Oriental VisArt and the 42nd annual Art Basel

Art Basel, Switzerland’s premier international Art Fair, came to a close this past Sunday, 19 June, 2011. Often referred to as “the Olympics of the art world”, art lovers, collectors, and galleriests from all over the globe were treated to countless different works and presentations at this summer event. Said to have set the record for highest attendance in its history, this year’s Art Basel featured over 300 different galleries and more than 2,500 different Artists.

This year’s Art Basel not only broke records in terms of attendance, but in terms of expectations from majority of the exhibitors. Expectations of the vast majority of exhibitors were far exceeded with the event. Most were pleased to report great contacts and sales had been made to benefit the future of their programmes.

Art Basel is broken down into a different divisions, specialising in different types of works from different Artists. Art Unlimited featured 62 different works, some created specifically for Art Basel. Art Statements featured 27 young Artists from across the globe and Art Parcours, where specific works and performances were held was also a major draw.

Oriental VisArt spent the week in Basel taking in the sites and sounds of this fabulous event. Below are pictures of the great experience. Please enjoy, and hope to see you there next year!

 

Art Parcours 'Ai Weiwei'

Gabriel Orozco, 'Fly stamp collection', chromogenic print, 16 x 20 inches, 2010

Art Unlimited

Galeria Continua

Jaume Plensa, 'The three graces', painted stainless steel, three parts, 203 x 137 x 134cm, Galerie Lelong

Kohei Nawa, 'Polygon-Double-Deer 2', mixed media, 159.3 x 80.3 x 63.2cm, 2011, SCAI the Bath House

Main hall view

Main hall view

Marijke van Warmerdam, 'Up-convolution', acrylic paint, ink jet print on canvas, 2009, Annet Gelink Gallery

Ron Mueck, 'Youth', silicone, polyurethane, steel, synthetic hair, fabric, 107 x 40 x 40cm, 2009, Hause & Wirth

Scope Basel view

Scope Basel view, Kashay Hildebrand Gallery

Sooja Kim, 'To breathe-A mirrow woman', duraclear photographic print in light box, 119 x 89 x 10cm, 2006-2008

Team Gallery

U Ram Choe, 'Winged Tree of God', metalic material, machinery, electronic devices, 79 x 112 x 46cm, 2011, SCAI the Bath House

White Cube

Zhang Ding, 'Next', installation, 300 x 280 x 260cm, 2010, ShangArt

Oriental VisArt and La Magie des Vins Sàrl

Oriental VisArt hosted our first-ever Wine and Art night, in partner with Michel Vialle La Magie des Vins Sàrl on Friday, 3 June 2011.

The event featured wine tasting « Château de Chaintres » Saumur-Champigny AOC, wines from the region Châteaux de la Loire. Guests were treated to these wines while enjoying the works of Hyungji Park, as the event takes place at Nest Gallery in Geneva, Switzerland, during Oriental VisArt’s exhibition « Neon Plants, Night Lights and Travel to the Galaxy ».

The wine tasting menu featured five, crisp summer wines:

• Two whites:
• a Burgundy, the “Mâcon Chardonnay” 2009 de Benjamin et Mallory Talmard
• a Bordeaux, the “Blanc Sec” 2009 de Château Parenchère
• One rosé :
• the Bordeaux « Clairet » 2009 de Château Parenchère
• And two reds :
• a Chianti 2009 : the « Titolato Strozzi » produced in San Gimignano by the Prince Strozzi
• a Saumur Champigny : the “Château Chaintres » produced by in the Loire Castles region by Comte Gaël de Tigny

Photos of the event:

Summery wine selection

Sponsors from La Magie des Vins

Sponsors and organiser Kayla Hye K. Yang

Guests

Showroom view

Guests and our organiser

Guests and the work of Hyungji Park

Showroom view

Wine night

Chinese Artist Fen Weng

Chinese Artist Fen Weng was born in Hainan, China, and is currently based out of two cities: Beijing and Haikou, China. She graduated from the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, in Guangzhou, China. Her specialisation is photography.

Selected Solo Exhibitions
2009	Fataurbana-Weng Fen	Centrum Kultury ZAMEK , Poznan, Poland
2008	Weng Fen-Beautiful New World	JamJar Gallery, Dubai
	Weng Fen-My Olympics	Contemporary Art Society, Rome, Italy
2007	My Olympics	Tang Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
	Schone Aussichten: Weng Peijun’s Photo	Kunsthalle Faust, Hannover, Germany
	Weng Peijun’s Heaven	Galeria Moriarty, Madrid, Spain
	Return of the Silent Traveller	Lowood Gallery, Armathwaite, UK

Selected Group Exhibitions
2009	Stairway to Heaven	H&R Block Artspace At Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas, USA
	Spectacle — To Each His Own	Museum Of Contemporary Art, Taibei, Taiwan
2008	Mediation Biennale 08 Mediation Biennale	Poznan, Poland
	New World Order – Contemporary Installation Art and Photography from China	Groninger Museum, Groningen, Holland
	Stairway to Heaven	Bates College Museum of Arts, Lewiston, US
	Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection	Berkeley Art Museum andPacific Film Archive BAM/PFA, Berkeley. US
	la cina e vicina	PAN-palazzo delle arti di napoli, Naples, Italy
	Food and Shelter	Pekin Fine Arts, Beijing, China

Fen Weng describes her artistic philosophy:

Every morning I walk to work along the same boring road. Day after day I repeat the same actions. Sometimes I leave Haikou to go to Guangzhou, Beijing or some other place, but after I step out of the airport or railway station I feel as though I am still in Haikou. The buildings that line the streets seem to be the same kind of modern buildings, with the same mosaic tile or brick wall facing, the same architectural styles. Even the sky seems to be the same shade of blue.

Just that same morning I had still been sitting at home; now it is afternoon and I am already in Beijing or Shanghai. If I take a flight from China to America today, and spend 24 hours travelling, when I arrive in America it will still be today, departure and arrival seem to be the same time. These many similarities and repetitions make me think that reality must be false, that sensory perceptions are ambiguous.

Faced with this 2-dimensional kind of life, an utopian dreamland for the common people, I can only make subjective conjectures – it is like an empty, insubstantial body or ornament, and I have no way of freeing myself. It seems that it is because of reality that I am searching for this kind of fabricated sensation, reality – that you cannot possibly resist, that you cannot ever go back to.

Please enjoy some work images!

"Sitting on the Fence"

"Watching the Lake"

"Sitting on the Fence"

"Watching the Sea"