Cover Adrian Cheng at Art Basel 2022 (Photo: Anna Koustas)

After being postponed by two months due to Covid-19 restrictions, the (normally) annual fair was welcomed with open arms on May 25 before the public opening three days later

When? May 25, 2022

Where? Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre

Who? Adrian Cheng, Marisa Yiu, Karena Lam and Emily Lam-Ho among other VIPs

Here’s what you missed: The private viewing of Art Basel Hong Kong generated a level of excitement among the art crowd that hadn’t been felt for months. After being postponed by two months due to Covid-19 restrictions, the (normally) annual fair was welcomed with open arms on May 25 before the public opening three days later.

The tenth edition of the fair, held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, was once again divided into three sectors: Galleries, Insights and Discoveries, each exhibiting paintings, sculptures, drawings, installations, photography and digital art, reflecting Asia’s rich history, modern and contemporary art, and art from emerging artists and galleries from around the world.

A total of 130 leading galleries took part, including 10 Chancery Lane, Alisan Fine Arts, Blindspot Gallery, Hanart TZ Gallery and de Sarthe Gallery representing Hong Kong, alongside major international players like Gagosian, David Zwirner and Hauser & Wirth. For galleries unable to attend due to travel restrictions, the show featured satellite booth to ensure as much art as possible could be shown.

Visitor Adrian Cheng was still on a high from news that Prenetics, in partnership with his firm, Artisan Acquisition Corp, was the first Hong Kong unicorn to list on Nasdaq. He arrived at the exhibition hall and headed straight to the Lévy Gorvy booth, to see the new series Onward & Upward by Michael Lau, the Hong Kong artist and sculptor known for his designer toys. When asked how long the giant 2.2m x 2.2m piece took to create, Lau said: “Oh, just an hour. Easy peasy,” to laughter from friends nearby.

Karena Lam, who attended the fair with Federico Tan, posed with fans, including Stephen Wong Chun-hei, the artist known for his landscape paintings of Hong Kong’s great outdoors.

Adeline Ooi, director of Art Basel Asia could be seen bouncing between press interviews and tours and beaming with pride towards the return of the fair. “It’s so good to see so many faces again,” she said. Between US sculptor Tom Friedman’s piece at Lehmann Maupin and Hong Kong artist Movana Chen’s mammoth installation Deconstructing at the centre of the exhibition, the entire experience was a feast for the senses.

This year, digital assets and NFTs also made their mark, with a special booth by blockchain Tezos, which piqued the interest of both the Turkish Consul General Peyami Kalyoncu and Design Trust founding member Joyce Tam. NFTs + The Ever-Evolving World of Art showcased the work of more than 20 digital artists from around the world, and allowed visitors to scan a QR code to launch a live-minting of a “one of one”, or completely unique, artwork NFT from one of the series the participating artists. As well as being displayed in the installation, the artwork was sent to the visitor’s Kukai wallet as a gift.

After a year plagued by Covid-19, the event took on a new significance and served as a much needed reminder that great art will always have a place in Hong Kong.

See also: Discover 'The Reach', The Macallan’s Rare Aged Whisky at Art Basel Hong Kong
 

'gallery right' 'gallery right'
'gallery right' 'gallery right'
Photo 1 of 33 Jonathan Cheung and Adeline Ooi
Photo 2 of 33 Marisa Yiu and Eric Schuldendrei
Photo 3 of 33 Reina and Kevin Chau with daughter, Chelsea Chau-Kuok
Photo 4 of 33 Emily Lam-Ho
Photo 5 of 33 Stephen Wong Chun-hei, Karena Lam and Kwong Wing Kwan
Photo 6 of 33 Adrian Cheng
Photo 7 of 33 Feiping Chang
Photo 8 of 33 Lavina and William Lim
Photo 9 of 33 S Alice Mong
Photo 10 of 33 Jonathan Crockett
Photo 11 of 33 Elaine Kwok
Photo 12 of 33 Michael Lau
Photo 13 of 33 Stephen King
Photo 14 of 33 Jenny and Brandon Chau
Photo 15 of 33 Janet Ma
Photo 16 of 33 Evan Chow
Photo 17 of 33 Ruth Chao and Levin Gehren
Photo 18 of 33 Adeline Ooi and Alexandra Seno
Photo 19 of 33 Stephen Wong Chun-hei and Federico Tan
Photo 20 of 33 Adam Bires, Antonia da Cruz and Justin Ng
Photo 21 of 33 Pearl Shek and Alan See
Photo 22 of 33 Fiona Fang
Photo 23 of 33 Walter Hau, Patrick Sun and Emmanuel Hsieh
Photo 24 of 33 Julien-Loïc Garin
Photo 25 of 33 Esther Ma
Photo 26 of 33 Janana Pasha and Malti Dialdas
Photo 27 of 33 Joseph Chen, Ysabelle Cheung and Willem Molesworth
Photo 28 of 33 Claudia Albertini
Photo 29 of 33 Katie de Tilly
Photo 30 of 33 Turkish Consul General, Peyami Kalyoncu
Photo 31 of 33 Florence Tsai
Photo 32 of 33 Scarlett Jie Chen
Photo 33 of 33