The second edition of Art Stage Singapore is set to mark the opening of the international art world’s spring season at the Marina Bay Sands from 12 to 15 January 2012. Over 100 of the world’s best art galleries and dealers will be present, bringing together a compelling mix of contemporary Asian and Western art.
Art Stage Singapore will continue to focus its efforts towards its goal of developing a top international fair with a strong Asia-Pacific identity. This year, the fair’s admission criteria has been tightened even more and offers advantages to galleries applying with strong, impressive special presentations – including solo, curated or thematic projects, concept exhibitions or other specially developed presentations or collaborations.
Positioned as the Asian art fair, it engages in close, direct cooperation with the Asia art world and is strongly and actively supported by key players of the Asian art market. More than a market platform, it is Asia’s definitive rendezvous point and place of dialogue and exchange between collectors, curators, gallerists, artists and art lovers.
The fair’s inaugural edition put Singapore on the art world’s map with its 121 galleries from 26 countries, over 40 special projects, 32,000 visitors and impressive sales. Top collectors flew in from the USA, Europe and from around the Asian region – India, China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Australia – to congregate at the fair and at its parallel project, Collector’s Stage: Asian Contemporary Art from Private Collections, which was organised by the Singapore Art Museum in co-operation with Art Stage Singapore. Internationally renowned artists who attended the fair included Takashi Murakami, Zeng Fanzhi, Yoshitomo Nara, T.V. Santhosh, Jitish Kallat, Shen Shaomin, Agus Suwage, Ronald Ventura, David LaChapelle, Wim Delvoye, I Nyoman Masriadi and many others.
Despite its successful debut, the fair’s organiser Art Stage Singapore Pte Ltd, led by CEO and Director Lorenzo Rudolf, eschews plans for expansion in the immediate future, focusing its energies instead on developing a high-quality, high-calibre international show based on key principles of quality and presenting art in context.
The indelible support from key local government agencies, including Singapore’s Economic Development Board, National Arts Council, National Heritage Board and Singapore Tourism Board, will continue in the immediate and broad future to contribute to the success of Art Stage Singapore. Their backing is a pertinent reminder of the city’s readiness and commitment towards becoming a meeting point for discussion and dialogue on contemporary art. It also marks the organiser’s close co-operation with the Singapore state to develop the city into a centre for contemporary art in Asia, with the fair as a flagship catalyst and as an annual institutional appointment in the global art agenda.
Art Stage Singapore will run from 12 to 15 January 2012. For more information, visit the official website at http://www.artstagesingapore.com
About Art Stage Singapore
Art Stage Singapore is the Asia-Pacific’s premier international art fair. Focused on quality through stringent selection, it showcases the region’s most exciting galleries and upcoming artists in a display of the best of Asian creativity. With Fair Director Lorenzo Rudolf (former Director of Art Basel from 1991 to 2000, Inventor of Art Basel Miami Beach and Co-Founder of ShContemporary, Shanghai) at the helm, this unique platform brings together artists, collectors, dealers and art professionals from East and West to create exciting new opportunities for the Asia Pacific. Held at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, the annual international event is an outstanding milestone for the Asia Pacific and global art market, with its strategic base of Singapore as a luxury lifestyle destination and leading financial hub.
