ART BASEL HONG KONG 2018: a quick guide

by Tiziana Maggio/Published on Look Lateral Magazine

On March 29th the sixth edition of Art Basel Hong Kong (ABHK) will open its doors at the Hong Kong Convention Centre and we will be there. Some 250 galleries from 32 countries will feature masterpieces and contemporary artworks, attracting artists, dealers, and collectors from all over the world, confirming this city as one of the most attractive art destinations and the third-largest art auction market in the world, after New York and London. The three-day show will offer to visitors seven sections: Galleries, Discoveries, Insights, Encounters, Kabinett, Magazines, Film. Also, as it happens in Miami and Basel, the main fair will also be accompanied by concurrent exhibitions and events, like ASIA ONE and ART FUTURES.

We look forward to seeing some multimillion-dollar works: Levy Gorvy Gallery will display the $35 million Willem de Kooning’s Untitled XII from Paul Allen’s private collection, while Lehmann Maupin will have Gilbert & George’s “Beard Junction” and Jeff Koons will wow visitors as usual with the enormous Bluebird Planter and the Swan at David Zwirner Gallery’s booth. Then, if we will be lucky enough, we could also have the chance to encounter the artists themselves, from Tracy Emin to Jeff Koons who will definitely seduce potential buyers’ attention.

CONSOLIDATION AND INNOVATION: THE FUTURE OF THE GALLERY MODEL
March 8, 2018,  Armory Live Theater/ Panel Discussion

by Tiziana Maggio/ Article published on Look Lateral

As part of The Armory’s program of talks, this one-hour panel focused on possible new strategies to support the future of mid-level galleries. Panelists were all US-based, with two New York gallery owners, Marianne Boesky and Wendy Olsoff (both booth-holders at this year’s Show), collector Marguerite Hoffman and two art financiers, Evan C. Beard, from the U.S. Trust for Bank of America, and Andrea Danese, CEO of Athena Art Finance Corporation, lead sponsor of this year's Armory.

The panel started by agreeing on one fundamental point: the traditional gallery business model, firmly rooted in outdated 19th Century strategies, is inherently capital intensive and high risk in its approach. This model leaves many struggling in what is an almost Darwinian fight for survival.   
This is why it is financially unviable for many mid-tier galleries to even join international fairs, let alone the number needed to build and maintain a competitive advantage in the market. 
Instead, it is likely more beneficial to stick to a calendar of in-house exhibitions, where a wider and active local community is engaged in the promotion and acquisition of art.

Another way to boost a gallery’s future may be to create scale by establishing or joining gallery networks. This may lead to fewer profits per sale but could allow a wider vision of shared resources, intelligence, cross-promotion agreements, and regional partnerships.

Evan Beard, however, was of a different opinion, focussing more on strong capitalization and effective real estate strategy. In general, he favors a more corporate and institutional gallery model, also emphasizing the importance of good succession planning so that galleries may outlive their often charismatic founders well into the future.

That said, Wendy Olsoff expressed concern with this approach. If gallerists and artists lose control of how their art is presented and traded, the art itself could risk becoming a pure financial commodity or consumer product. These two diametrically opposite opinions are clearly based on different interests and expertise: a ‘go big and corporate’ strategy where the gallery brand comes first (viz. Larry Gagosian), as opposed to a more collaboration and artist-driven model (viz. Marian Goodman).

The panel finished on the subject of cryptocurrencies, with all seeming to agree that these could well become an important form of tender. Beard noted the growth of securitization as one factor, whilst Olsoff added that the new generation of artist’s interest in crypto might be another. Hoffman finished by confessing that she was herself a crypto investor saying “I don’t want to become a dinosaur”.

The Modigliani VR: The Ochre Atelier, a personal experience..

By Tiziana Maggio / Article published on Look Lateral

I have to admit: I’m a bit of an exhibition nerd. When there is a new show in town, I do my research on the artist, on the works displayed, on the curator, on the curator’s statement, on the sponsors, etc.. Yep, I want to be ready to absorb all the knowledge possible from the display and immerse myself in it.

With Modigliani’s exhibition at Tate Modern, I stuck to my routine with all the more passion, given the Italian connection, and my soft spot for the elongated necks of his female portraits. Oh, and then there was also what recently happened with the Modigliani exhibition in Genoa, where police found that 20 of the 21 works displayed were forgeries (no comment). This last event made me think on how sometimes the urge or vanity to curate and organize a blockbuster exhibition can lead to failing results.

