This is your biweekly members-only newsletter providing mission-critical analysis, insights, and exclusive intelligence on developments in Asia’s art markets, with a focus on business opportunities and challenges. (If you were forwarded this email, you can subscribe here.)
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This is your biweekly members-only newsletter providing mission-critical analysis, insights, and exclusive intelligence on developments in Asia’s art markets, with a focus on business opportunities and challenges. (If you were forwarded this email, you can subscribe here.)
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Cathy Fan Editor-in-Chief for Artnet News China |
| Vivienne Chow London Correspondent |
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This week in The Asia Pivot: The major Asian presence at Miami Art Week, Asia Society’s Yasufumi Nakamori on building museum communities, Shiwen Wang’s bewitching paintings, and more—all in a 10.5-minute read (2,981 words). |
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Cathy Fan
Editor-in-Chief for Artnet News China |
| Vivienne Chow London Correspondent |
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This week in The Asia Pivot: The major Asian presence at Miami Art Week, Asia Society’s Yasufumi Nakamori on building museum communities, Shiwen Wang’s bewitching paintings, and more—all in a 10.5-minute read (2,981 words). |
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The Big Picture
West (Finally) Meets East |
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The Big Picture
West (Finally) Meets East |
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Last year, we reported that Miami Art Week, which centers on Art Basel Miami Beach, was gaining traction among art world players from Asia, with more dealers, advisors, and collectors making long-haul trips to explore American markets. This year, the presence of Asia in Miami has risen to a new level, thanks in large part to the initiative of U.S. outfits, and members of the Asian diaspora are receiving unprecedented exposure.
“Asian diasporic artists have been showing more and more in recent years but certainly not to the same level as other artists groups in the U.S. market,” Miami dealer David Castillo told me. There has “never been a survey of Asian art in Miami, in a museum or gallery,” Castillo said, and so he was in the process of installing one. Titled “Alien,” it has been curated by artist Yesiyu Zhao and opens on December 3 at his gallery with more than 40 artists from the Asian diaspora working across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
Castillo said that, when Zhao approached him two years ago with the concept for the exhibition, he thought it would be a great fit with his gallery’s foundational interest in ideas like cultural alienation. “The term ‘alien’ here transcends the realm of science fiction, capturing the real and often harsh realities of displacement, immigration, and the pervasive sense of being an outsider in any environment,” he said.
An entire art fair is also part of this story. Untitled Art, which takes place on the sands of South Beach, has adopted “East Meets West” as its curatorial theme. Its guest curators are Kathy Huang, the managing director of art advisory and special projects at Jeffrey Deitch, and Jungmin Cho, of Seoul’s White Noise space. The fair hoped to expand its “geographical reach” and “integrate voices” that are “underrepresented in the traditionally Western-dominated art world,” Clara Andrade, Untitled Art’s director, said.
To those coming from Asia, the theme might sound puzzling at first, especially if you are familiar with Hong Kong, which is known for its East-meets-West heritage. But Andrade said that the fair chose the theme to “challenge the concept of ‘East.’” Its aim is to look as “the wider Asia-Pacific region, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and the Asian diaspora,” she said.
The fair will have 172 exhibitors from 34 countries, and Asian galleries have a notable presence in both the main and emerging sectors. They include Richard Koh Fine Art (Bangkok/Singapore), Vin Gallery (Ho Chi Minh City), Con_ (Tokyo), Mou Projects (Hong Kong), Starch (Singapore), and Space Willing N Dealing (Seoul). Galleries run by diasporic gallerists, such as A.I. in London and Nunu Fine Art (New York/Taipei) are also exhibiting. In addition, artists of Asian heritage are among the highlights, like the Cambodian American artist Tidawhitney Lek, presented by London’s Victoria Miro Projects, and the Korean American artist Christina Yuna Ko, presented by the New York-based Selenas Mountain. A Special Projects sector will feature projects addressing the concept of the East and diasporic identities.
