Art Central Announces Gallery List for 2017 Edition

HONG KONG – 6 December 2016 – Art Central, today announced the gallery list for its third edition of the Fair, to be staged on the Central Harbourfront, Hong Kong from Tuesday, 21 March to Saturday, 25 March 2017 (VIP Preview / First Night Monday, 20 March). The Fair will feature over 100 international galleries across its Central and Rise sectors, showcasing the next generation of talent alongside established names from across Asia and the globe. Strongly rooted in the region, 75% of galleries will hail from the Asia‐Pacific, presenting works of exceptional quality ranging from ink,  textile arts, photography, new media, to street art. Recognised as an unparalled platform for discovery and  discussion, Art Central proudly returns with a strong identity for pushing boundaries and fostering experimentation in contemporary art.  

Charles Ross, Managing Director, Art Central said, ‘Art Central has established itself as a catalysing force for bringing together emerging and established talents, through an accessible platform that champions discovery, ideas and experimentation. This year, I am particularly excited to welcome our new gallery partners, presenting art of the highest quality from  a spectrum of periods and geographies, and offering our visitors  an  immersive  cultural experience. The quality and ambition of this year’s presentations are testament to our Fair’s strength and identity as a place to meet and exchange ideas.’

Robust Line-­up of Galleries @ CENTRAL

Art Central 2017 draws together a range of galleries, presenting ambitious solo and group exhibtions across its main Central sector. New additions for 2017 include Art Front Gallery (Tokyo), Artereal Gallery (Sydney), GALERIE OVO (Taipei), Salon de H (Seoul), In The Gallery (Copenhagen), De Buck Gallery (New York, Antwerp, Saint Paul de Vence), and Sims Reed Gallery (London) among others.

Highlight representations from Asia-­‐Pacific galleries will include:

• A selection of works from The Method of Drawing series by Korean artist Lee Kun-­‐Yong (Gallery Hyundai, Seoul), whose experimental performance art is centred on the belief that the body acts as the most effective and direct medium for communication in art

• Mixed media textile works by Mehwish Iqbal (.M Contemporary, Sydney), whose artistic terrain is influenced by her personal experiences of the social, cultural and political landscapes in her birth country of Pakistan and her current home in Australia
  

• Solo presentation of Imai Toshimitsu (Maekawa + Takemura, Tokyo), an Art Informel Japanese artist who was instrumental in the interactions between Gutai and the international Informel group, increasingly gaining mainstream scholarly discussion
  

• Thematic street art presentation featuring Invader, Cleon Peterson, Hikari Shimoda and Jerkface (OVER THE INFLUENCE, Hong Kong)
  

• A trio presentation of three of China’s most significant artists today – Wang Xingwei, Yu Youhan and Zhan Wang (Rén Space, Shanghai)

• Multi-­‐media emerging Malaysian artist Hasanul Isyraf Idris creates strange characters responding to his personal struggles and Haffendi Anuar’s installations recycle found images, objects, and the digital in local contexts (Richard Koh Fine Art, Kuala Lumpur)
  

Highlight representations of galleries from the Americas and Europe will include:

• Aboudia (Ethan  Cohen  Fine  Arts,  New  York),  whose  large-­scale, heavily  layered,  and brutally energetic paintings betray the influence of the civil war that tore through the Ivory  Coast  and  the capital  Abidjan in  late 2010-­‐2011, during  which  the  artist  took refuge in a basement studio and began painting in response to the country’s political situation
  

• Juana Gomez (GALERÍA ISABEL CROXATTO, Santiago), a Chilean artist who embroiders the central nervous system over photographs of the human body, exploring  the  systematic “common language” that connects the biological, social and cultural realms
  

• A celebrated Swedish artist Joakim Allgulander (Orion Contemporary, London) whose sculpture and paintings are characterised by a conceptual base which reinterprets the existential and the  mundane
  

• Works by the SPUR group (Schuebbe Inc., Düsseldorf), the first German post-­‐war group to reappear on the international arena, at a time when the country was characterised by a cultural void

Emerging Talents @ RISE

RISE presents galleries and art spaces launched in the past six years, showcasing tightly curated solo presentations by early career artists. The sector enables new talents to be discovered and new trends to be visualised. 

