Asia House holds its first benefit auction to celebrate its 20th anniversary
Au Hoi Lam, Memorandum (2nd October 2014 Hong Kong), 2014, coloured pencil, acrylic, wooden drawing board, courtesy of the artist and Osage Gallery Hong Kong
Asia House holds its first benefit auction to celebrate its 20th anniversary
29 April 2016
Asia House is holding its first ever charity auction this summer to celebrate 20 years since it was founded in 1996 and to raise funds for its ongoing programmes.
The online auction commenced on paddle8.com on 7 June at 15.00 BST and continues until 17.00 BST on 22 June. A preview of the auction works will take place in the Asia House Gallery from the 14 to 21 June between 10.00 and 18.00.
A preview drinks reception to launch the exhibition will take place at Asia House on 14 June from 18.00 – 20.00. This is free to attend but you must register.
The Asia House Benefit Auction of artworks has been organised in association with online collecting destination Paddle8 and supported by K Pak Ltd Fine Art Specialists.
The Asia House Benefit Auction features a total of more than 25 artworks, generously donated by artists and galleries from across Asia, as well as those who have strong links to the region, including artists who have exhibited at Asia House in the recent past.
A champagne reception and dinner with the theme ‘white gold’ will take place on June 21 at Asia House during which there will be a live auction. Please email mariam.neza@asiahouse.co.uk if you’d be interested in attending.
Several key lots will be auctioned exclusively at the dinner. There will also be live music and a special guest appearance.
“European ceramists only discovered the secrets of white gold, a synonym for early Chinese porcelain, during the 18th century. Today, both white gold and platinum are the most traditional gifts given in celebration of 20 year anniversaries,” said Head of Arts and Learning at Asia House Pamela Kember, who is overseeing the auction.
One of the key lots at auction is Suki Chan’s beautiful light box Sleep Walk Sleep Talk (2011) which captures life in the fast-moving capital of Britain. It is currently on display in the Asia House Reception. This piece formed one of five originally which were previously on show at the Museum of London.
Suki Chan, ‘Sleep Walk Sleep Talk’, 2009, Fujitrans and Lightbox 112.5 (w) x 12 (d) x 65 (h) cm, (1/5) is one of the key lots up going under the hammer in the Asia House Benefit Auction. Courtesy of Tintype Gallery and the artist. Photo by George Torode
A quirky ink drawing on paper by Taiwanese artist Ting Tong Chang titled Art is boring is another lot to go under the hammer at the auction. Ting-Tong Chang was born in Taiwan and received his MFA at Goldsmiths, University of London. In 2015 Asia House hosted two installations by the London-based artist ‘Future Free and Just Society’ and ‘Chinese Tree.‘ Chang has exhibited and received a number of awards internationally.
Ting Tong Chang ‘Art is boring’, drawing, ink on paper 56 x 38 cm. Courtesy of the artist
Kim Lim (1936-97) was a British sculptor and printmaker of Singaporean birth, who developed a strong reputation worldwide over her long career. Pictured is Black Wash (1993), a lithograph on paper that has been kindly donated by the Estate of Kim Lim for the auction. Currently held in the Tate collection, it was presented in memory of Cecily Lowenthal by the Tate Guides through the Contemporary Art Society in 1999.
Lim’s work has exhibited all over the world and is held in many public collections including the Arts Council of Great Britain; Contemporary Art Society, London; National Museum of Art, Singapore; Nagaoka Museum of Modern Art, Japan; Tate Gallery, London and Liverpool and Middelheim Museum, Belgium.
Kim Lim, ‘Black Wash’, 1993, Lithograph, 55 x 55 cm, Courtesy of the Estate of Kim Lim
A work by one of Hong Kong’s leading artists, Leung Mee-ping, is also to be auctioned. The piece, Kee Wah Bakery, consists of five paintings, and is part of her ‘Made in Hong Kong’ series of souvenir paintings, which the artist undertook as a project to reproduce mundane or ordinary subjects like shop fronts, or toilets, to mimic those old master paintings that are reproduced in mainland China for the Western Market. Watch a video here to see more information about the work and the process behind Leung Mee-ping’s project.
Leung Mee Ping, 58 Kee Wah Bakery, 5 painting set, oil, courtesy of the artist
Pakistani artist Farina’s Alam’s Crow Crow Crow (2014) is a pen and ink work from her My Kolachi series which was shown at Asia House in 2015 and is also in the Asia House Benefit Auction. The feeding ground for her research is rooted in Pakistan and its chequered existence as a nation strained by a power battle between the army, the feudals, and the Islamic fundamentalists.
Farina Alam, ‘Crow Crow Crow’ (2014), pen and ink on Somerset paper, courtesy of the artist
Japanese artist Eiko Soga’s site-specific work exists somewhere between reality and imagination.Through her sculptural and installation work, Soga considers herself an extension of the different mediums she uses; wood board, natural and artificial light, sound, sites, paints and digital. Pictured is Elastic Foam and Piano (2012). This is also a lot in the auction which commences on Paddle8 on 7 June.
Eiko Soga, Elastic Foam and Piano, 2012, photograph, colour print, courtesy of the artist
Hong Kong artist Au Hoi Lam’s work often reflects a detached sensibility, however she is fascinated with colour and perception and how we might begin to see something uncanny in the familiar. She often references ordinary everyday objects, or symbols which connect to architecture or elements within buildings in Hong Kong and the human body. Pictured is Memorandum (2nd October 2014 Hong Kong), also set to be auctioned to help raise funds for our ongoing arts and cultural programme.