Will the strong presence of Asian artists and galleries in Miami help to stimulate the market for Asian diasporic art? Phil Zheng Cai, partner and curator at the New York-based Eli Klein Gallery, which is participating in the Art Miami fair, is feeling positive. “Not only is the volume of collectors looking into Asia going up, but it is also a more observant, understanding, and knowledgeable collector base,” Cai said. “In the past, people would buy art based on just an ‘Asian’ tag, but in recent years, more collectors are buying off the artists’ practices, storytelling, and careers in general. This is a healthy turn in our opinion, which promotes longevity.”
But the most encouraging development is that Asian art is now better integrated into the global art discourse, Cai said. “It continues to inspire us to work with new artists from lesser-known Asian regions and artists who have diverse backgrounds across cultures.” May this be a rewarding conclusion to a turbulent year.
—Vivienne Chow |
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Last year, we reported that Miami Art Week, which centers on Art Basel Miami Beach, was gaining traction among art world players from Asia, with more dealers, advisors, and collectors making long-haul trips to explore American markets. This year, the presence of Asia in Miami has risen to a new level, thanks in large part to the initiative of U.S. outfits, and members of the Asian diaspora are receiving unprecedented exposure.
“Asian diasporic artists have been showing more and more in recent years but certainly not to the same level as other artists groups in the U.S. market,” Miami dealer David Castillo told me. There has “never been a survey of Asian art in Miami, in a museum or gallery,” Castillo said, and so he was in the process of installing one. Titled “Alien,” it has been curated by artist Yesiyu Zhao and opens on December 3 at his gallery with more than 40 artists from the Asian diaspora working across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
Castillo said that, when Zhao approached him two years ago with the concept for the exhibition, he thought it would be a great fit with his gallery’s foundational interest in ideas like cultural alienation. “The term ‘alien’ here transcends the realm of science fiction, capturing the real and often harsh realities of displacement, immigration, and the pervasive sense of being an outsider in any environment,” he said.
An entire art fair is also part of this story. Untitled Art, which takes place on the sands of South Beach, has adopted “East Meets West” as its curatorial theme. Its guest curators are Kathy Huang, the managing director of art advisory and special projects at Jeffrey Deitch, and Jungmin Cho, of Seoul’s White Noise space. The fair hoped to expand its “geographical reach” and “integrate voices” that are “underrepresented in the traditionally Western-dominated art world,” Clara Andrade, Untitled Art’s director, said.
To those coming from Asia, the theme might sound puzzling at first, especially if you are familiar with Hong Kong, which is known for its East-meets-West heritage. But Andrade said that the fair chose the theme to “challenge the concept of ‘East.’” Its aim is to look as “the wider Asia-Pacific region, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and the Asian diaspora,” she said.
The fair will have 172 exhibitors from 34 countries, and Asian galleries have a notable presence in both the main and emerging sectors. They include Richard Koh Fine Art (Bangkok/Singapore), Vin Gallery (Ho Chi Minh City), Con_ (Tokyo), Mou Projects (Hong Kong), Starch (Singapore), and Space Willing N Dealing (Seoul). Galleries run by diasporic gallerists, such as A.I. in London and Nunu Fine Art (New York/Taipei) are also exhibiting. In addition, artists of Asian heritage are among the highlights, like the Cambodian American artist Tidawhitney Lek, presented by London’s Victoria Miro Projects, and the Korean American artist Christina Yuna Ko, presented by the New York-based Selenas Mountain. A Special Projects sector will feature projects addressing the concept of the East and diasporic identities.
Will the strong presence of Asian artists and galleries in Miami help to stimulate the market for Asian diasporic art? Phil Zheng Cai, partner and curator at the New York-based Eli Klein Gallery, which is participating in the Art Miami fair, is feeling positive. “Not only is the volume of collectors looking into Asia going up, but it is also a more observant, understanding, and knowledgeable collector base,” Cai said. “In the past, people would buy art based on just an ‘Asian’ tag, but in recent years, more collectors are buying off the artists’ practices, storytelling, and careers in general. This is a healthy turn in our opinion, which promotes longevity.”