This year’s selection highlights include:

• Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery (London): Sinta Tantra. Voted Blouin Artinfo’s 500 Best Galleries Worldwide in both 2016 and 2015, the Balinese-­‐British artist will present an immersive installation, featuring a theatre set incorporating spray painted murals, geometrically patterned, woven rugs and hanging  paintings
  

• Art Space J (Seongnam-­‐Si): Photographer Beomsik Won whose pieces are assembled from black & white photographs, broken apart and put back together again in a     complex  process  of  deconstruction  and  reconstitution
  

• Gallery Koo (Seoul): Yun-­‐Kyung Jeong, whose blue-­‐print aesthetic seeks to convey the  perception  of  the  ideal,  and  an  imagined   utopia
  

• oh!quadro (Hamburg): The celebrated pop-­‐up kunsthalle who will showcase the work of Brazilian artist Afonso Tostes, whose sculptures are created from demolition wood gathered from sites all over Rio de Janeiro

Strong representation of Photography at Art Central 2017, including:

• A strong number of galleries will feature photography works of the highest quality
  

• New to the Fair this year, Anastasia Photo will present a booth dedicated  to  the  medium showcasing Martin Roemers, Tomas van Houtryve and George Steinmetz
  

• Collector-­‐turned-­‐photographer  Daniel  Eskenazi  (Rasti  Chinese  Art,  Hong  Kong)  who draws inspiration from both ancient and contemporary Chinese art and philosophy
  

• Emerging photographer Lim Chang-­‐Min (GALLERY LEE & BAE, Busan) who distills the essence  of life  into  structured, calm  and  composed  photographic images
  

• Boomoon (Flowers Gallery, London, New York), who has been engaging with landscape in  his  work  as  a  means  of  self-­‐reflection  since  the  1980s,  producing  large  format photographs devoid of human  presence
  

Discover Experimental Art at Art Central 2017

• Liam Benson (Artereal Gallery, Sydney) a performance artist who documents his work through photography, video and new media, deconstructing social perceptions of gender, race, culture, sexuality and identity
  

• Lee Yanor’s (Zemack Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv) video installations, emulsion and holograms – photos made with experimental techniques interweaving art, dance, music, sound, and technology, to explore topics such as identity, exile, dreams and memories
  

• Zulkifle Mahmod (Yeo Workshop, Singapore), one of Singapore’s leading sound artists at the forefront of pushing boudaries with his inter-­‐disciplinary approach
  

• A full programme of talks, performances, partnerships, screen and curatorial projects will be announced soon.
  

Tickets for Art Central will go on sale Tuesday 6 December 2016 at 10:00am via Ticketflap www.ticketflap.com/artcentral (more details enclosed)

Art Central 2017 Participating Galleries:

Asia‐Pacific

Affinity for ART (Hong Kong) 
Art Atrium (Sydney)
Art Experience Gallery (Hong Kong) 
Art Front Gallery (Tokyo)
Art Projects Gallery (Hong Kong) 
Art Seasons (Singapore)
Art WeMe Contemporary Gallery (Kuala Lumpur)
Art + Shanghai (Shanghai) 
Artemis Art (Kuala Lumpur) 
Artereal Gallery (Sydney) 
Artrue Gallery (Taipei) 
ATELIER AKI (Seoul)
Avenue des Arts Gallery (Hong Kong) 
Beautiful Asset Art Project (Beijing) 
Bluerider ART (Taipei)
Bridge Gallery (Beijing) 
Capital Art Centre (Taipei) 
Chalk Horse (Sydney)
Contemporary by Angela Li (Hong Kong) 
Da Xiang Art Space (Taichung)
Der-­‐horng Art Gallery (Tainan) 
DOMINIK MERSCH GALLERY (Sydney)
Finale Art File (Manila) 
Galerie Bhak (Seoul) 
Galerie GAIA (Seoul) 
GALERIE OVO (Taipei)
Gallery Baton (Seoul) 
Gallery BK (Seoul) 
Gallery Grimson (Seoul) 
Gallery H.A.N. (Seoul)
GALLERY HYUNDAI (Seoul)
GALLERY KOGURE (Tokyo, New York) 
GALLERY LEE&BAE (Busan)
Gallery MAC (Busan)
Gallery of Contemporary Arts, GOCA (Hong Kong)
Gallery SoSo (Paju) 
Gallery3 (Seoul)
Hill Smith Gallery (Adelaide) 
Johyun Gallery (Busan) 
JULIA GALLERY (Taipei)
Ke-­‐Yuan Gallery (Taichung)
Kobayashi Gallery (Tokyo) 
Kumquat Gallery (Hong Kong)
La Galerie Paris 1839 (Hong Kong) 
Lee Eugean Gallery (Seoul)
Line Gallery (Beijing)
.M Contemporary (Sydney) 
Maekawa + Takemura (Tokyo) 
MARS Gallery (Melbourne) 
Noeli Gallery (Shanghai)
Opera Gallery (Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, New York, Miami, London, Paris, Monaco, Geneva, Beirut, Dubai)
OVER THE INFLUENCE (Hong Kong)
PARKVIEW ART Hong Kong (Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei)
PAULNACHE (Gisborne) 
QING Art Gallery (Taipei) 
Qube Gallery (Cebu City)
Rasti Chinese Art (Hong Kong) 
Red Gate Gallery (Beijing)
Rén Space (Shanghai)
Richard Koh Fine Art (Kuala Lumpur, Singapore)
SAKURADO FINE ARTS (Tokyo, Paris)
Salon de H (Seoul) 
Shunpudo Gallery (Tokyo) 
Sin Sin Fine Art (Hong Kong)
TEZUKAYAMA GALLERY (Osaka)
The Columns Gallery (Seoul)
The Dragon Year (Hong Kong, Shenzhen)
Triumph Art Space (Beijing) 
Whitestone Gallery (Hong Kong, Tokyo) 
Yeo Workshop (Singapore)
Yuan Ru Gallery (Taipei)
Zemack Contemporary Art (Tel Aviv)

