SHANGHAI.- ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair concluded its sixth edition on Sunday, November 11, with strong attendance and significant sales made by exhibitors across all levels of the market. Hosted annually at the historic Shanghai Exhibition Centre, the fair featured 103 of the world’s leading galleries from 30 cities spanning 18 different countries, showcasing local talent alongside established and emerging artists from across the world. The sixth edition presented exceptional booths by a roster of premiere international and regional galleries. The success of newlyfeatured galleries from emerging markets such as Latin America, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and South Asia, reflect a continued growth in appetite from domestic and international collectors for new types of art.
“I am extremely grateful to the exhibitors who participated in our sixth edition of ART021” said fair co-founder David Chau. “The results of this year’s show are a testament to the efforts participating galleries put into their presentations, and to the ever-increasing strength and diversity of the art market in Mainland China.”
ART021 co-founder Kylie Ying continued, “I feel extremely proud that we have established such an internationally acclaimed art fair, which now firmly holds its rightful place on the global art fair calendar. We look forward to continuing to welcome new visitors from across the globe to Shanghai each November in support of our exhibitors.”
Participating galleries testified to their excellent experiences at this year’s fair:
‘We were very pleased to participate in ART021 again this year with a special presentation of Jennifer Allora & Guillermo Calzadilla, Abraham Cruzvillegas, Fabrice Gygi, Thomas Hirschhorn, Gabriel Orozco, José María Sicilia, Wolfgang Tillmans, Andy Warhol, Haegue Yang. Our participation in the fair enabled us to strengthen the already existing interest of local institutions, curators and collectors to these artists. We were happy to engage new conversations and ambitious collaborations which will help us to boost our presence in China.’ --Chantal Crousel and Niklas Svennung, Partners, Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris
‘The atmosphere here is vibrant, we’ve done a lot of business and have had a lot interesting conversations.’ --Pilar Corrias, Owner, Pilar Corrias, London
‘This was another important year for us at Art021 Shanghai. The energy of the fair — and the city itself — are remarkable. Throughout the week, we had significant sales to emerging and established collectors from China, but also a wide range of new international clients who came to Shanghai for the fair. As this year marks the opening of our Hong Kong space and the 25th anniversary of the gallery, we are happy to have a platform like ART021, which gives us the opportunity to strengthen our presence in China, and introduce our artists to a wider audience.’ --Leo Xu, Director, David Zwirner, New York, Hong Kong, London
‘Excellent first experience, great entryway not only to China but to the greater region. Happy to be present.’ --Jose Kuri, Owner, kurimanzutto, Mexico City, New York
‘There has been a fantastic energy at ART021 this year, drawing both collectors and private institutions from right across Asia, including Indonesia, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and mainland China, as well as a very engaged local public audience. Our solo presentation of works by Alex Katz has proven to be very successful for us, and there's no doubt that the fair is a significant contribution to the exciting evolution of the art scene in Shanghai. We are extremely happy to have been part of it.’ --Thaddaeus Ropac, Owner, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Paris, London
‘ART021 has managed to build a great art eco-system in China. We saw collectors (and buyers) from all over China, not just Shanghai and Beijing.’ --Hadrien de Montferrand, Founder, HdM Gallery, Beijing, London
‘Art021 has already proven to be the ideal next step in our continuing efforts in Asia. Throughout the four days of the fair, there has not been a dull moment.’ --Eric Gleason, Director, KASMIN, New York
‘Our Hockney iPad drawings were extremely popular, selling over 10 pieces. We also sold several new works by Chinese artist Song Dong, which are about 60,000 - 80,000 USD; these were also featured in ART021 promotional material. We saw great interest in young Chinese artist Qiu Xiaofei, as well as many requests about our upcoming shows in Hong Kong—Nigel Cooke in November and Irving Penn in January.’ ==Sylvie Tiao, Senior Director, Pace Gallery, New York, Beijing, Genève, Hong Kong, London, Palo Alto, Seoul
The Main Galleries section of the show featured 78 exhibitors showcasing exceptional works of contemporary art, including 15 galleries that participated in the fair for the first time. This group of new exhibitors included galleries from emerging markets, which reflects ART021’s continued efforts toexpand the geographical depth of its participants and introduce local collectors to galleries and artists from around the world. First-time exhibitors included: Ceysson & Bénétière (Paris); DAG (New Delhi); Gavin Brown’s Enterprise (New York); Galerie Kamel Mennour (Paris); KASMIN Gallery (New York); kurimanzutto (Mexico City); Kwai Fung Hin Art Gallery 季丰轩画廊(Hong Kong); Liang Project Co Space (Shanghai); Nukaga Gallery (Tokyo); Pilar Corrias (London); Sies + Höke (Düsseldorf); Shixiang Space势象空间(Beijing); Szydłowski Galeria (Warsaw); The Third Line (Dubai); and Yavuz Gallery (Singapore).