But the most encouraging development is that Asian art is now better integrated into the global art discourse, Cai said. “It continues to inspire us to work with new artists from lesser-known Asian regions and artists who have diverse backgrounds across cultures.” May this be a rewarding conclusion to a turbulent year.
—Vivienne Chow |
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The View From...
Yasufumi Nakamori |
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The director of the Asia Society Museum discusses how museums can foster a sense of belonging for members of the Asian diaspora.
Do you have a place that you feel you belong to? That’s an important question for us, being Asian in the field of contemporary art and culture.
I was born and raised in Japan. The U.S. then became my adopted home before I joined the Tate in London in 2018, and now I am back in the U.S. to lead the Asia Society Museum in New York. As a part of the senior management of an institution in New York with global centers in the U.S., Asia, and Europe that has a very special position in the cultural space, I constantly wonder: How can we create authentic experiences involving arts with a wider appeal, to promote deeper and broader understanding of who we are? How can we become the place where people feel they belong?
At the art and culture pillar of Asia Society, there are two focuses of our research-driven programs. First is indigenous art across the wider regions of Asia. Currently, we have the exhibition “Madayin” focusing on historical and contemporary Aboriginal Australian bark paintings from Yirrkala, accompanied by a display of Aboriginal canvas paintings. They mark a major milestone in the advancement of this space in the U.S. since the 1988 Asia Society show “Dreamings,” one of the first on Aboriginal art from Australia in the country.
Another focus will be the intersection between Asia and Africa, a project we are now embarking on with Joan Kee, the art historian and director of NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts, who authored The Geometries of Afro Asia (2023). The book covers art movements in the 20th century and the conversation with Joan has been inspirational. We want to look beyond Asia. Africa is a logical focus. If you combine the populations of Africa and Asia, together with their diasporas, isn’t that the global majority?
The intersections between Asia, Africa, and their diasporas may not be well known, but research is beginning to change that. South Asian artists, for example, played a key role in the 1980s British Black Arts Movement, and this is addressed in the current Tate Britain exhibition “The 80s: Photographing Britain,” my last exhibition at Tate. While researching for the survey show of Zanele Muholi, now back on view at Tate Modern, I discovered that there is a strong South Asian presence in the artistic community in South Africa. I thought: There have to be exhibition programs looking into this intersection.
Latin America is another area to investigate. For example, we have recently partnered with the Americas Society for a conference centering on their show called “The Appearance: Art of the Asian Diaspora in Latin America and the Caribbean.” The exhibition presents works by the Asian diaspora in the regions from the 1940s up to now. At the conference I had a conversation with Chantal Peñalosa Fong, an artist who has Chinese and Mexican roots in Tecate, a city in Mexico located right next to the U.S. border. She talked about her distinct experience growing up and working as a Chinese Mexican artist in Mexico. I want to spotlight these intersections to our audience.
In between, we will stage several exhibitions of Asian diaspora artists and artists from Asia. We will be organizing a solo show by Martin Wong, his first museum solo in America in almost a decade. He was born in Portland, Oregon. He did not read or speak Chinese, but he reclaimed his space by collecting pre-1900 Asian art, primarily calligraphy, and spending a lot of time in Chinatown. Through the lens of Martin’s body of work, we will revisit his process of reclaiming his identity and how that process impacted his painting practice.
I also wonder: How can we develop an art and culture space with a young generation who can work and express themselves more effectively with much bigger ideas than what we have, in their unique ways?
I am assembling a young people’s committee, consisting of people from their late teens to late 30s. I want to listen to them, to understand their habits and desires, how they spend time at the museum, and how we can create fun and educational experiences for them. We may also consider how to bring our programs to those who are living in different parts of New York and beyond. Compared to some other institutions, we are smaller, but this gives us an advantage, as we can move quickly and afford to take risks.
—As told to Vivienne Chow
Yasufumi Nakamori joined the Asia Society in August 2023 as its museum director and vice president of arts and culture. Prior to that, he had been senior curator for international art at Tate, specializing in photography, since 2018. Previously, he served as the head of the department of photography and new media at the Minneapolis Institute of Art and as a curator at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. Nakamori practiced corporate law in New York and Tokyo between 1995 and 2002.