So here I am, strolling happily through the beautiful rooms of the Tate, browsing from the sketched Caryatids to the Chinese Terracotta Army-like display of the head sculptures to the reclining nudes on cushions paintings, until I pass by a small room, seemingly empty, but with a long queue and a ‘minimum 30 minutes wait’ sign. It was the The Modigliani VR: The Ochre Atelier room.

Considering my geeky old-school approach to exhibitions, I thought ‘No way, I am not going to queue for something artificial and not related to Amedeo!’

However, when I visited the exhibition for the second time, armed with a little more patience and hi-tech curiosity, I queued for the room. After 10 minutes, I was buckled up on a VR headset and immersed in Modigliani’s small Ochre atelier in Paris – his last before passing.

As soon as ‘I was in the studio’, sitting on a virtual chair, I felt the urge to stand up and virtually browse through the paintings I could see, to peek from the window, and reach out for the rain. Saying that I was like a little girl in a fantastic gluten-free patisserie is an understatement.

Created by games company Preloaded, the experience is mind-blowingly captivating: with just a look at the virtual indicated objects, the artist’s friends and Tate’s experts will start talking to you, giving immersive insights on his art and life, based on meticulous historical and technical research.

What I have experienced is a full VR immersion into art and history, from humble insights into the artist’s daily life like wine bottles and cans of sardine on the floor to a long-lasting testimony of his talent like two of his late works, Jeanne Hébuterne 1919 and Self-Portrait 1919, all in Modigliani’s small and modest space.

When it came to the end, I felt like I had experienced something completely new and empowering, an epiphany almost. This VR experience made me think about the evolution in the exhibition business: from the paper guides to the audio guide to the VR reality. Also, this technology is definitely answering the millenials’ needs and lifestyle habits. It’s enriching the traditional exhibition experience moving towards a more holistic gallery offer, where is not just the art to talk about the artists but also his lifestyle and living and working spaces too.

The Armory Show/ 24th edition (New York, NY, Piers 92&94)

By Tiziana Maggio / Article published on Look Lateral Magazine

This year, a queue of black-and-white spectral silhouetted figures rising on a 25 feet marquee highlights the plight of Syrian immigrants whilst welcoming visitors to the 24th edition of the Armory. This highly topical and site-specific installation by French street artist JR is titled ‘So Close’ and was commissioned by Artsy in partnership with curator Jeffrey Deitch and adds an important socio-political dimension to this year’s show.

Opening to the public this Thursday, March 8th, the show is now helmed by Nicole Berry, replacing former Artnet News editor Benjamin Genocchio who was dismissed following allegations of sexual harassment. The four-day show will offer five curated sections which are set to initiate much debate on the state of the market and art affairs, as well as showcasing some of the most sought-after 20th and 21st Century art ranging from masterpieces to bleeding-edge avant-garde art.

Within the Galleries section, the fair will assemble some 198 galleries from 31 countries, with a stronger gallery presence from Asia this year. The Armory has registered 66 new exhibitors, with the likes of Gagosian, Perroti, Regen Projects and Van Doren Waxter all returning after a long absence, along with new entrants Paragon, Pearl Lam Galleries, Galerija Gregor Podnar, Night Gallery to name but a few. Meantime, the Insights section is focusing exclusively on 20th century artworks whilst Presents is showcasing emerging artists from galleries which are no more than ten years’ old. Then, the Focus section is reflecting on the intertwined relationship between body and the digital world and the last section, Platform, is making space for site specific and large-scale artworks across the Piers 92 & 94. 

All in all, this is a strong return to form for Armory, which promises to be one of the highlights of this year’s art calendar.

Andreas Gursky’s Exhibition at Hayward Gallery

By Tiziana Maggio

For an artoholic Londoner like me, there is no better way to start the year than by discovering the opening (or, technically, a re-opening) of a public art gallery. In fact, when I realised that after visiting Modigliani’s exhibition I’d have to wait till April to see a new exhibition at the Tate Modern, I was starting to feel a longing to return to the South Bank. But, the sky answered my prayers and so it happened: the re-birth of the gloriously brutalist Hayward Gallery tucked between The National and The Royal Festival Hall.

And what better way to show-off this spectacular architecture than to hold the first major UK retrospective of the work of acclaimed German photographer Andreas Gursky.  Around 60 photographs, many renowned for their scale that can often exceed three metres in height, stand beautifully in the gallery’s immense rooms. Gursky’s illusory and boundless landscapes, created by clever digital manipulation, appear like tapestries, creating abstract worlds from gigantic ‘99 Cent’ shops  (my dream), to frantic Formula 1 tracks (my nightmare) and artificially abstracted landscapes such as Rhine II (which, just in case you started picturing it in your living room, fetched over £3 million at Christie’s New York in 2011, so becoming the most expensive photograph ever sold).

