Art Trifecta 2013: Hong Kong, Venice and Basel

By David Hulme & Brigitte Banziger, on 13-Jun-2013

Not necessarily at Art Basel Hong Kong, but certainly at the Venice Biennale and now at Art Basel in its 44th edition, Australians are pretty thin on the ground. Melbourne-based art consultant Sophie Ullin tells us: 'It is usually the same familiar faces that you see here in Basel and it really feels a bit exclusive'. It is no doubt a logistical challenge to get to the three big openings in the space of less than three weeks, especially from the Antipodes.

At Art Basel, Tasmanian photographer Simryn Gill has an extraordinarily large space showcasing her series of photographs titled 'My own private Angkor' 2007-2009, write David Hulme and Brigitte Banziger from Switzerland.

Visiting the airy and light Australian pavilion at the Venice Biennale dedicated to Simryn Gill (who indeed had part of the roof removed), we spoke with the young stewards as the assistants there are called. Fernando from Tasmania commented: 'We're all emerging somethings', describing the mixture of art students, curators and artists manning the pavilions for very little remuneration in exchange for being at the centre of the art world Olympics.

Simryn Gill (born 1959) certainly is well beyond that stage. If it wasn't enough to have a the whole Australian pavilion to yourself, the artist also has an extraordinarly large space showcasing her series of photographs titled 'My own private Angkor' 2007-2009 in 'Art Unlimited', the experimental, non-selling part of Art Basel.

This year, 79 artists enjoy the prime exposure at Art Unlimited, thanks to the now finished expansion of the Basel fair space, and many of the exhibits would not have looked out of place at the Venice Biennale.

Looking at the often harsh resale reality, Simryn Gill's work does have a (small) secondary market presence: Sotheby's on 24 August 2009 offered four lots of a number of photographs from the Austcorp collection, of which three lots sold. The first lot titled 'Forest' comprised three silver gelatin prints measuring 120 x 95 cm, selling for $15,600 including buyer's premium.

Spotted on the first preview day in Basel were Australian dealers Martin Browne, Vivienne Sharpe, Mark Hughes, Roger McIlroy as well as collectors and art patrons John Kaldor and wife Naomi Milgrom and Auckland gallerist Jenny Todd. International star power was provided by Leonardo DiCaprio and collector Roman Abramowicz.

They will have the privilege to preview and purchase the offerings of 300 galleries vetted from around the world (except Oceania), before the fair opens to the public from 13 to 16 June. Works by Joan Miro, Alexander Calder, Pablo Picasso and Lucio Fontana seem to abound in the prestigious Hall 1 this year, with more galleries than ever showcasing art photography.

The Venice Biennale runs until 24 November.

A number of other fairs such as Liste, Volta and Scope run concurrently to Art Basel, and among major exhibitions staged are Fondation Beyeler's Max Ernst show and the Picasso exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Basel with works by the master sourced from its own and private Basel collections only.

About The Author

Brigitte Banziger and David Hulme are the principals of Banziger Hulme Fine Art Consultants, established since 2003. With their combined experience of over 40 years, they provide private collectors as well as companies and public institutions with independent expert art valuations. In addition to their appraisals for insurance, family law, deceased estates and market values, they assist clients with transparent advice when buying or selling an individual artwork or an entire collection, for some of Australia’s most significant private collectors. David Hulme is an approved valuer for the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, and both Brigitte and David are members of the Art Consulting Association of Australia, where David served as President from 2015 to 2019. David Hulme is a regular art market critic and commentator on the Australian art market and has been interviewed by numerous media, including the 'Australian Financial Review', 'The Australian' and 'The Sydney Morning Herald'. He has also been interviewed on Network 10’s 'The Project', on the ABC’s Radio National Breakfast show with Hamish MacDonald, the ABC’s 'The Business' program amongst many others.

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