A new wave of galleries arrives in Hong Kong

Art | 15 May 2012

‘A Low Level’, by KAWS, 2012, on view at Galerie Perrotin, Hong Kong. Photography: Guillaume Ziccarelli

Galerie Perrotin
Thanks to an unprecedented boom in China’s art market and a growing demand for Western art, several influential international galleries have opened permanent exhibition spaces in Hong Kong this week, timed to coincide with this year’s ART HK 12 fair. Parisian dealer Emmanuel Perrotin has opened his vast seventeenth floor Galerie Perrotin with an exhibition of work by American neo-pop artist KAWS, titled ’The Nature of the Need’.

Galerie Perrotin, 17th Floor, 50 Connaught Road Central, Hong Kong; www.perrotin.com

Installation view of ’The Nature of the Need’ exhibition at Galerie Perrotin, Hong Kong. Photography: Guillaume Ziccarelli

The 50 individual canvases that make up ’The Nature is the Need’ series can be hung on their own or together. In the gallery, they stretch across the striking exhibition space, designed Andre Fu, which makes full use of the harbour views and natural light

Installation view of ’The Nature of the Need’ at Galerie Perrotin, Hong Kong. Photography: Guillaume Ziccarelli

‘Pay the Debt to Nature’, by KAWS, 2010, on show at Galerie Perrotin, Hong Kong

The 750 sq m gallery is on the 17^th floor of a building in Connaught Road, Central, with stunning 270-degree views of the harbour

Sotheby’s
Spurred by the art market’s exponential growth in Asia, auction house Sotheby’s opened a new 1,400sq m gallery at One Pacific Place, designed by local architects Richards Basmajian with flexibility in mind: the windows have panels to hang pictures and the lighting is modular. The gallery is launching with an exhibit by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama titled ‘Hong Kong Blooms in My Mind’, as well as an exhibit of French landscape painting from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Sotheby’s, Suites 3101-3106, 31/F, 1 Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Hong Kong; www.sothebys.com

‘Watermelon’, by Yayoi Kusama, 2008, on show at Sotheby’s Hong Kong. Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts

‘Pumpkin’, by Yayoi Kusama, 2010, on show at Sotheby’s Hong Kong. Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts

‘Tulip with all my love’, by Yayoi Kusama, on show at Sotheby’s Hong Kong. Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts

Installation view at Pearl Lam Galleries. Courtesy of Michael Freeman

Pearl Lam Galleries
This week, Pearl Lam’s eponymous gallery presents its inaugural exhibition of Chinese abstract art, featuring works by Su Xiaobai and Yan Binghui. The 350 sq m new gallery in the Grade II-listed Pedder Building has temporary walls to create bespoke spaces for each piece

Pearl Lam, 601-605, 6/F, Pedder Building, 12 Pedder Street, Central, Hong Kong; www.pearllam.com

The new Pearl Lam gallery is showing works by Zhu Jinshi and Li Huasheng

The entry foyer of the new Simon Lee gallery, Hong Kong. Photography: Tsai King Yan at Studio Sai. Courtesy of Simon Lee Gallery

Simon Lee Gallery
Also in the Pedder Building, Simon Lee Gallery opened this week with an exhibition of new works by American artist Sherrie Levine. The space, designed by Belgium-based Bataille Ibens, carries over the aesthetic of the Lee’s London gallery.

Simon Lee, 304, 3F The Pedder Building, 12 Pedder Street, Central, Hong Kong; www.simonleegallery.com

‘False God’, a bronze by Sherrie Levine, 2007, at Simon Lee Gallery, Hong Kong. Courtesy of the artist and Simon Lee Gallery

‘Dada’, by Sherrie Levine, 2008, at Simon Lee Gallery, Hong Kong. Courtesy of the artist and Simon Lee Gallery

‘Kathedrale’, by Andreas Gursky, 2007. Copyright Andreas Gursky, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; Courtesy of the Gagosian Gallery

Gagosian Gallery
Opened earlier this year, the Gagosian Gallery’s new outpost has already treated Hong Kong to Damien Hirst, Cy Twombly and Franz West. This month it is playing host to Andreas Gursky’s first Asian exhibition.

Gagosian Gallery, 7/F Pedder Building, 12 Pedder Street, Central, Hong Kong; www.gagosian.com

‘Bangkok I’, by Andreas Gursky, on show at the Gagosian Gallery. Copyright Andreas Gursky, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; Courtesy of the Gagosian Gallery

A new wave of galleries arrives in Hong Kong

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