[caption id="attachment_12211" align="alignnone" width="560" caption="Richard Prince @ Gagosian Gallery, Hong Kong (installation view), Courtesy Gagosian Gallery"][/caption]
At the Pedder Building (the last pre-war building still standing on Pedder Street, Central), a flurry of confused patrons, journalists, and hipsters made their way up to the seventh floor. The tiny elevators were jammed as they were greeted by a crisp, white space with a large glass door. At the bottom edge: Gagosian Gallery.
The latest solo exhibition from Richard Prince kicked off at Gagosian Gallery, Hong Kong on Tuesday, May 24, on the day before Art Hong Kong 11’s Vernissage. Peppered with familiar fringe imagery of American biker girls, celebrity photos addressed to Prince himself and several outstanding “Nurse” paintings, there was plenty of hum inside the space.
There was a sense that Hong Kong had winning potential, here, that the crowd and its pedigree could rival that of New York, Los Angeles, or London. Gagosian HK’s Managing Director Nick Simunovic effortlessly moved through the crowd to field enquiries and stop for photo ops here and there. Gallery Manager Nadia Chan kindly provided a brief introduction to the show, it being Prince’s first solo exhibition in Asia, which also included a limited edition “Nurse’s Hat” chair.
LEAP Magazine editor Philip Tinari could be overheard speaking to several people, sometimes in flawless Mandarin. When asked of his opinion on the fair’s vibe before its opening, a noticeably nervous Marc Spiegler muttered, “I don’t know. It’s not our fair.” (It’s now relatively clear that having solidified Art Basel’s acquisition of Art HK, such a response was rather baffling).
But the evening’s most enjoyable, albeit brief, conversation was with Takashi Murakami (who was exhibiting with Gagosian at the fair) and his assistant. “The quality of the fair is 200 times better this year,” Murakami said, “It’s really great to see the progress. I’m happy with it.” He went on to confirm that he was well represented at this year’s fair with two-dimensional works at Gagosian and sculptural offerings with Emmanuel Perrotin (now exclusively Paris-based). “It hasn’t opened yet, but it’s very exciting here,” said the artist.
As for the show itself, there was a strong representation of Prince’s archived biker-chick and anonymous model photographs. Only two “Nurse” paintings were plainly visible, as one had to get close-up to see the covers of the Nurses’ pulp fiction covers on two of his large-scale joke pieces. Stunning quality, surely, impeccably presented inside the space; the only thing missing was the delicious chilling and sinister nature of Prince’s re-appropriated images. The major draw that evening was the energy of the crowd, stepping forth to get a taste of a contemporary art icon.
[caption id="attachment_12212" align="alignnone" width="560" caption="Richard Prince @ Gagosian Gallery, Hong Kong (installation view), Courtesy Gagosian Gallery"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_12213" align="alignnone" width="560" caption="Richard Prince @ Gagosian Gallery, Hong Kong (installation view), Courtesy Gagosian Gallery"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_12214" align="alignnone" width="560" caption="Chantal Miller and Takashi Murakami, Courtesy of Gagosian Gallery"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_12215" align="alignnone" width="560" caption="Nick Simunovic and Francois Pinault, Courtesy of Gagosian Gallery"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_12217" align="alignnone" width="560" caption="Nick Simunovic and Takashi Murakami, Courtesy of Gagosian Gallery"][/caption]