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The View From... Yasufumi Nakamori |
The director of the Asia Society Museum discusses how museums can foster a sense of belonging for members of the Asian diaspora. |
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Do you have a place that you feel you belong to? That’s an important question for us, being Asian in the field of contemporary art and culture.
I was born and raised in Japan. The U.S. then became my adopted home before I joined the Tate in London in 2018, and now I am back in the U.S. to lead the Asia Society Museum in New York. As a part of the senior management of an institution in New York with global centers in the U.S., Asia, and Europe that has a very special position in the cultural space, I constantly wonder: How can we create authentic experiences involving arts with a wider appeal, to promote deeper and broader understanding of who we are? How can we become the place where people feel they belong?
At the art and culture pillar of Asia Society, there are two focuses of our research-driven programs. First is indigenous art across the wider regions of Asia. Currently, we have the exhibition “Madayin” focusing on historical and contemporary Aboriginal Australian bark paintings from Yirrkala, accompanied by a display of Aboriginal canvas paintings. They mark a major milestone in the advancement of this space in the U.S. since the 1988 Asia Society show “Dreamings,” one of the first on Aboriginal art from Australia in the country.
Another focus will be the intersection between Asia and Africa, a project we are now embarking on with Joan Kee, the art historian and director of NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts, who authored The Geometries of Afro Asia (2023). The book covers art movements in the 20th century and the conversation with Joan has been inspirational. We want to look beyond Asia. Africa is a logical focus. If you combine the populations of Africa and Asia, together with their diasporas, isn’t that the global majority?
The intersections between Asia, Africa, and their diasporas may not be well known, but research is beginning to change that. South Asian artists, for example, played a key role in the 1980s British Black Arts Movement, and this is addressed in the current Tate Britain exhibition “The 80s: Photographing Britain,” my last exhibition at Tate. While researching for the survey show of Zanele Muholi, now back on view at Tate Modern, I discovered that there is a strong South Asian presence in the artistic community in South Africa. I thought: There have to be exhibition programs looking into this intersection.
Latin America is another area to investigate. For example, we have recently partnered with the Americas Society for a conference centering on their show called “The Appearance: Art of the Asian Diaspora in Latin America and the Caribbean.” The exhibition presents works by the Asian diaspora in the regions from the 1940s up to now. At the conference I had a conversation with Chantal Peñalosa Fong, an artist who has Chinese and Mexican roots in Tecate, a city in Mexico located right next to the U.S. border. She talked about her distinct experience growing up and working as a Chinese Mexican artist in Mexico. I want to spotlight these intersections to our audience.
In between, we will stage several exhibitions of Asian diaspora artists and artists from Asia. We will be organizing a solo show by Martin Wong, his first museum solo in America in almost a decade. He was born in Portland, Oregon. He did not read or speak Chinese, but he reclaimed his space by collecting pre-1900 Asian art, primarily calligraphy, and spending a lot of time in Chinatown. Through the lens of Martin’s body of work, we will revisit his process of reclaiming his identity and how that process impacted his painting practice.
I also wonder: How can we develop an art and culture space with a young generation who can work and express themselves more effectively with much bigger ideas than what we have, in their unique ways?
I am assembling a young people’s committee, consisting of people from their late teens to late 30s. I want to listen to them, to understand their habits and desires, how they spend time at the museum, and how we can create fun and educational experiences for them. We may also consider how to bring our programs to those who are living in different parts of New York and beyond. Compared to some other institutions, we are smaller, but this gives us an advantage, as we can move quickly and afford to take risks.
—As told to Vivienne Chow
Yasufumi Nakamori joined the Asia Society in August 2023 as its museum director and vice president of arts and culture. Prior to that, he had been senior curator for international art at Tate, specializing in photography, since 2018. Previously, he served as the head of the department of photography and new media at the Minneapolis Institute of Art and as a curator at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. Nakamori practiced corporate law in New York and Tokyo between 1995 and 2002.
