June 15, 2022
SINGAPORE – After four postponements, art fair Art SG is set to debut on Jan 12 next year.
Its inaugural edition will be held at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, with more than 150 galleries from 30 countries. Headlining the list of international galleries are major names such as United States-based Gagosian, Pace Gallery and Lehmann Maupin; White Cube from London; and Axel Vervoordt Gallery from Belgium.
Over 100 galleries will be from Asia or are international galleries with Asia-based spaces. There will also be 19 Singapore-based galleries, including 39+ Art Space, Fost Gallery and iPreciation.
The fair will be presented by UBS bank and organised by The Art Assembly, a joint initiative among three art fair organisers headed by Mr Sandy Angus, Mr Tim Etchells and Mr Magnus Renfrew.
Mr Renfrew, 46, said in a statement that Art SG will be “South-east Asia’s most selective and largest art fair to date”.
He added: “The scale and calibre of our inaugural exhibitor list demonstrate a strong commitment and shared belief in the importance of the art market in the region.”
The Singapore-based contemporary art fair was to have debuted in November 2019, but was pushed to Oct 30, 2020, when participants requested more time to prepare for it. The pandemic prompted a May 2020 announcement of a postponement to November last year, before it was pushed again to January this year.
A year before the fair was set to open in 2019, MCH Group, the parent company of art fair Art Basel, withdrew from the Art SG consortium.
MCH has, however, had a change of heart. In January this year, it announced it had acquired a 15 per cent stake in Art SG.
Mr Renfrew said: “While MCH are very supportive, they are not involved in the day-to-day running of the business.”
Apart from its main galleries sector, Art SG will present specialised sectors such as Reframe, for galleries presenting art that is engaged with, made or presented using digital technology. This includes digital painting, animation, immersive installations, augmented or virtual reality and non-fungible tokens.