George Lindemann Journal - "A Hong Kong Art Fair's Emerging Identity" @wsj by Jason Chow
Katsuro Funakoshi's Dancing as a pupa (Homage to a dancer), 2001 Katsuro Funakoshi/Beck & Eggeling
Art Basel made a splashy entrance in Hong Kong last year with its first fair in the city. Now, the Hong Kong edition of the global art franchise that's synonymous with glitzy parties and the global jet-set crowd is searching for an identity.
Art Basel Hong Kong, which kicks off May 15, is the third entry to the Art Basel calendar after Basel, Switzerland, and Miami Beach. The Swiss and U.S. shows are fixtures on the wealthy collector's calendar: The Basel fair, which takes place in early June, has become a hub for established European collectors wanting to snag a Hirst or Picasso; Miami Beach, scheduled in December, not only attracts deep-pocketed buyers but also serves as a warm escape for celebrity party-goers— Kim Kardashian, Kanye West and Demi Moore were just a few of those who attended last year.
But the Hong Kong fair hasn't yet attracted the A-list like Miami Beach, and the type of rich collectors who gather in Switzerland have yet to amass for a competitive buying spree in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong fair's calling card has yet to be determined.
Timing is part of its identity crisis. The four-day event falls in the middle of a very crowded art calendar, just a week after the Frieze Art Fair in New York and a month before the Art Basel show in Switzerland. Fair organizers, facing complaints from Western galleries and collectors that the May time slot makes it difficult for them to attend the Hong Kong event, have already responded by shifting the date of next year's show to March.
Organizers also say they are trying best for the fair to reflect geography: More than half of the 245 galleries participating at Art Basel Hong Kong are from Asia. Most of the expected 65,000 attendees are from within the region, and many are young and recently minted wealthy collectors from second- and third-tier cities in China, Indonesia and other rising economies.
"Each fair develops its own identity," said Magnus Renfrew, director of the Hong Kong fair. "This fair represents an emerging market, not a mature one. They're learning very fast here, but it's still learning."
As a result, the buying behavior differs in Asia. Compared with the other Art Basel fairs, where established collectors line up at the entrance to be first into the show and so secure a desired Old Master painting, the buying is less frenzied in Hong Kong.
"The pace of the activity here is much more measured," said Nick Simunovic, Hong Kong director of Gagosian Gallery. "In Miami or Basel, you do so much more on the first day. Here, it's not a feast or famine approach where 90% of the business is done on the first day."
Mr. Simunovic said collectors' tastes are global—what clients are seeking to buy in Hong Kong is similar to that sought by buyers in New York. Asian collectors who have already bought works of Asia's top contemporary and modern artists in recent years are now looking for earlier works of those same artists, hoping to create a deeper understanding of their oeuvre, Mr. Renfrew said.
"The art fair ends up being a place to learn about art in the absence of a major institution and gallery," he said.
Write to Jason Chow at jason.chow@wsj.