Cover Exo-Performance (2019) by Tianzhuo Chen. (Courtesy of Bank Mabsociety and Tianzhuo Chen)

More than 4,000 works of art are being exhibited in Art Basel's Online Viewing Rooms—here's what some of Asia's top galleries are showing

The 2020 edition of Art Basel in Basel will no longer take place in person, so the Swiss fair is moving online this summer. After Art Basel's first successful virtual art fair in March—as a result of the Hong Kong event being cancelled due to Covid-19— the second edition will go live online on Friday, June 19 at 7pm GMT+8. 

Here's what some of Asia's top galleries will be showing in the fair's online viewing rooms.

Bank

Tatler Asia
Above Exo-Performance (2019) by Tianzhuo Chen. (Courtesy of Bank Mabsociety and Tianzhuo Chen)

Rising star Tianzhuo Chen is in the spotlight in Bank's viewing room. 

Beijing-based Chen is the founder of Asian Dope Boys, a roving club night that mixes DJ sets with live music, psychedelic videos, sculptures, performance art and more. Chen has described the event as “something in between religion and rave, between club culture and religion" and hosted it at the Faurschou Foundation spaces in Beijing and Venice and the Broad in LA, among other art spaces. 

In Shanghai-based gallery Bank's viewing room, Chen is presenting video works, a painting, a brass sculpture and a 12-hour-long performance that references religious rituals, science fiction and drag culture. 

See also: Sotheby's Auctions Off African Art Online

Jhaveri Contemporary

Tatler Asia
Above Afternoon (1979) by Mrinalini Mukherjee. (Courtesy of Jhaveri Contemporary)

Recently unearthed works by the late Indian artist Mrinalini Mukherjee and late Pakistani-British artist Anwar Jalal Shemza are on show in Jhaveri Contemporary's viewing room. 

Mukherjee is most famous for her sculptures made from woven hemp, but in the 1970s and early '80s also experimented with printmaking, creating etchings of landscapes, plants and animals that she kept private until her death. Similarly, Anwar Jalal Shemza was respected throughout his life as a painter and writer, but quietly made multiple photograms in the early 1980s, which are only now being exhibited for the first time. 

Also on show is a bronze sculpture by Mukherjee and a series of large photographs by Singapore-born, Australia-based artist Simryn Gill. 

See also: 10 Inspiring Coffee Table Books On Art, Design, Food And Travel

Kukje Gallery

Tatler Asia
Above Conjunction 16-390 by Ha Chong-Hyun. (Courtesy of the artist and Kukje Gallery. Photo by Kim Sangtae)

Seoul-based Kukje Gallery, which represents some of Korea's most famous artists, is showing two paintings by Ha Chong-Hyun, a leader of the country's minimalist dansaekhwa movement. 

The two works shown by Kukje are from Ha's Conjunction series, for which Ha pushes thick oil paint through the back of the canvas and on to its surface, creating abstract, monochromatic patterns. Other works from this series are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Hong Kong's upcoming M+ museum and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Gwacheon, South Korea. 

See also: How COVID-19 Is Reshaping The Art Auction Market

Chemould Prescott Road

Tatler Asia
Above Ascent or Descent to Reality (2018) by NS Harsha. (Courtesy of the artist and Chemould Prescott Road)

Works by several prominent Indian artists are being shown by Mumbai-based Chemould Prescott Road, including pieces by Anju Dodiya, Desmond Lazaro, Jitish Kallat and Shilpa Gupta. 

One highlight is a 2018 installation by NS Harsha, Ascent or Descent to Reality, which uses a bamboo ladder to explore ideas of social mobility, transcendence and spirituality. 

Taka Ishii

Tatler Asia
Above Untitled (2019) by Nobuya Hoki. (© Nobuya Hoki. Courtesy of Taka Ishii Gallery. Photo by Kenji Takahashi)

Taka Ishii, one of Tokyo's leading galleries, is hosting a show titled Abstract Expressionism in its viewing room. 

Featuring works by Mario García Torres, Nobuya Hoki, Kazuhito Kawai and Hanako Murakami, the exhibition explores how contemporary artists are pushing the boundaries of abstraction in both painting and sculpture. 

Art Basel's Online Viewing Rooms open at 7pm GMT+8 on Wednesday, June 17 to VIPs, and at 7pm on Friday, June 19 to the general public. Art Basel's Online Viewing Rooms are running until 7pm GMT+8 on Friday, June 26. For more information, visit artbasel.com

See also: Home Tour: A Glamorous Apartment That Mixes Art With Gold Accents

Topics