Professor Rirkrit Tiravanija Featured in Art Basel Hong Kong's 2021 Fair
Professor Rirkrit Tiravanija will participate in Art Basel Hong Kong’s 2021 Fair. The ninth annual exhibition, which was cancelled last year because of the pandemic, will run from May 21, 2021 to May 23, 2021.
The fair will take advantage of a hybrid format, with 104 galleries from 23 countries participating in a combination of physical and digital mediums. Most galleries will make the trip to Hong Kong for the event, but over 50 will take part via satellite booth, which gives exhibitors an opportunity to present small, curated displays.
According to the Hindustan Times, “In its upcoming show, ABHK will present a unique overview of the diverse art scenes across Asia and beyond, focusing on both historical work from the region, and emerging artists and galleries.”
Tiravanija will present paintings inspired by Canadian American artist Philip Guston at Gladstone Gallery in New York and Brussels.
Some of the other featured artists include Vietnam-born Danish artist Danh Vō, South Korean sculptor Lee Bul, and Spanish Filipino painter Fernando Zóbel.
Tiravanija is a Thai artist, widely regarded as one of the most influential artists of his generation. His work extends beyond the bounds of media-based description, as it brings together traditional object making, public and private performances, teaching, and other forms of public service and social action.
Tiravanija’s work has been presented by Art Basel twice before: untitled 2016 (the tyranny of common sense has reached its final stage) and DO WE DREAM UNDER THE SAME SKY in Miami in November of 2016 and untitled 2009 (who is afraid of chrome, chrome and chrome); untitled 2017 (no water no fire); untitled 2013 (indexical show no. 1); and untitled (do we dream under the same sky / June 25, 2016) in Hong Kong in March of 2017.
He won the 2004 Hugo Boss Prize, awarded by the Guggenheim Museum. There, his exhibition consisted of a pirate radio, with instructions on how to build it. Additionally, he received the Benesse by the Naoshima Contemporary Art Museum in Japan and the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Lucelia Artist Award.
At the Museum Bojmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Tiravanija had a retrospective exhibition, which was then displayed in Paris and London. He is a founding member and curator of Utopia Station, a collective project of artists, art historians, and curators, and is president of an educational-ecological project known as The Land Foundation, located in Chiang Mai, Thailand. He also belongs to a collective alternative space located in Bangkok, where he maintains his primary residence and studio.