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State of Play The gateway to the pulse of the Asian market |
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Fairs
– The London Art Fair is set to return from January 22 to 26 with an expanded lineup of international galleries and a special focus on artists and galleries of Asian origin. Jennifer Lauren Gallery, of Manchester, England, will showcase works by Japanese self-taught artists, many of whom will be showing in the U.K. for the first time. WITHOUTARTgalerie, of Strasbourg, France, will present works by the self-taught Chinese artist Liu Yi. (Press release)
– At the upcoming Firsts Hong Kong fair, set for December 6-8, Peter Harrington Rare Books, of London, will showcase a collection of early editions and translations of Quotations from Mao Zedong, widely known as “The Little Red Book,” which was published 60 years ago. It was amassed over three decades by the collector Justin G. Schiller and includes over 200 items. Valued at £1 million (about $1.26 million), it will be displayed at the Hong Kong Maritime Museum. (Artnet News)
Institutions and Biennials
– The Tokyo Photographic Art Museum is set to host “TOP 30th Anniversary: Yebisu International Festival for Art and Alternative Visions 2025” from January 31 to February 16. The event, at its home at Yebisu Garden Place, will focus on transformations in media and reconsider the concept of the documentary. (Press release)
– Visionairs, a French cultural and educational organization dedicated to promoting art and technology globally, is set to open its first permanent exhibition space in Asia in December in the West Kowloon Cultural District. (Press release)
– The Tanoto Art Foundation is launching during Singapore Art Week with a symposium titled “Soul Song of a New Organization” on January 14. The new Singapore-based nonprofit is dedicated to enriching the dialogue around contemporary art in Southeast Asia. Weng Xiaoyu is its artistic director. (Press release)
– The Victoria and Albert Museum’s inaugural “Digital Art Season” will spotlight emerging practices in the U.K. contemporary digital art scene and include installations, workshops, and performances by artists such as Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley, Sougwen 愫君 Chung, Libby Heaney, Aziza Kadyri, and Keiken. (Artnet News)
– The artistic directors of the 13th Seoul Mediacity Biennale—Anton Vidokle, Hallie Ayres, and Lukas Brasiskis—have said that their show will take up the form of “exhibition-as-séance.” (Press release)
– UCCA Center for Contemporary Art has unveiled its 2025 exhibition lineup, with seven exhibitions at its Beijing flagship and two at UCCA Dune in Beidaihe. The Beijing programming kicks off with a solo show by the Korean American artist Anicka Yi. It will be followed by the first institutional solo exhibition in nearly a decade in mainland China by Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist. (Press release)
– The Vietnam Art Collection (VAC) will open a new location in Shanghai on December 7, a move aimed at supporting artists with production, exhibition, and networking opportunities on a global scale. The Shanghai outpost will debut with a group exhibition of emerging artists from Vietnam and beyond. It will also host seasonal exhibitions, educational programs, and short-term residencies. A research-based project called “tradasociety,” led by VAC founding member and researcher Nguyen Thuy Anh, will be among its new initiatives. (Artnet News)
Auctions
– A Mark Rothko painting previously owned by the Malaysian financier Jho Low sold earlier this month for HK$252.5 million ($32.5 million) at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong, about 30 percent below what it made a decade ago. The sale at the auction house’s new Hong Kong headquarters faced challenges, with only a 65-percent sell-through rate on 35 lots. Seven pieces were withdrawn before the auction, including a Zao Wou-Ki anticipated to fetch HK$80 million to HK$120 million ($10 million to $15 million). (Artnet News)
– The 2024 China Guardian Hong Kong “Asian 20th Century and Contemporary Art” autumn auction, held on November 8 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, achieved an 80-percent sell-through rate with 116 lots offered. It totaled HK$77.5 million ($9.92 million). The top lot was Yayoi Kusama’s Black and Black (1961), which went for HK$14.2 million ($1.82 million). (Artouch)
– At Sotheby’s New York last week, the Chinese-born cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun won Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian (2019)—a banana taped to a wall—for $6.2 million. Sun paid in cryptocurrency and said that he plans to eat the banana. (Artnet News)
