In 2008, the first edition of Hong Kong Art Fair drew fewer than 20,000 visitors. Today it draws around 70,000. Now in its fifth edition under the management of Art Basel — which bought a majority stake in Asian Art Fairs Ltd, owners of the fair, in 2011 — the event’s growth maps the burgeoning engagement of the Asia Pacific region with international contemporary art. That this year only 50 per cent of the 242 exhibitors hail from that part of the world testifies to the fair’s lucrative potential.
In the first hours of Tuesday’s VIP preview, dealers’ hopes were justified. London’s Sadie Coles reported the biggest coup: an abstract oil painting by Rudolf Stingl in red and silver oil and enamel was snapped up for US$1.2m. Coles also sold a trio of brightly painted stone sculptures by Ugo Rondinone (US$75,000-US$150,000 each), as well a graphically charged canvas by Borna Sammak and a collage painting by Laura Owens.
Coles believes her commitment to the fair, where she has been exhibiting for six years, is paying off. “Trust is a big thing here,” she replies when asked why she has got off the blocks so fast. “Once people know you here they really want to do business with you.”