This year, ART021 inaugurated a new permanent section, DETOUR, which appoints one curator per year to overseea focused selection of gallery presentations investigating discourses from regions beyond the Euro-American geographic network.Cesar Garcia of The Mistake Room, Los Angeles curated the first iteration of the section, highlighting works by some of the most promising artistic voices in the Pacific Rim region. DETOUR: Lived Worlds featured presentations by six galleries, including a showcase by Joségarcía ,mx of works by two multimedia artists Nina Beier and Mario Garciá Torres; a presentation of three dimensional works by pioneering Canadian artist Brian Jungen at Catriona Jeffries; and works by Los Angeles-based artist Fay Ray from Shulamit Nazarian. The Mistake Room (Los Angeles) also participated in the section as a non-profit, showcasing a video work that was not available for purchase.
APPROACH, which invites participating galleries to present either a solo or small group show organized around a curatorial theme, featured 18 new exhibitors in 2018, including: Aroundspace Gallery周围艺术画廊(Shanghai); Art Depot艺术仓库(Beijing); Aura Gallery/Aura.A Gallery亦安画廊亦安上海(Beijing/Shanghai); Blindspot Gallery 刺点画廊(Hong Kong); Gallery Kogure (Tokyo); Klowden Mann (Culver City); Mofeimo Gallery墨非墨画廊(Qingdao); Qi Mu Space七木空间(Beijing); and Zizai Space Gallery自在空间画廊(Shanghai).
Located in the public area of the fair, BEYOND once again provided visitors with the opportunity to experience large-scale paintings, installations, and performance works outside of the traditional art fair booth. Capitalizing on the unique architecture of the Shanghai Exhibition Centre’s Main Hall, Galerie nächst St. Stephan Rosemarie Schwarzwälder presented a stunning large-scale painting by internationally renowned artist Katharina Grosse, who’s first solo-exhibition is concurrently on view at Shanghai’s K11 art mall. Whitestone Gallery staged a live painting performance by emerging Japanese artist Miwa Komatsu on the second day of the fair, inviting fair-goers to watch as the artist painted a canvas with her fingers while dressed in traditional Japanese attire.
For its sixth edition, ART021 also expanded its public art program to introduce a second new section: BEYOND-EXTENDS. This section added new dimension to the fair, integrating art into public life by showcasing large-scale installations and site-specific works throughout the city of Shanghai. For the first edition of BEYOND-EXTENDS, ART021 commissioned contemporary art installations by important Chinese artists within two major consumer centers. A site-specific work by artist Cheng Ran was on view in Shanghai’s Jing’an Kerry Centre from October 27 through November 7, 2018, and was then installed in front of the fair in the Shanghai Exhibition Centre’s fountain plaza throughout the duration of ART021. Additionally, Chinese artists Zhou Chi and Ding Ning created a shop window display for Chikalicious Dessert Bar’s Hkri Taikoo Hui location, and showcased works in additional Chikalicious locations throughout Shanghai.
A robust schedule of programminggave visitors the opportunity to extend discussion and discourse beyond the booths of the fair, while numerous gallery openings and well-attended events throughout the city directed an international spotlight onto Shanghai’s dynamic art scene.