– Bonhams officially opened its new Asia-Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong at Six Pacific Place, which spans 19,000 square feet across three floors. Its inaugural autumn sales there run from November 27 to December 3 and include the Dr. Shing-Yiu Yip Collection of Classic Chinese Furniture, one of the world’s finest private holdings of Ming dynasty furniture. (Press release)
– Phillips concluded its Modern and Contemporary Art Evening Sale in Hong Kong with a sale total of HK$171 million ($22 million) on Monday November 25, led by Yoshitomo Nara’s 1999 painting Baby Blue, sold for HK$45 million ($5.8 million), within estimates. It also set the world auction record for Li Hei Di, with the 2021 painting Orange Swim selling for HK$1.2 million ($155,035). Sanyu’s Reclining Nude, with Raised Knee II (1950s/1960s) was the second most expensive work sold on the evening, fetching HK$42.8 million ($5.5 million). However, the work, which was consigned by collector Eric Edwards, had a presale estimate in the region of HK$70 million ($8.9 million). The sale saw a 91-percent sell-through rate, with 20 lots out of 22 finding buyers. (Press release)
People/Legal
– Chinese artist Zhang Yexing has been accused by influencers on social media of plagiarizing their photos to create paintings. These paintings were reportedly sold out at Platform China’s booth at the recently concluded West Bund Art and Design in Shanghai. Neither the artist nor the gallery has commented on the allegations. (Artnet News)
– Italy repatriated 56 cultural relics to China, whose National Cultural Heritage Administration announced the returns as a highlight of Italian President Sergio Mattarella’s six-day state visit to the country earlier this month. (China Daily） – The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 2024 Great Hall Commission features Taiwanese artist Tong Yang-Tze, who has created two monumental works of Chinese calligraphy. The project marks the third installment in the Met’s Great Hall series and is the artist’s first major project in the United States. (Artnet News)
– In collaboration with the V&A, Design Society in Shenzhen, China, has announced the launch of the Design Values Award. It aims to celebrate contemporary Chinese design, recognizing creatives whose work draws inspiration from Chinese culture or is rooted in its design ecosystem. Four grand prize winners will have their works showcased at the V&A during the London Design Festival in September. Additionally, a larger-scale exhibition with the top 16 designs will take place at Design Society in October. (Artnet News)
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State of Play The gateway to the pulse of the Asian market |
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Fairs
– The London Art Fair is set to return from January 22 to 26 with an expanded lineup of international galleries and a special focus on artists and galleries of Asian origin. Jennifer Lauren Gallery, of Manchester, England, will showcase works by Japanese self-taught artists, many of whom will be showing in the U.K. for the first time. WITHOUTARTgalerie, of Strasbourg, France, will present works by the self-taught Chinese artist Liu Yi. (Press release)
– At the upcoming Firsts Hong Kong fair, set for December 6-8, Peter Harrington Rare Books, of London, will showcase a collection of early editions and translations of Quotations from Mao Zedong, widely known as “The Little Red Book,” which was published 60 years ago. It was amassed over three decades by the collector Justin G. Schiller and includes over 200 items. Valued at £1 million (about $1.26 million), it will be displayed at the Hong Kong Maritime Museum. (Artnet News)
Institutions and Biennials
– The Tokyo Photographic Art Museum is set to host “TOP 30th Anniversary: Yebisu International Festival for Art and Alternative Visions 2025” from January 31 to February 16. The event, at its home at Yebisu Garden Place, will focus on transformations in media and reconsider the concept of the documentary. (Press release) – Visionairs, a French cultural and educational organization dedicated to promoting art and technology globally, is set to open its first permanent exhibition space in Asia in December in the West Kowloon Cultural District. (Press release)
– The Tanoto Art Foundation is launching during Singapore Art Week with a symposium titled “Soul Song of a New Organization” on January 14. The new Singapore-based nonprofit is dedicated to enriching the dialogue around contemporary art in Southeast Asia. Weng Xiaoyu is its artistic director. (Press release)