Au Hoi Lam, Memorandum (2nd October 2014 Hong Kong), 2014, coloured pencil, acrylic, wooden drawing board, courtesy of the artist and Osage Gallery Hong Kong
London-based Korean artist Bada Song is a multidisciplinary artist who works across sculpture, drawing, photography, installation, film, sound and performance. Based in London, her work translates Korean culture within a broader dialogue of global, contemporary art. Pictured is Drawing the Line (2010) which is set to be auctioned. The notion of drawing the line references artist Paul Klee’s pictorial thinking who was the first to ‘take a line for a walk’ in relation to drawing, but it also has a more contemporary connection for a number of artists such as Francis Alÿs, and Richard Long to crossing lands and borders.
Bada Song, Drawing The Line, 2010, c-type colour hand print, courtesy of the artist
Maha Ahmed graduated from the National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan. After receiving the Caspian Arts Foundation Scholarship, she completed her postgraduate degree in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. She is represented by Display Gallery, London, where she will have her solo show ‘A Mute Land’ in July 2016.With her paintings she encourages the audience to seek, in attempt to find solace in the little things. Untitled (2015), which is on offer in the auction, invites the viewer to seek and look closer, in attempt to find solace in the little things.
Maha Ahmed, Untitled, 2015, gouache on wasli, courtesy of the artist
London-based Iranian artist Ghazaleh Avarzamani received her MA Fine Art at Central Saint Martins, London. Her works have been exhibited in Iran, Dubai and London. She enjoys exploring obsessions with hybridity, gender, religion, sex and identity. Following Ghazaleh Avarzamani’s exhibition at Asia House in 2014, Apologie for Undertstanding, the artist has donated a pair of figurine pieces for the auction, from her Eastern Delight series. The series comprises a number of English baroque inspired sculptures that were imported into Iran from China and personally brought back into England. It derives inspiration from kitsch sculptures, crude derivatives of refined European porcelain figures, displayed in Iranian households. Positioned on miniature Persian carpets, these figures ridicule the concoction of Oriental and Western aesthetics that characterize the Iranian domestic environment.
Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Eastern Delight, 2013, statue on segment of Persian carpet, resin, courtesy of the artist
Nicole Coson is a Filipino artist currently living and working in London. She graduated from Central Saint Martins with a first degree honours in Fine Art. Coson works in a variety of mediums, but with a primary focus on analogue printmaking methods and techniques. Coson’s work revolves around the analogy of the ghost, an enigma, or a loose and ever changing form that cannot be grasped yet it invades our tactile and physical world. Kindly donated by the artist and Display Gallery for the Benefit Auction is the below piece, Untitled (2015). Part of Coson’s How to Appear Without A Trace series, it was part of an exhibition held at Asia House in 2015.
Nicole Coson, Untitled, 2015, Monotype print on paper, float-mounted on a white frame, courtesy of the artist and Display Gallery
In Antoni Malinowski’s paintings, and in life, colour does not exist so much as happen. Colour is created by the human mind, responding to electromagnetic waves and particles of light. Malinowski has captured those movements and created his own visual language. Two of Malinowski’s works have been kindly donated by the artist for the artist for the Benefit Auction. Drifting I (2015) (pictured) and Drifting II (2015) will both be going under the hammer from June 7.
Antoni Malinowski, Drifting I, 2015, oil on canvas, courtesy of the artist
Born in Hong Kong, Angela Su received a degree in biochemistry before pursuing visual arts, graduating from the Ontario College of Art and Design in 1994. Fascinated by illustrated science books, her work investigates natures through metamorphosis, hybridity and transformation. The incredibly detailed work that has been donated for the Benefit Auction, Epitheca Spinigera (2007), is an ink drawing on drafting film.
Angela Su, Epitheca Spinigera, 2007, drawing, ink on drafting film, courtesy of the artist
An oil canvas painting of the retired chairman of the Tata Group, Ratan Tata, by internationally recognised portrait painter Andrew Gow, is also set be auctioned online at the Asia House Benefit Auction which commences on Paddle8 on 7 June. The portrait was commissioned for Asia House in 2012 after Ratan Tata was honoured with the Asian Business Leaders Award in 2011.
Andrew Gow, Ratan Tata, 2012, Painting, oil on canvas, 120 x 92 cm (with frame) From the Asia House Collection
More details on other individual artworks for auction, will be released in the coming weeks.
“As Asia House marks its landmark 20th anniversary we want to show enormous appreciation to our supporters and friends who have assured our cultural programme has thrived since its founding in 1996. We now reach out to ask for your continued support for our anniversary fundraising efforts by bidding for some fabulous artworks when our auction goes online with Paddle8 in early June,” Kember said.
“I also want to offer my heartfelt thanks to all the wonderful artists, dedicated gallery owners and collectors who have generously donated works to date for the Benefit Auction. There will be more to come, so watch this space,” Kember added.
Details about how to bid in the auction can be found here.
To register to attend the preview drinks party on 14 June to open the Benefit Auction Preview Exhibition click here.
naomi.canton@asiahouse.co.uk
To place bids for items in the auction click here. Bidding started at 15.00 BST on 7 June and continues until 15.00 BST on 22 June.
For step-by-step instructions on how to bid on the Paddle8 website click here.
Click here to read more about Hong Kong artist Angela Su‘s ink drawing on drafting film, Epitheca Spinigera, which is up for auction.
As mentioned in the piece, Black Wash by the late sculptor and painter Kim Lim is also set to go under the hammer. Read more about her and this piece of artwork here.
To read all the stories about the auction and artworks click here.
For more information about any aspect of the auction email Mariam.Neza@asiahouse.co.uk.
For media and press enquires email: Lucy.Tomlinson@asiahouse.co.uk
If you would like to support us, please consider making a donation towards the Asia House arts and learning programme below. We accept donations by credit card, debit card and PayPal.
