Who would not look forward to auctions that feature Yoshitomo Nara’s “Missing in Action”, executed in the artist’s watershed year of 2000, alongside Gerhard Richter’s “Abstraktes Bild (940-7)” offered for the first time at auction, and Banksy’s “Laugh Now Panel A” to be sold with the option for the buyer to pay with cryptocurrency? Phillips is going to present the full offering of its Hong Kong-Beijing dual-location 20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design Sales on 7 – 8 June in collaboration with Poly Auction.
The Evening Sale on 8 June presents a stellar line-up of works by a number of international A-listers, from George Condo, Pablo Picasso to Yayoi Kusama, Zhang Xiaogang, and Matthew Wong. The Day Sale on 7 June offers an exceptional selection of art, design, editions and sculptural pieces of unparalleled diversity. What’s more, a group of emerging female and African American artists will be making their Asia auction debut across Day and Evening Sales this season.
LARRY’S LIST has highlighted 4 top lots from each Sale for our collectors.
Evening Sale, 8 June:
KLK, 2017 (lot 4)
acrylic, fabric and painted canvas on canvas
243.8 x 213.4 cm. (95 7/8 x 84 in.)
Estimate:
HK$1,500,000 – 2,500,000
Working across a range of mediums including drawing, painting, sewing, and print-making, Tschabalala Self is an American artist celebrated for her expressive, tactile artworks that explore the confluence of gender and race. The subject of KLK is composed of acrylic, fabric and painted canvas that has been sewn on to the work with a variety of coloured thread — showcasing Self’s trademark method of art execution. One can find a charisma in the KLK man’s ordinariness, greeting the viewer with a friendly ‘KLK’ – a short-form used in texting for the Spanish phrase “Que Lo Que?”, meaning ‘What’s Up?’
Dirty Red, 2016 (lot 21)
fire hose and wood, in 5 parts
overall 152.3 x 660.8 cm. (59 7/8 x 260 1/8 in.)
Estimate:
HK$4,600,000 – 6,200,000
American artist Theaster Gates is widely celebrated for his socially engaged sculpture, installation and performance works, and the work that he does for his community through his Rebuild Foundation. Marking his auction debut in Asia, the tremendous “Dirty Red” from his celebrated “Civil Tapestry” series is the largest work by Gates to have ever come on the market. “Dirty Red” is monumental both in size and in historical meaning and importance, powerfully makeing reference to the civil rights struggles in the United States, specifically those that took place in 1960s Birmingham, Alabama.
3) BANKSY
Laugh Now Panel A, 2002 (lot 22)
spray paint and emulsion on dry wall, in artist’s frame
work with artist’s frame 192.3 x 87.5 cm. (75 3/4 x 34 1/2 in.)
Estimate:
HK$22,000,000 – 32,000,000
One of the most prolific creators of the 21st Century, Banksy has amassed a legendary reputation as an artist-provocateur phenomenon that far precedes his anonymous identity. “Laugh Now Panel A” is a quintessential Banksy picture created in the watershed year of 2002, which marked the first public appearance of the chimpanzee in Banksy’s oeuvre. This motif of the monkey with his placard has since become one of Banksy’s most iconic motifs and has indisputably helped cement his position as a key figure in the art historical canon. This lot is sold with the option to pay with cryptocurrency.
Shallow Puddles, 2006 (lot 19)
acrylic on cotton mounted on FRP
95 x 95 x 15 cm. (37 3/8 x 37 3/8 x 5 7/8 in.)
Estimate:
HK$4,800,000 – 6,500,000
Among the most prolific creators of our contemporary times, his globally cherished and universally recognised motifs have captured the attention of countless art lovers, critics, galleries, and institutions. Executed in 2006, “Shallow Puddles Part 2” is a captivating work showcasing the iconic ‘Nara girl’ submerged in a vast body of milky, pearlescent water. Situated at the centre of a three-dimensional, concave plate that blurs the boundaries between painting and sculpture, she radiates serenity and a sense of wistfulness despite her solitude. When examining the work closely, colors and small brushstrokes add subtle texture and a sense of luminous light.
Day Sale, 7 June:
The following four artworks are all by artists who have their debut at Hong Kong auction
Susanna and her Suitors, 2019 (lot 140)
acrylic and archival CMYK ink on canvas, diptych
overall 182 x 342 cm. (71 5/8 x 134 5/8 in.)
Estimate:
HK$300,000 – 500,000
One of the rising stars in contemporary art, young American painter Allison Zuckerman’s works take historical paintings and internet culture as their point of departure, utilising both paint and digitally manipulated images to create acerbic, hybrid portraits brimming with cultural and societal critique. Shortly after getting her MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2015, her work attracted the interest of the influential art patrons Don and Mera Rubell, who purchased 22 pieces directly from her and offered her a residency at their family foundation, following in the footsteps of highly successful contemporary artists.
Moll in the Park, 2010 (lot 115)
oil on board
244 x 183 cm. (96 1/8 x 72 in.)
Estimate:
HK$200,000 – 300,000
Specialized in figurative art, Chantal Joffe is recognized for her captivating portraits of women. She once remarked, “I think about women and their thoughts and ideas, and I suppose when I’m painting them I’m getting to be them, in a sense. That is why I plainly paint women. I really love painting women.” Sensuality and intimacy is fueled by prominent psychological and emotional force in her work. Joffe holds an MA from the Royal College of Art and was awarded the Royal Academy Wollaston Prize in 2006. Joffe has exhibited in the UK and internationally with various institutions.
3) SHARA HUGHES
Bad News Beach, 2016 (lot 109)
oil and acrylic on canvas
152.4 x 132.1 cm. (60 x 52 in.)
Estimate:
HK$1,000,000 – 2,000,000
“Landscapes opened a whole new world for me, one that was awesome and exciting… All landscapes are constantly changing, whether it’s the time of day or the temperature or the weather patterns and things growing and dying. The constant state of change created so much possibility,” as Shara Hughes explained her more recent venture into landscape painting after her practice of painting interiors. She demonstrates in her landscape painting not only a whole bunch of techniques at once, such as oil paint, spray paint, brushes and trowels; but also imagination, bold moves, amazing compositions, and an outstanding talent for color.
Biking, 2018 (lot 117)
acrylic on canvas
91 x 122 cm. (35 7/8 x 48 in.)
Estimate:
HK$50,000 – 70,000
Having studied political science in the US before moving to the UK to study art at Central Saint Martins, Madelynn Green’s practice stems from the themes of memory, family and domesticity.
“Biking” captures a young girl’s candyfloss pink outfit melted into the saccharine pink glow bathing the trees, the car, the suburban driveway: a moment of sweet, fleeting childhood joy. Growing up in the American midwest and south shaped Green’s vision, with photography a key aspect of black artistic traditions — its accessibility allowed black people to create their own images in the face of political, historical, cultural and economic disenfranchisement.
Spring Sales 2021 at Phillips:
20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design Day Sale in Association with Poly Auction, 7 June, 11am
20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale in Association with Poly Auction, 8 June, 6pm