– The Victoria and Albert Museum’s inaugural “Digital Art Season” will spotlight emerging practices in the U.K. contemporary digital art scene and include installations, workshops, and performances by artists such as Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley, Sougwen 愫君 Chung, Libby Heaney, Aziza Kadyri, and Keiken. (Artnet News)
– The artistic directors of the 13th Seoul Mediacity Biennale—Anton Vidokle, Hallie Ayres, and Lukas Brasiskis—have said that their show will take up the form of “exhibition-as-séance.” (Press release)
– UCCA Center for Contemporary Art has unveiled its 2025 exhibition lineup, with seven exhibitions at its Beijing flagship and two at UCCA Dune in Beidaihe. The Beijing programming kicks off with a solo show by the Korean American artist Anicka Yi. It will be followed by the first institutional solo exhibition in nearly a decade in mainland China by Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist. (Press release)
– The Vietnam Art Collection (VAC) will open a new location in Shanghai on December 7, a move aimed at supporting artists with production, exhibition, and networking opportunities on a global scale. The Shanghai outpost will debut with a group exhibition of emerging artists from Vietnam and beyond. It will also host seasonal exhibitions, educational programs, and short-term residencies. A research-based project called “tradasociety,” led by VAC founding member and researcher Nguyen Thuy Anh, will be among its new initiatives. (Artnet News)
Auctions
– A Mark Rothko painting previously owned by the Malaysian financier Jho Low sold earlier this month for HK$252.5 million ($32.5 million) at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong, about 30 percent below what it made a decade ago. The sale at the auction house’s new Hong Kong headquarters faced challenges, with only a 65-percent sell-through rate on 35 lots. Seven pieces were withdrawn before the auction, including a Zao Wou-Ki anticipated to fetch HK$80 million to HK$120 million ($10 million to $15 million). (Artnet News)
– The 2024 China Guardian Hong Kong “Asian 20th Century and Contemporary Art” autumn auction, held on November 8 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, achieved an 80-percent sell-through rate with 116 lots offered. It totaled HK$77.5 million ($9.92 million). The top lot was Yayoi Kusama’s Black and Black (1961), which went for HK$14.19 million ($1.82 million). (Artouch)
– At Sotheby’s New York last week, the Chinese-born cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun won Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian (2019)—a banana taped to a wall—for $6.2 million. Sun paid in cryptocurrency and said that he plans to eat the banana. (Artnet News)
– Bonhams officially opened its new Asia-Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong at Six Pacific Place, which spans 19,000 square feet across three floors. Its inaugural autumn sales there run from November 27 to December 3 and include the Dr. Shing-Yiu Yip Collection of Classic Chinese Furniture, one of the world’s finest private holdings of Ming dynasty furniture. (Press release)
– Phillips concluded its Modern and Contemporary Art Evening Sale in Hong Kong with a sale total of HK$171 million ($22 million) on Monday November 25, led by Yoshitomo Nara’s 1999 painting Baby Blue, sold for HK$45 million ($5.8 million), within estimates. It also set the world auction record for Li Hei Di, with the 2021 painting Orange Swim selling for HK$1.2 million ($155,035). Sanyu’s Reclining Nude, with Raised Knee II (1950s/1960s) was the second-most-expensive work sold during the evening, fetching HK$42.8 million ($5.5 million). However, the work, which was consigned by collector Eric Edwards, had a presale estimate in the region of HK$70 million ($8.9 million). The sale saw a 91-percent sell-through rate, 20 lots out of 22 finding buyers. (Press release)
People/Legal
– Chinese artist Zhang Yexing has been accused by influencers on social media of plagiarizing their photos to create paintings. These paintings were reportedly sold out at Platform China’s booth at the recently concluded West Bund Art and Design in Shanghai. Neither the artist nor the gallery has commented on the allegations. (Artnet News)
– Italy repatriated 56 cultural relics to China, whose National Cultural Heritage Administration announced the returns as a highlight of Italian President Sergio Mattarella’s six-day state visit to the country earlier this month. (China Daily）
