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Here’s my report on Art HK held last month
The2009 edition of Art Hong Kong, held from 14-17 May got off to a busy start, with large crowds of several thousands attending the opening, despite worries over the economic downturn and H1N1 flu. This year foreign galleries came to Asia in force, with over 100 galleries represented, out of 250 who applied.

“We have a much larger fair this year,” Fair Director Magnus Renfrew said.

The second edition of the fledgling fair saw none of the issues of low attendance, as well as regulatory and logistics issues which have dogged the three mainland China contemporary art fairs this year. This led to a consensus of opinion among gallery representatives interviewed by the Art Newspaper that Art HK has won the battle to be the destination art fair for Asia. Nicholas Logsdai of Lisson Gallery said that by the second day the gallery had sold a work by Anish Kapur for GBP 600,000, and 8 works by Julian Opie for GBP 200,000, all to Asian buyers. “The import, export and tax structure are all gloriously simple. That makes it a Freeport situation. That is why Basel became so important, it was the right place at the right time, and its business friendly. Also we’re lucky the pound is low, essentially, in this environment, it is a 25% discount,” Logsdai said.

Well known Western and Asian art was popular with buyers, and there was lighter interest in Chinese artists. Numerous galleries reported satisfactory sales, Korean gallery Arario saw its highlight by the second day with the sale of a piece by Hyung Koo Kang for USD 80,000. “Compared to other fairs it is well populated, we see some hope, its getting OK. Before we saw the market for western artists was weak, it was all Chinese, Chinese, so its good for everybody (that western art is also selling), but it is the Asian collectors who buy, the Western buyers don’t really act, even though they have interest,” the Arario representative said.

White Cube Gallery sold two Damien Hirst works, and ‘several’ Gilbert and George works, as well as a Tracey Emin neon piece for GBP 50,000.

Chinese collector Yang Bin said he saw the convenience of Hong Kong and the busy atmosphere were key points, which is why he supports the fair and traveled with a large group of Chinese collectors to the fair, such as Zhang Hao Ming, who purchased a work by an Australian artist. “Chinese art has been too expensive, and its like eating, you don’t always want to eat the same thing,” Yang said.

Magnus Renfrew said mainland buyers would still need to pay Chinese tax of 34% on taking work into mainland China, and Yang Bin said he was storing his purchases in Hong Kong, along with his wine collection.

Swiss collector Monique Burger said she purchased a print by Qiu Zhijie, from Singapore Tyler Print Institute for USD 45,000.

Besides the large galleries Art HK also integrated a series of newer galleries under its SCMP Futures program, to bring in lower priced works by emerging artists and which also allowed some experimental and more avant guarde content to be shown, as most major galleries opted for a safe selection of lower priced works by established artists.

Nick Simunovic of Gaogosian Gallery said the fair was “great,” and plans to open a space in Hong Kong once a suitable location has been found.

Following the loss of main sponsor Lehman Brothers drinks in the VIP area were no longer free.