Murakami, Ishida, and Warhol. The Perfect Opening of Art Basel Hong Kong by Gagosian

Written by ART Driven Tokyo

The Art World is Watching Hong Kong

This year’s ABHK, which opened on March 26 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center (HKCEC), attracted 242 galleries, up 37 percent from last year.

According to The Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report 2024, In 2023, China, including mainland China and Hong Kong, will overtake the United Kingdom to become the world’s second-largest art market, with a 19 percent share. Despite the slowdown in the overall global market, down 4 percent year over year, sales in China rebounded against this downward trend and are estimated to have increased 9 percent to $12.2 billion.

However, due to the prolonged poor performance of the real estate industry and other factors, the economy in mainland China is sluggish and the art market is not as strong as in previous years.
Meanwhile, the world is watching to see what is happening in Hong Kong, where freedom of expression is still more secure than on the mainland.

Gagosian’s Curation of Contemporary Asian beauty

Gagosian has attracted Hong Kong with masterpieces by Takashi Murakami, Tetsuya Ishida, and Andy Warhol.

The work of Tetsuya Ishida, above, right, a meditator in the dangling beetle. What a beauty of Asia! I wish I could get Ishida back in this world.

Also large works by Takashi Murakami and Yoshitomo Nara.

Gagosian Senior Director, Nick Simunovic, commented about the gallery’s successful opening day.

There was incredible anticipation heading into this week and it’s wonderful to see Art Basel Hong Kong back at full strength. We had a great opening day with steady and efficient sales for artists including Carol Bove, Hao Liang, Tetsuya Ishida, Sarah Sze, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Mary Weatherford, and Stanley Whitney, among many others, driven by collectors from Asia, many of whom made the trip to Hong Kong. We were also encouraged by the institutional participation, with museums from across the region actively buying at the fair. 

The enthusiasm across the city is palpable with countless events and openings taking place over the past several days and continuing this week. Just last night, we opened Andy Warhol’s Long Shadow in our Hong Kong gallery, and the response has been terrific. The show considers Warhol’s ongoing cultural impact by juxtaposing key photographs, and films by the artist with works by some of his contemporaries and successors, including Derrick Adams, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Urs Fischer, Nan Goldin, Douglas Gordon, Alex Israel, Takashi Murakami, Richard Prince, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Sterling Ruby, and Zeng Fanzhi.

-Nick Simunovic, Senior Director, Gagosian

Andy Warhol’s Long Shadow