SINGAPORE.- Art Stage Singapore, the flagship Asian art event, closes its fourth edition today in a buoyant mood with an increase in overall visitorship figures and with participating galleries reporting significant sales. A total of 45,700 visitors visited Art Stage Singapore 2014 from 15th – 19th January.
Southeast Asia has embraced Art Stage Singapore as its big art event. “We are especially humbled by the overwhelming response we received at our fair preview and Vernissage which saw a total of 14,600 visitors. I would like to thank all our local partners, the Singaporean public as well as regional and international visitors for their continued support of Art Stage Singapore,” says Lorenzo Rudolf, Founder and Fair Director, Art Stage Singapore.
During the five day event, most of the 158 exhibitors from around the globe gave a thumbs-up to the presentation and visitorship of the 2014 edition. Ursula Krinzinger of Galerie Krinzinger is a first time exhibitor who is pleased with the quality conversations and contacts she has made, she has sold the works of Sakshi Gupta, Secundino Hernandez, Waqas Khan and Zhang Ding. Encouraging sales figures are reported by top galleries, to highlight a few, Michael Schultz Gallery sold a Gerhard Richter at EUR580,000; Lin & Lin Gallery sold a Zao Wuo-Ki at USD1.2 million to a local collector; Sundaram Tagore Gallery sold Navy Blue March 13 2006 by Donald Sultan at USD402,000; Galerie Perrotin sold Jean-Michel Othoniel’s Kokoro at EUR150,000; Galleria Continua sold Anthony Gormley’s Small Prop II at GBP135,000; Tomio Koyama Gallery sold 4 works by Yoshitomo Nara at SGD11,000 each; Ikkan Art Gallery sold 20 works by teamLab and Naoko Tosa at a total of USD550,000. The demand for entry-level works by emerging artists proved to be strong, and many sales were made in this segment of the market.
The Platforms - curated sales exhibitions featured Southeast Asia, Australia, Central Asia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Taiwan received critical acclaim from collectors, artists, art professionals as well as general fair visitors, with many noting that the Platforms have met the objective of providing a contextual understanding of the art scenes in Asia. Sold pieces include Qiu Zhijie’s The Politics of Laughing at SGD80,000 (Galleria Continua); Jane Lee’s 50 Faces at USD66,000 (Sundaram Tagore Gallery).
The success of the Platforms is also reflected in the high attendance rates of the Platform Tours that were organised to offer visitors in-depth curatorial insights into each country and regional Platform.