– The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 2024 Great Hall Commission features Taiwanese artist Tong Yang-Tze, who has created two monumental works of Chinese calligraphy. The project marks the third installment in the Met’s Great Hall series and is the artist’s first major project in the United States. (Artnet News)
– In collaboration with the V&A, Design Society in Shenzhen, China, has announced the launch of the Design Values Award. It aims to celebrate contemporary Chinese design, recognizing creatives whose work draws inspiration from Chinese culture or is rooted in its design ecosystem. Four grand prize winners will have their works showcased at the V&A during the London Design Festival in September. Additionally, a larger-scale exhibition with the top 16 designs will take place at Design Society in October. (Artnet News)
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Shiwen Wang, Belakang Mati, 2024, oil on linen, 68 ¾x76 ¾inches. Image courtesy of Michael Kohn Gallery |
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Who: Shiwen Wang (b. 1995, Shanghai)
Based in: London
Gallery: Michael Kohn in Los Angeles and ADZ Gallery in Lisbon
Why we care: Shiwen Wang finds inspiration right before nightfall, in twilight, a liminal time she sees as a moment of convergence between human and non-human life. Through her exploration of light, Wang creates abstract compositions that reflect on impermanence and the interconnectedness of humanity and the natural world, a relationship she describes as “the unity of cosmic life.” Her work transforms commonplace subjects like fish, decomposing leaves, and boat wreckage into unfamiliar, poetic forms, capturing cycles of decay and rebirth. Her dynamic paintings blend natural and artificial light via earth-toned and aquatic palettes with textured layers of oil, pigment, beeswax, and egg tempera evoking an aged patina. Her intuitive approach reflects a deep engagement with color and materiality.
A graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Shanghai Institute of Visual Art, Wang has exhibited internationally, including at ADZ Gallery in Lisbon, Issuing Gallery in Shenzhen, and Millennium Gallery in London.
Ongoing: Wang’s current show at Michael Kohn Gallery, “The river returns nothing of what it takes,” runs through December 21. It’s her first solo exhibition with the gallery and in the United States. —Cathy Fan |
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Shiwen Wang, Belakang Mati, 2024, oil on linen, 68 ¾x76 ¾inches. Image courtesy of Michael Kohn Gallery |
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| Who: Shiwen Wang (b. 1995, Shanghai)
Based in: London
Gallery: Michael Kohn in Los Angeles and ADZ Gallery in Lisbon
Why we care: Shiwen Wang finds inspiration right before nightfall, in twilight, a liminal time she sees as a moment of convergence between human and non-human life. Through her exploration of light, Wang creates abstract compositions that reflect on impermanence and the interconnectedness of humanity and the natural world, a relationship she describes as “the unity of cosmic life.” Her work transforms commonplace subjects like fish, decomposing leaves, and boat wreckage into unfamiliar, poetic forms, capturing cycles of decay and rebirth. Her dynamic paintings blend natural and artificial light via earth-toned and aquatic palettes with textured layers of oil, pigment, beeswax, and egg tempera evoking an aged patina. Her intuitive approach reflects a deep engagement with color and materiality.
A graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Shanghai Institute of Visual Art, Wang has exhibited internationally, including at ADZ Gallery in Lisbon, Issuing Gallery in Shenzhen, and Millennium Gallery in London. Ongoing: Wang’s current show at Michael Kohn Gallery, “The river returns nothing of what it takes,” runs through December 21. It’s her first solo exhibition with the gallery and in the United States. —Cathy Fan |
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Thanks for joining us for The Asia Pivot.
See you next time. |
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Header Image: Alvin Ong, Coming Out (2024). Courtesy of the artist and David Castillo. |
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Thank you for joining us for The Asia Pivot.
See you next time. |
Header Image: Alvin Ong, Coming Out (2024). Courtesy of the artist and David Castillo. |
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This email was sent to info@fitzandco.art by Artnet Worldwide Corporation.
One World Trade Center, 85th Floor, New York, NY, 10007, USA |
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