¿Es o no es? An amazing sculpture to the visitors at the Hong Kong Fair

By: Zoe Li

Everybody is pushing and shoving to come closer to a naked woman who is bent down on her knees.

With cell phones, the crowd boldly take pictures of her naked back and bottom; anyway, she will not get upset with anyone while she is posing.

This magically real work was created by Australian artist Sam Jinks and it was the most photographed at the Art Basel this year in Hong Kong.

Art Basel bought the International Art Fair in Hong Kong in 2011 and it quickly consolidated the place of the city in the multimillionaire world art market. This is a powerful brand in the industry of the art fairs.

This year, the fair gathered 233 galleries of 37 countries and territories. Half galleries are from the Asian regions including Hong Kong, continental China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia.

“You will see everything under the same roof” this way Adeline Ooi, director of Art Basel in Hong Kong, describes the successful show.

“We have the best of Asia and the rest of the world in our Salon.”

Just on the other side of the naked woman by Jink, you can find the stand of the super star of the Japanese art Kaikai Kiki. This stand is full of works characteristic of the Superflat movement, which is inspired by Japanese cartoon.

Neat there you can find the stand of the French distributor Edouard Malinque who lives in Hong Kong and exhibits known European creators like Laurent Grasso along with local emerging artists.

One of the most outstanding is Joao Vasco Paiva who exhibited an almost six meters high sculpture that looks like the polystyrene foam rubber that are normally on the Honk Kong streets.

Characterized by the regional representation makes this fair different from Art Basel in Basilea and Art Basel in Miami as well as other 180 important art fairs taking place during the year.

 While people of all kind of fields in life come to see this art and many children slowly walk to enjoy the show, the galleries owners who are smartly dressed close their million dollars businesses.

A picture by Chris Ofili titulado "Dead Monkey - Sex, Money and Drugs" was sold for 2 million dollars at the David Zwirner’s stand in the first hour during the VIP preview of the fair on March 13.

Art Basel in Hong Kong changed the date that was scheduled for May and now it is from March 15 to 17, 2015 coinciding with the Hong Kong Art Festival and the International Cinema Festival. 

The Tourism Board in Hong Kong labeled March as the “the month for art in Honk Kong”.

The enthusiasm has extended beyond the artistic sector and even the commercial centers of the city are full of great installations to be in tune with the fair.

This is also the first year for the Art Central satellite art, which was created by the same founder of the Honk Kong International Art Fair and conceived for complement the Art Basel fair in Honk Kong.

Source: CNN