Beeple’s spinning sculpture has a serious eco-friendly message
Digital art japester Beeple – which grabbed headlines in 2021 with its $69 million NFT sale at Christie’s – is making its presence felt at Art Basel Hong Kong, drawing crowds with a rotating kinetic sculpture that resembles a Technicolor time machine. We came across the digital megastar who said he wanted to do something outside of the average 2D box. His rotating visual work at the LGDR gallery—S.2122 (2023) — focuses on “climate change. The water rises [in the work] but people will try to adapt,” he said, adding that the twisting head assembly has a “message of hope.” Spread the love beeps.
Zadie Xa
courtesy artifacts
Hong Kong star Zadie Xa goes into hiding in London
Zadie Xa is having a moment. At Art Basel Hong Kong, two of Xa’s works were snapped up by Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery, which recently engaged the Korean-Canadian artist. The eye-catching pieces, both made from recycled leather and matching shell buttons, were priced at £22,000 each. But Xa isn’t just making waves in Hong Kong. She has just unveiled a major public artwork on the London Underground, featuring a mural at the eastern end of Aldgate East station, near Whitechapel Gallery. The stunning artwork is inspired by the mythical griffin, which was used as an official symbol by London Transport (Tfl) from 1933 until the late 1950s. The two-part piece includes Griffin and Guardian which reimagines the TfL griffin as a hybrid of seagull and fox; The second part, The underground worlds connect, shows (expect it) a tiger with three wide eyes emerging from a conch shell. Commuters will be delighted.
Jacob Twyford has some free time on Barry Flanagan’s seat statue
courtesy of Gareth Harris
Respite at the fair on a cuddly bunny bench
Visitors to Art Basel Hong Kong are generally strictly prohibited from touching the art. But visitors can, to their surprise, sit on a large-scale sculpture by Barry Flanagan at the Waddington Custot stand. A steady stream of happy individuals, no doubt eager to rest their weary feet, accepted Jacob Twyford’s offer to perch on The handshakes piece representing two huge rabbit figures joined by hand (or paw). Twyford, senior director of the London-based gallery, says the seated statue is “about saying hello, talking about love”. And we all need a bit of that.
The artist in motion at K11 Musea
courtesy of Gareth Harris
No it is not…. is it Banksy?
All the neighborhood kids in Hong Kong descended on the K11 Museum in Victoria Dockside earlier this week to see “China’s first major graffiti and street art exhibition” (City like Studio, until May 14) featuring works by renowned graffiti artists such as Shepard Fairey and Futura. But one exhibit in particular – a dysfunctional moving mannequin pulverizing the wall – left those in attendance at the VIP party scratching their heads. “Who is it supposed to be?” asked a number of visitors, with one or two going so far as to speculate that the jerky automaton might even be the ever-elusive Banksy (we’re not sure he’d like the speculative comparison though).
The art world raves about the elevators at H Queen’s
The art world may have vanished from Hong Kong in recent years due to Covid, but one of the city’s most pressing issues persists – the elevators in the H Queen’s Building in the Central District which appear to be putting a some time to go up (and down). Hordes of avid art lovers descended on the skyscraper earlier this week to see performances at David Zwirner (Rirkrit Tiravanija) and Hauser & Wirth (Rashid Johnson). But the elevators were packed, prompting guests (mostly) in high heels to descend (shock horror) down the stairs. A worker at H Queen’s, puzzled by disgruntled party crowds, joked he had forgotten ‘during the Covid years how no one ever had to go down the stairs’.
