ART HK 11 or the Hong Kong International Art Fair 2011 ran from 26 to 29 May, and was hailed a resounding success by organisers, participants, visitors and critics alike. Not only did the 4-day fair held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) boast strong sales, but it also logged a record 63,511 visitors, up 37.7% from 2010. The visitors included art collectors, artists and some of the world’s most important art curators and museum directors.

Art collectors from Asia, Europe and America came to look, and more importantly buy from the 260 galleries across 38 countries who participated, many of them prominent names taking part for the first time this year.

Major sales included:

– Liu Wei’s “Don’t touch, 2011” for an undisclosed six-figure USD sum to a European collector by Beijing’s Long March Space.

– Sean Scully’s “Wall of Light, Pink White, 2011” for an undisclosed sum to a Hong Kong-based collector by London’s Timothy Taylor Gallery.

– Louise Bourgeois’ “The Geometry of Pleasure, 2009” for US$750,000 to a Chinese collector by New York’s Cheim & Read.

The focus was not simply on selling art, however. ART HK 11 also organised a host of other activities such as guided tours, education programmes and seminars.

A particularly exciting addition to ART HK this year was titled Asia One. It showcased solo presentations of work by emerging artists of Asian origin by Asian galleries – Asian being broadly defined as including Turkey to New Zealand and the Middle East to the Indian sub-continent. The aim was to provide a diverse and current view of the Asian art scene to collectors, professionals and visitors.

The dates for HK ART 12 have already been set for 17 – 20 May 2012.

Photos by George R. Waldren IV

ART HK 11
www.hongkongartfair.com