Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
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ART FULL To Be Titled by Dan Colen, 2011. asian allure AS VEGAS POWER PLAYERS BUILD IN MACAU, THEY PREPARE TO DELVE INTO THE ASIAN ART SCENE AT THE NEARBY HONG KONG DEBUT OF THE ESTEEMED ART BASEL. BY SUE HOSTETLER "Hong Kong buyers have a tremendous interest in Western artists." —TODD-AVERY LENAHAN 80 Magnus Renfrew, Art HK's original fair director and now director Asia of Art Basel, has overseen the transformation. A longtime believer that Hong Kong is a natural home for a major international art fair, he is confident that both attendees and participants will be blown away. "We are geographically positioned at the heart of Asia, and we are the region's financial center," Renfrew says. "There is no tax on the import or export of art, and Hong Kong has an increasingly expanding cultural sector and culturally interested population." Art Basel's shows are perhaps most renowned for each selection committee's unflinching rigor in choosing galleries to participate, as well as for the curation of the fairs' various sectors. In Hong Kong, more than 170 exhibitors of modern and contemporary art will show work in the main sector, including New York's Dominique Lévy gallery and 303 Gallery. Many eyes will be on the Insights sector, which will present projects devised specifically for the fair from 47 galleries in Asia and the Asia-Pacific region. The Discoveries sector will likely be the most experimental, with solo and two-person exhibitions by emerging artists and, in an exciting twist, a $25,000 prize. Special exhibitions and events at local galleries will also be of immense interest, as the arrival of blue-chip international players like Gagosian Gallery and White Cube—joining local stalwarts such as Hanart TZ Gallery and Osage—has invigorated the Hong Kong gallery scene in recent years. The multitude of events and special exhibitions at Hong Kong's cultural institutions and nonprofits is dizzying, including a parallel program of talks continued on page 82 PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBERT MCKEEVER (TO BE TITLED); COURTESY OF ART BASEL (RENFREW, KOWLOON) "H ong Kong is the gateway to China," says renowned local interior designer and architect Todd-Avery Lenahan, explaining why the cosmopolitan city has been anointed the newest host of Art Basel, the most esteemed art fair in the world. "The demographic of buyers is diverse and highly sophisticated, with tremendous interest in Western artists, as much from young collectors as from established ones." Currently working on the new Wynn Cotai resort in Macau for Steve Wynn, Lenahan is one of many high-level art connoisseurs looking forward to the premiere of Art Basel in Hong Kong. Almost two years after the company behind Art Basel bought a majority stake in Asian Art Fairs Ltd., which founded the Art HK contemporary art fair, the newly rechristened Art Basel in Hong Kong will open May 23 to much international fanfare, boasting work from more than 3,000 artists and 245 of the world's leading galleries. This BELOW: Art Basel's director Asia, Magnus Renfrew. expansion into Asia gives the storied fair an BOTTOM: A bird's-eye view unparalleled three-continent, year-round engagement of Hong Kong's West Kowloon Cultural District. with the art world's cognoscenti (Art Basel's other shows are the Switzerland behemoth and its Miami Beach spin-off). VEGASMAGAZINE.COM 080-082_V_SC_ArtFull_MAY/JUNE_13.indd 80 4/19/13 5:27 PM