Now in its 11th year, the longest-surviving art-fair in Southeast Asia recently concluded on Oct 15 at its regular venue, Matrade Exhibition and Convention Centre (MECC), Kuala Lumpur. Featuring 70 established and respectable art galleries/groups from 25 countries, the art fair also showcased 2,000 pieces of artworks, including paintings, sculptures, installation and photography of various styles, manifestations and medium.
The Malaysian line-up included the usual past exhibitors and factions such as Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers, Masterpiece Auction (Tiny Rose Gallery), National Art Gallery, Bank Negara Malaysia Museum & Art Gallery, A2 Gallery, Artseni Gallery, Art WeMe Contemporary Gallery, Acts One Saged Assets, City Art Gallery, Core Design Gallery, G13 Gallery, Gallery des Artistes, Galleria GermAsia, Jeth Art Gallery, Minut Init, Nadine Fine Art, NN Gallery, Pelita Hati Gallery Of Art, Taksu, The Print Room, (V’ Art) Space, Yahong Art Gallery and several others.
INTERNATIONAL INTEREST
Some of these galleries brought in foreign artists as well; Art WeMe Contemporary Gallery represented the famous China artist Sanzi, Taiwanese artists Liao Ying Hsi and Lo Ch’ing; both the art auction houses Henry Butcher and Masterpiece showcased works by Southeast Asian artists and highlighted pieces of coming auctions; (V’ Art) Space featured Myanmar artist Soe Soe, Turkish artist Coplu, Russian artist Galya Popova, and many others.
This year saw the exciting entry by Gallery des Artistes run by Edith Ho, a close family member of celebrated Hong Kong and Macanese business magnate Datuk Seri Stanley Ho. An advocate for niche art pieces and for her debut in a Malaysian public art event, the gallery showcased French artists Jeremi Ca and Thierry Trives.
From our neighbouring country Singapore, six galleries formed the second largest exhibitor group which included the esteemed Art Xchange Gallery, ArtBlue Studio, Art Porters, Maya Gallery, Gnani Arts, and White Space Art Asia. It’s common for these galleries to represent artists of various nationalities. As such, besides representing Singaporean and Indonesian artists, Art Porters also represented Artheline (a husband-wife collaboration comprising French artist Arnaud Nazare-Aga and Filipino artist Adeline), famous for their colourful, perky sculptures.
From the other parts of Southeast Asia, Myanmar was represented by Colour Cube Art Gallery; Thailand was represented by Number 1 Gallery whose obvious draw were their contemporary pieces with stunning, arresting visuals; First-time participants, Vietnam was represented by Viet Friends Gallery, while Philippines showcased Galerie Francesca.
Foreign Asian exhibitors included Hong Kong’s Chit Fung Art known to promote top-notch level Chinese ink masters such as Jia Youfu, Pan Gongkai, Li Xiaoke, Wang Xijing, Wang Mingming etc; Japan’s frequent exhibitor LSD Gallery, was joined by Gallery UG and first-time participant Satelites Art Lab. Artworks by Japanese artists caught the attention of collectors and young crowd at the fair. The Art Club from Taiwan made its debut in Art Expo Malaysia, while 92-year-old Taiwanese Chinese ink Grandmaster Prof. Li Chi Mao exhibited a number of his most recent endeavours.
Spain’s ATR Gallery booth was the visitors’ all-time favourite booth, showcasing impressive sculptures and works by Spanish masters Picasso, Joan Miro and Salvador Dali.ATR Gallery has been participating in Art Expo Malaysia since its inception in 2007.
Galerie Bruno Massa from France, DC ARTE from Switzerland, Artium Miami Art Gallery from United States of America, X Espacio from Mexico, Lethbridge Gallery from Australia, IK-Projects + Eugene Gallery from Korea, Mookji Art Collaboration from China etc, joined the Art Expo family for the first time this year.
