Asian Contemporary Art Fair Debuts in New York
With several continuous years of record-breaking auction sales for Asian contemporary art and a worldwide boom in new art fairs, it should come as no surprise that the two trends would eventually coalesce. On the heels of the inaugural ShContemporary in Shanghai this September (see P. 86 & AAP 55), New York will now see the launch of the first... [more]

Auction Update: Barely Covered
This year’s late-September contemporary auctions in New York saw several new price records, but that should surprise no one. The euro broke through the USD 1.40 ceiling for the first time on September 20—the very day Sotheby’s and Christie’s held their major sales of Contemporary Art Asia and South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art, respectively—enabling... [more]

Murakami’s GEISAI Festival Reemerges in Miami after Yearlong Hiatus
Japanese artist-entrepreneur Takashi Murakami (see AAP 32, 34, 38, 49, 55 & Almanac 2) continues his bid to galvanize new modes of artistic production with the transplant of Japan's successful GEISAI arts festival (see AAP 49) to Miami for December's PULSE Contemporary Art Fair. A twice-yearly juried fair for artists without gallery representation... [more]

ShContemporary Serves Up Asian Match Point
On the morning of September 5, the Shanghai Exhibition Center hardly looked ready for a major international event, as teams of workmen made last minute adjustments to exhibitors’ booths or pushed crates to and fro across the Stalinist building’s marble floors. Yet by 6 o’clock that evening, the inaugural ShContemporary art fair got off to a relatively smooth start... [more]

Ullens Center Opens in Beijing with ’85 New Wave
On November 2, the new Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA, see AAP 50) officially opened in Beijing’s hotbed 798 Arts District. The inaugural show, “‘85 New Wave – The Birth of Chinese Contemporary Art,” aims to establish a reputation for the institution based on historically significant contemporary Chinese art and art scholarship... [more]