Spot Challenge Pit Stop #3: Hong Kong

17 January 2012
by Art Rubynstein

Hong Kong is perhaps the most exotic stop on our journey, and yet this A.I like city is not as intimidating as it seems. You see, thanks to the most awesome elevated escalator pedestrian city on Earth, we managed to do everything on our priority list in less than 45 minutes this morning. That included a super bullet train from the airport that connected to Mandarin Oriental that in turn connected to Gagosian that’s also connected to every luxury mall imaginable including Lane Crawford. Then, we decided to do much more.

But first back to Gagosian…Since White Cube isn’t opening until later this year (Jay Jopling is a wise man, 2012 is a year of the Water Dragon, which basically translates to a lot of cash!), Gagosian is still primarily the only big player in town aside from the Art Fair rush every May. The quiet, 7th floor Pedder Street location (across Vuitton’s biggest store on the planet) has been in business for less than a year and things look promising in Hong Kong (it won’t officially play by China’s rules until 2047!). Our favorite piece during the Asian leg of the tour was the square “Controlled Substance Key Painting” (1993-1994) complete with lovely typography and numerology. Though after New York’s spectacular, the shows are visibly smaller.

Breaking the Whitney Ground

22 May 2011
by Art Rubynstein

The Washington Street Whitney is still good five to six years away from the game-changing reality, but on Thursday we got a preview of things to come. Two giant tents were erected on the museum’s future site to celebrate the Groundbreaking week of the institution as well as to hand out the 2011 American Art Award to Marissa Mayer. Here’re the details:

The army of artists: Roni Horn, Cory Arcangel, Richard Phillips, Laurie Simmons, Lorna Simpson, Christo, Irit Batsry, Shirin Neshat, Claes Oldenburg, Thomas Otterness, Andrew Lord, and Richard Tuttle, among many others.

Big shot supporters: LVMH’s Renaud Dutreil, Susan Hess, Cinidi Lieve, Anne H. Bass, André Balazs, Jacqueline and Vito Schanbel, and Brooke Garber Neidich.

Most popular guest: John McEnroe, who’s still being teased about his match winning record that’s being challenged by Novak Djokovic right now at French Open.

Best dressed: Josephine Meckseper who’s heading to Venice next.

Sure sign that this American gala: Meat loaf and mac’n’cheese was your main course.

Best surprise: Debbie Harry and the Blondie taking the stage (and complaining about the dump they were performing in).

Welcome unofficial after-party cameos: Chelsea Handler, Olivier Zahm, Ann Dexter Jones, who were all spotted at Boom Boom after with some high-dealing Whitney socials.

Photos – CLINT SPAULDING/PatrickMcMullan.com