With Gursky, photography becomes a medium for birds-eye imaginary spaces, where the perspective is not singular but multiple, colours are not natural but enhanced and details are not casual but artificially kept crystalline. In his hands, Photography is not intended to represent reality. Instead, it is a means of heightening it, and perhaps giving the viewer another perspective on everyday life.

Go: because it is not just about size, but so much more

Don’t go: if you believe photography should just be a documentary tool. Ok, we need to sit down and have a chat.

Venice and Liu Bolin: Disappearing in Venice

By Tiziana Maggio

I was recently in Venice and as soon as I landed and hoped off the water shuttle something struck me. It wasn’t the beautiful symmetry of the Doge Palace’s herringbone walls or the shadowy twin domes of the Basilica of Saint Mary.

It was something more humble: the maxi advertising scaffolding wrap of Santa Maria della Pietà church’s façade. Why, oh why? Well, for multiple reasons.

Every art, architecture, and history lover knows that sinking feeling of seeing a beautiful landmark hidden away under a tarpaulin for what seems like interminable restoration. Sometimes, the building becomes like a ghost, enveloped in a bland white plastic flapping endlessly in the wind or, worse still, daubed in some dreary ad for some new washing powder or super fast car.

Not so for our Santa Maria ’s wrap I saw. The church, built between 1745 and 1760, sits on the atmospheric promenade along the waterfront a few minutes from Saint Mark's Square, and since 2014 it is been undergoing a complex restoration intervention. The church is managed by a private organization, Instituto Della Pieta’, which did not have the means to cover the cost of a needed EUR1.5m restoration. This is where our advertising wrap comes in as the revenue is fully financing the costs. But not only that, they’ve complemented this necessary wrap with the exceptionally beautiful photographic work by Liu Bolin and Annie Liebovitz’s ‘Iceberg’ campaign for Moncler.

The invisible man ‘has disappeared’ for the Italian apparel manufacturer and lifestyle brand in the surrounding glacial nature under Leibovitz’s lenses. The Chinese performer, who since 2005 has been an undetectable human canvas, has created another memorable work of camouflage where his silhouette quietly disappears, becoming part of the Icelandic backdrop.

Of course, the wrap in question has a very clear impact on the Venetian river walk, visible from almost everywhere you are on the city’s front, however, I believe that we need to be unconventionally practical and accept the best amongst the worst in the name of the restoration’s urgency, in particular when the temporary maxi advert is sponsoring a long term and needed restoration.

Also, I believe that this last creation circles back to ‘Hiding in the City: Lagoon City of Venice’ (2010) where Liu Bolin blended in Venice’s famous spots like St. Mark Square or Rialto’s bridge to draw the public attention to the precarious state of this unique city.

“Venice is a very beautiful place, near the ocean and the view of it is unique. What’s more is that with the melting of the polar ice caps, there’s a prediction that such a beautiful city will disappear,” Bolin says.

It shows how the ad I encountered in Venice is not just a wrap nor an aesthetically beautiful work of art embodied by the invisible man, it is also a subtly wise reminder for all tourists of Venice, the so-called slowly disappearing city, and a needed call for action.

Betwixt at the Hospital

by Tiziana Maggio

I was recently invited to a private view of the Baldwin Gallery’s ‘Betwixt’ and once again I was impressed by the bold curatorial choice of the fantastic Hospital Club.

Photo by the baldwin gallery

With this very elegant temporary exhibition, photographic works by two Canadians artists, Meryl McMaster and David Ellingsen, are mesmerising the Club’s members as they drink & dine.

The young Canadian Meryl, despite her cute shyness during the Q&A, shows a great maturity of visual challenge. The allure of the colour and motion in her works really steal the limelight. David’s works, whilst promising, suffer rather from the ‘not-another-skull’ feeling, due to the over-exposed Damien Hirst variant that has bewitched diamond lovers and caused art consultant nightmares since 2007.

Go: if you like to be challenged by oneiric images in beautiful spaces and if you want to start using words like ‘betwixt’ and ‘anthropocene’ in your 2018 vocabulary.

Don’t go: if you think that skulls ‘shouldn’t be objectified’ or that ‘photography should primarily document real life’… (Yes, I am quoting you my friend, who ditched me on the day of the private view!)