PINTA LONDON art fair

Pinta Art Show annually exhibits modern and contemporary artworks from Latin American artists in international settings. Based in New York City, the art fair also travels to London, allowing visitors, galleries, artists, collectors, curators, and cultural institutions to strengthen their existing knowledge and develop new connections with the Latin American art world.

Pinta features works by both emergent and established visual artists. Art pieces range in diversity from concrete, neo-concrete, and kinetic to conceptual and abstract. This year show takes place in Earls Court Exhibition Centre between 12 - 15 June.

To read more about pinta projects visit  PINTA PROJECTS 2014

If you are not sure if to attend this years show check out the programme here and remember there is only two days left! You can also see the list of the galleries taking part in this years art fair by clicking here. 

Museums and institutions that have participated in this programme include the Tate Modern (London); Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris); Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (Madrid); ESCALA (Essex Collection of Latin American Art) and MIMA (Middlesborough), amongst others.

The general admission is £15 but if you are a member @ Saatchi you will be happy to receive an email with complimentary TICKET !!

Enjoy the show!

ART BASEL Hong Kong

SO!

In two days time I should be in Hong Kong to participate in the newest and very exciting Art Basel show. Instead, I am sitting at home writing my dissertation. Oh well...

"Art Basel stages the world's premier Modern and contemporary art shows, held annually in Basel, Miami Beach, and Hong Kong. Founded by gallerists in 1970, Art Basel has been a driving force in supporting the role that galleries play in the nurturing of artists, and the development and promotion of visual arts. In 1970, a few Basel gallerists put their passion and determination behind an ambitious vision, and now, over forty years later, Art Basel is recognized as the premier international art show, providing a platform for artists and gallerists from around the world. " (Art Basel)

ART BASEL HISTORY TIMELINE

Why Hong Kong?

Hong Kong Art Basel, which begins Wednesday at the city's harbor front convention center, will this year bring together 245 participating galleries—half coming from Asia and Asia-Pacific.

"One of the biggest contributions that we're able to make is to raise the profile of Hong Kong above and beyond being a centre for finance and retail," Art Basel director for Asia Magnus Renfrew told AFP. "Because we are an event of this scale, we've really been able to help generate discussion around art in the city," he said, adding that he sees "huge" growth potential in the Asian art scene. 

"The art market tends to follow the money and the greatest creation of wealth at the moment is in Asia," Renfrew said. (GmaNews)

Kaputt, Maurizio Cattelan

" With half of the participating galleries coming from Asia and Asia-Pacific, Art Basel in Hong Kong assumes a significant role in the international artworld, providing a portal to the region's artists. The new show gives galleries from around the world a platform in Asia to demonstrate the way they work with artists, and bring their highest quality work to Hong Kong." (Art Basel Hong Kong) 

If you plan to visit this years show happening between May 15 -18, here is some information for visitors.

I am truly gutted that I had to cancel my trip overseas but will make sure to visit one of Art Basel shows in the near future.

Yayoi Kusama

NOW, back to my dissertation!

MASTERPIECE ART FAIR

"Masterpiece London, situated at the peak of the capital’s summer season, brings together patrons, collectors, curators and exhibitors from across the world in a display of art, antiques and design of the highest calibre." (Masterpiece Fair)

"Launched in 2010 Masterpiece immediately made an impression attracting many of the world’s top dealers beguiled by the fair’s unique combination of high-end art with luxury goods and a most opulent setting. (Master Art)

"Each day, exhibitors present insights into their given area of expertise. If your interests lie in antiquities or abstract art, decorative arts or jewels, Masterpiece London gives you the opportunity to get up close to some of the finest examples at the fair and to learn and acquire from the world’s leading luminaries." (Masterpiece Fair)

Launched in June 2010, Masterpiece London is a new fair that brings together the best of the best from around the world fusing the fine and decorative arts with premium collectors' items such as classic cars, fine wines and contemporary design.

To go to the Masterpiece London - the capital's premier fair for art, antiques and design Facebook page and stay updated about this years show click here.

"A five-day fair bringing together fine art, antiques and applied arts from collectors, exhibitors and curators around the world. The work on sale in the custom-built pavilion spans multiple disciplines and styles, mixing contemporary with antique and traditional with offbeat to ensure lots of interest for visitors." (Time Out)

Although this event is more exclusive it looks very interesting and still it's affordable at the price of £25 for a general admission ticket. To buy tickets for this year show happening between 26 JUNE - 2 JULY go to Masterpiece Art Fair website.

Watch an exclusive preview of Masterpiece Art Fair created for 2013 HERE

Art fairs and tourism

“London is one of the most visited cities in the world. In terms of international visitor numbers it is comparable with some Far East destinations such as Hong Kong and Singapore but significantly outperforms other European cities“. (Tourism in London By Simon Kyte). It is a city, which combines a sense of history with creativity and a dynamic pop culture. As one of the most cosmopolitan and tolerant capitals in the world today, it attracts a genuine diversity of visitors. (World Cities Culture Forum 2014)

Nowadays, UKs capital plays host to several art fairs almost every month of the year. Some are gallery fairs where all the stands belong to established galleries representing their artists, the others are artist fairs, where the artists represent themselves. Both types attract visitors not only living in the area, but also from all around the world. According to World Cities Culture Forum 2014 also commercially oriented art fairs highly expanded in recent years, including the Frieze Art Fair, which is a major stop on the world’s visual art circuit to tourists and residents.

All art fairs not only promote the cities culture and help to build identity of places where they are being staged, but also help to reduce the impact of the cities seasonality. As already mentioned above, London hosts several art fairs every single month of the year apart from August, which is the month with the highest visitors numbers throughout the year. Although the capital seems busy all year-round, a quarterly data demonstrated by the International Passenger Survey presented by Simon Kyte shows, the differences between each season. „The first quarter of each year tends to have a lower number of trips, a lower number of nights spent in London and a lower spend than any trend series. Trip numbers and spend tend to be higher than trend in the second quarter but the number of nights tends to remain below trend. For nights, this is only reversed in the third quarter which is also the annual peak for both spend and trips. In the final quarter nights and trips tend to be below trend but spend remains above. Therefore there is a seasonal cyclicity in all three series but the pattern is actually different.“

Staging events such as Frieze Art Fair, Art14 or any other art fairs invites tourists to visit the city during the quiet, off-peek periods.