This Week in the Art Market – Friday 1st December 2023
Singapore Art Week Returns in January
Hosting its 12th edition in January, Singapore Art Week has announced a whopping lineup of more than 150 art exhibitions and programmes by over 400 local and international partners. Activities to look forward to include the popular Light to Night festival at the National Gallery; the performance installation Our Children by pioneering local artist Tang Da Wu; and the vibrant night festival Art After Dark at the Gillman Barracks. Collectors can also look forward to two of the year’s biggest art fairs, ART SG and SEA Focus, which will showcase contemporary art from around the world.
See More: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/entertainment/singapore-art-week-2024-380041
‘Collectors Remain Committed’ To Art Market
The recently published Art Basel and UBS Survey of Global Collecting in 2023 found that high-net-worth (HNW) collectors have continued to spend on art despite the fluctuating global economy, suggesting that art remains a viable opportunity for savvy investors. Trends show that despite disruptive events in the global scene, the art market appears insulated and does not display signs of unraveling. International fairs such as Paris + par Art Basel continue to spark conversations around long-term acquisitions, while market interest in French and Japanese artists remain strong.
Celebrated Local Artist Ho Tzu Nyen Gets First Solo Exhibition
The newest exhibition at the Singapore Art Museum, Time & The Tiger, surveys the extensive career of local artist Ho Tzu Yen. Running from 24 November to 3 March, it showcases Ho’s recurrent fascination with the history of tigers which have thrived and gone extinct in Southeast Asia. The exhibition also draws from Japanese aesthetics, creating an immersive installation of a tatami-tiled rooms and shoji screens. The exhibition will travel to Seoul and New York next year, and SAM is in talks to travel the exhibition to the United Arab Emirates and Luxembourg after that.
Mumbai Art Fair Proves Vitality of India’s Art Market
Located in the bustling city of Mumbai, the inaugural Art Mumbai showcased 50 galleries, including those within the subcontinent as well as international galleries specializing in Indian art. The fair’s success is an indicator of India’s rising art market; as the nation becomes one of the world’s biggest markets, the city of Mumbai has become the undisputed financial capital of India, spawning more centi-millionaires than Dubai, Sydney, Seoul or Miami. Due to its financial success, Mumbai has also transformed itself into a vibrant hub of gallery activity, hosting galleries such as Akara Contemporary, TARQ, Kolkata Experimenter, and Chemould Gallery.
See More: https://news.artnet.com/market/art-mumbai-2023-opening-2396128
Post-Pandemic Galleries Embrace Online Sales
As the effects of the pandemic wear off, most galleries have returned to their normal operations. However, many are also adapting to new buyer behaviors. Artsy’s Collector Inights Reports 2023 showed an increased percentage of buyers making their purchases online, leading to galleries actively learning how to approach customers who are new to the market and prefer to interact digitally with sellers. Some galleries have even given up their physical locations altogether, shifting online entirely -- as seen with Miami-based gallery The Art Design Project. Other galleries have adapted by working harder to attract foot traffic, engaging the community directly through local relationships with the press.
See More: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-galleries-adapting-new-normal-post-covid
Forgotten Female Pop Artist Gains New Spotlight
British artist Pauline Boty – a little known artist associated with the Pop movement in the 1960s – has recently become the subject of a solo exhibition at London’s Gazelli Art House. Boty was an avid painter of popular visual symbols, and rendered pop icons like Elvis and Marilyn Monroe, alongside American gangsters, British politicians, race riots in America and the missile crisis in Cuba. As one of the few female painters among the cohort of largely male painters, she distinguished herself with her vibrant colours and singular use of abstract shapes. Outside of painting, the young Boty was a media personality who acted alongside Michael Caine in the 1966 film Alfie, and even interviewed the Beatles.
Ke Dong is a seasoned art writer and current double major in English Literature and Art History at NTU. Having worked with esteemed art institutions in Singapore, Ke Dong now regularly contributes his keen research skills, adept writing abilities and passion for art to the Art Works discourse.
