Kong, the fair has made massive improvements in its layout and planned schedule.

One such highlight was curated by Khim Ong, who introduced around 30 artists to spotlight artistic diversity from Southeast Asia. Focusing on specific practices, it links the ongoing search for identity and struggle for national independence. Work by artists such as Singaporean painter Hilmi Johandi, Nge Lay from Burma and Kiri Dalena from the Philippines all demonstrate unparalleled techniques in gathering material from local photographic and cinematic archives.

Despite the high quality, it seemed the crowd were avoiding heavy programmed events. The talks segment suffered particularly, a shame given that Indo-Chinese collector Budi Tek was present to discuss the upcoming three year project at his Shanghai museum YUZ.  To those of us in attendance, he announced that installation Rain Room by Random International will be on display at the museum from September 2015, following its phrenetic popularity at MoMA in 2013. The modern and contemporary theme will from then on continue with exhibitions on Alberto Giacometti, Adel Abdessemed, Kaws, and Picasso in 2017. The chicken-factory billionaire also revealed that his first Jakarta-based museum will be relocating to Bali.  


And the art?

It seems galleries felt obliged to adopt local tastes, with many seeking decorative ‘happy’ works and branding them Asian-style. This leaves us swimming in a sea of Botéro, which is all the rage right now in Singapore. Or Gilbert & George who give off a slightly outdated allure. However, newcomer Gordon Gallery from Tel Aviv stood out from the crowd with a display of Michel Platnic’s work, who is currently exhibiting at Art Plural Gallery Singapore. The few rare gems include young American-Korean Timothy Hyunmsoo Lee, whose delicate geometric gouaches on paper were represented by Spanish gallery Sabrina Amrani, also first-timers at the fair. Tristan Hoare presented photographs by Léonora Hamill, depicting students’ empty workshops from across the globe, void of any life or soul.

As for the commercial side, Straits Times reported that White cube sold Amorous (2008), one of Hirst’s large-scale paintings shrouded in butterflies, to a local collector for $1.6 million.


India’s notable absence

An Indian presence has been recently missing from international fairs and events. A long-lasting phenomenon emphasizing the lack of coherence between their market and difficulties in moving forward. Following breakthroughs such as Subodh Gupta, the disappearance of the Indian scene seems to be the result of  one generation failing to pass the baton on to the next.

Art Stage certainly has the means to transform itself into an international platform, propelling local artists onto the global stage.  But as Director Lorenzo Rudolf explains, there is still a long way to go and everything must be conducted contemporaneously. We should be guiding local collecting practices and developing infrastructures.