Besides the commercial galleries, the Solo Exhibition Zone featured nominated artists including Vince Low, Kim Il Tae, Philip Wong, Chien Chinjen, Migs Villanueva, Fabrizius2, Suhaidi Razi, Mah Chen, and Kenji Ichikawa, all represented by participating galleries. Art talks were held in conjunction with the art fair, and although there were some initial reservations in ‘fear’ of empty seats, the talks were surprisingly met with enthusiasm and attended by hundreds.
Embassies from Croatia, Italy, Romania, Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Mongolia, Iran, and Jordan (debut appearance) proudly showcased one selected solo artist from their respective countries.In addition, three different groups from China (Tsinghua, Luxun Shenyang, Shaanxi) exhibited their artworks too, including the Supporting Partner of Art Expo Malaysia, Shaanxi Artists Association led by Prof. Wang Xijing.
MALAYSIAN ARTISTS
The indefatigable Awang Damit Ahmad whose works have been auctioned numerous times and which achieved amazing record sales at Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and local auction houses, was honoured with a Tribute Showcase, in recognition of his contribution to the modern art scene. The booth showcased the artist’s robust works from the most sought after Essence of Culture (EOC) series, Marista series, Iraga series, Payarama series, Garismega series, and numerous other selected pieces.One unforgettable and hilarious remark from a prominent local collector who’s a great friend of the artist was overheard as saying: “Awang, I thought a “tribute” meant you’ve left this world!”
Our own galleries didn’t do shabbily either: G13 sold more than 30 pieces, Nn Gallery around 25 from their three booths, and Taksu smiled widely at selling 20 pieces of his artwork.
Art Expo Malaysia is under the Royal Patronage of Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Perlis, Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra ibni Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Jamalullail and Tuanku Hajjah Lailatul Shahreen Akashah Khalil.Their heartfelt message read: “We, as the Royal Patron, have watched over the growth of the Art Expo Malaysia, and are proud of its achievements and progress. As the years go by, we see better quality artworks and even masterpieces by some of the most famous names in the art world, we see increasing visitor ship and most importantly the increasing awareness towards art appreciation in the public, we see increasing media coverage on the Expo be it locally or abroad as it is worth reporting about, we see participation from more countries, we see a higher sales of artworks recorded, just to mention a few.
It is achieved via the hard work and painstaking effort by the organisers, where they overcome daunting challenges and obstacles, keep on striving to improve on the quality of the Expo in every aspects to meet international expectation. This is the Malaysian fighting spirit. We hope the organisers would keep on adding new programmes and come up with interesting attractions, in order to value-add and also to make the Art Expo Malaysia something special that the art enthusiasts, whether at home or abroad, are keen to visit every year. The Art Expo Malaysia has definitely brought the visual arts industry in Malaysia a big leap forward. Syabas!”
Fair director Sim Pojinn says: “Art Expo Malaysia promotes Malaysian art on an international art platform, showcasing local galleries and artists while educating the public about art appreciation and art investment. We also aim to promote art to a wider community (via intensive marketing) bolstering Kuala Lumpur as an important art hub in Southeast Asia, active in art commerce and art development, as well as encouraging networking within the community. Following last year’s success of a record RM17 million sales of artworks and a visitor count of 25,000 people, we hope to achieve greater success this year.”
It looks as if Sim’s hopes of taking the fair to the next level may have been fulfilled. Judging from the crowd, there’s an estimate of over 30, 000 visitors, and looking at the works which were mostly sold off quickly, total sales would have most likely surpassed that 17 million mark. It will take at least a month to calculate, and we look forward to know the exact figures soon.
Founder Datuk Vincent Sim remarks thoughtfully: “It’s a good time for investors to seriously look into the art market. It’s also a good time to start, and continue collecting. There’s a saying that goes ‘Appreciate Art, Art Appreciates’. Art Expo Malaysia is the right place to begin your art collecting journey.”
Project director Sim Polenn concludes with a smile: “I was particularly thrilled to see so many young collectors ranging from the ages of 25 to 35. These are the future serious art collectors, and I’m honoured and humbled that Art Expo played a role in making this happen, in promulgating the love for collecting art. Buy art because you like it; if there is an investment return, that’s a bonus!”
