Phillips New Now & Design

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Phillips is pleased to announce highlights from the inaugural New Now & Design auction in Hong Kong. Taking place at 2 pm HKT on 26 November at Phillips’ Asia headquarters, the sale will offer over 100 lots, combining works from sought-after artists alongside emerging names. The sale will introduce a few debut artists to the secondary market in Asia, including Kelly Beeman and Gao Hang. Their works will be featured alongside other in demand names at auction, such as Mr., Mehdi Ghadyanloo and Yuan Fang. Also on offer is a selection of exceptional examples of 20th & 21st Century European Design include works by Hervé van der Straeten, Hans Wegner, Ole Wanscher and Franco Albini, among others. The digital auction catalogue will be available online starting 15th November, and on view to the public from 18th – 26th November at Phillips Hong Kong galleries in the WKCDA Tower in West Kowloon Cultural District.

Coming to auction for the first time, First Time Ever is a unique and early example by the multidisciplinary Japanese artist, Mr., painted in 2007. As one of the most representative artists of his time, Mr.’s earlier works such as First Time Ever focuses on detailed depictions of landscapes and cityscapes, showcasing a painterly aesthetic that is now rare to see. The work features an adolescent girl standing by a riverbank at sunset, accompanied by a creature atop her head, embarking on an unknown adventure. Lush vegetation, distant high-rise buildings, and reflective waters are rendered in intricate details, culminating into a vivid snapshot of a riverbank landscape that recalls well known landmarks such as the Kamo River in Kyoto.

Another highlight of the sale is Lost in Thought 50 by Japanese contemporary artist Yuichi Hirako, one of the most impressive paintings hailing from his Lost in Thought series to appear at auction. Depicted in the foreground of the present work are Hirako’s signature character, the ‘Tree Man’. Existing as half human and half tree, the figure lazes leisurely with his black cat, blending harmoniously into the rich forest that surrounds him. Rendered in bold saturated hues of acrylic paint, Lost in Thought 50 encourages deep introspection, and invites viewers to reconsider their own relationships with nature and the organisms that surround around us.

Visually striking and unapologetically bold, the works of Chinese artist Yuan Fang are highly sought-after. Her works can be understood as the physical representations of memories, emotions, and vulnerability. Known for her dynamic abstractions, her gestural style explores complex human experiences by transforming such concepts into fluid brushstrokes on canvas, recalling the works of abstract expressionist painter Lee Krasner, whom Fang has expressed as one of her influences. In particular, the two share an interest in exploring the interplay between form and colour. Also fresh to auction, the present work unfolds with indomitable force, allowing chaos and unpredictability to permeate with each stroke as it surfaces and coalesces.

Best known for his surrealistically still yet contemplative works, The Eternal Gate is a superlative example of Iranian artist Mehdi Ghadyanloo’s creative output, where the artist transforms a three-dimensional structure onto a two-dimensional canvas, creating a surreal plane that plays with the viewer’s perspectives. Taking inspiration from Giorgio de Chirico’s metaphysical paintings, Ghadyanloo’s style is characterised by his masterful ability in capturing the contrast between lightness and darkness through his implementation of the chiaroscuro technique. Devoid of figures in most of his works, the artist typically renders his utopian compositions with the simple structure of four walls, and injects everyday objects from his daily encounters as his main focal point. The present work was also featured in Ghadyanloo’s solo exhibition Portals of Light at Galleri Golsa in Oslo in 2019.

In addition, the sale features a strong selection of 20th and 21st Century design from designers and manufacturers who stylistically defined the international design landscape. Among them is ‘Miroir Pelote’, model no. 360 by French designer Hervé van der Straeten. First known for his jewellery designs, Hervé van der Straeten now enjoys international recognition for his strikingly stylish furniture, mirrors, and lighting creations, that are instantly recognizable, from the way that contrasting materials, bold variations of forms and elegant lines are combined with perfect proportions.