International

A2Z Art Gallery (Paris) 
Anastasia Photo (New York) 
bo.lee gallery (London)
CHOI&LAGER Galerie (Cologne, Seoul) 
ChristineParkGallery (London)
CYNTHIA-­‐REEVES (Walpole, North Adams)
De Buck Gallery (New York, Antwerp, Saint Paul de Vence)
Ethan Cohen Fine Arts (New York) 
Flowers Gallery (London, New York) 
Frey (Vienna, Salzburg)
Galerie Liusa Wang (Paris)
GALERÍA ISABEL CROXATTO (Santiago)
Galerie LJ (Paris)
In The Gallery (Copenhagen)
JanKossen Contemporary (New York) 
K+Y Gallery (Paris)
Lukas Feichtner Galerie (Vienna) 
MARC STRAUS (New York)
Orion Contemporary (London) 
Other Criteria (London, New York, Ilfrancombe)
Samsøñ (Boston) 
Schuebbe Inc (Düsseldorf)
Sims Reed Gallery (London) 
Valli Art Gallery (Miami)

RISE Gallery Sector

Art Space J (Seongnam-­‐Si) 
Art Works Paris Seoul (Seoul) 
Gallery  Koo (Seoul)
Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery (London) 
oh!quadro (Hamburg)
Sim Smith (London)
Lucie Chang Fine Arts (Hong Kong) 
MUMU Gallery (Tainan City) 

About Art Central

Now in its third edition, Art Central is recognised as a place of discovery and a platform for quality artworks from more established names to be exhibited alongside cutting-­‐edge works by emerging artists. Staged  within a 10,000 sqm architect-­‐designed  structure, the strong  gallery line-­up is complemented by a dynamic five‐day programme that includes interactive installations, experimental film and performance, engaging panel discussions, as well as some of Hong  Kong’s hottest eateries.

Billed as one of the most anticipated events on the city’s cultural calendar, the 2016 Fair welcomed over 32,000 international collectors, curators and art enthusiasts, adding a fresh new style to Hong Kong Art Week and firmly establishing itself as an unmissable art event.

Managing Director

Charles Ross was Managing Director of ART HK from the Fair’s inception in 2007. He played a pivotal role in ART HK’s collaboration with Art Basel, and has been Managing Director of Art Central since its launch in 2015.

Director of Galleries and Programming

Having  been Co-­Director of a commercial  gallery in South Africa for 12 years, Craig Brown relocated in 2010 to successfully complete an MA in Art Business from Sotheby’s Institute of Art. Since then Craig has held senior positions in the creative industries, including both arts media  and fairs; and is currently responsible for spearheading Art Central’s critical programming.

Board of Directors

Tim Etchells, Sandy Angus and Charles Ross together founded the inaugural Art Central. The same team together founded ART HK in 2008, which quickly became a major fixture of the international art world, prior to Art Basel acquiring the Fair in 2011. 

Tim Etchells went on subsequently to launch Sydney Contemporary in 2013 with the Fair’s third edition  happening  in  September 2017. Sandy Angus is a co-­owner of India Art  Fair  and  also founded Photo Shanghai, the first international art fair dedicated to photography in Asia-Pacific and Photo San Francisco which launches in January 2017.