Galerie Perrotin Hong Kong Inauguration – KAWS “The Nature of Need”

Galerie Perrotin, based in Paris, announces the grand opening of its new gallery in
Hong Kong in May 2012. Located on the 17th floor of the prestigious 50 Connaught
Road Central, Galerie Perrotin Hong Kong is destined to bring a new dimension of
contemporary art to the Asian audience. Etsuko Nakajima and Alice Lung have been
appointed directors of this new space.To celebrate its launch, Galerie Perrotin Hong
Kong will hold a solo exhibition by the critically acclaimed American neo-pop artist
KAWS (b. 1974) from 15 May to 30 June 2012, showcasing an array of outstanding
paintings created recently by the artist to be unveiled for the first time.
Emmanuel Perrotin, founder and director of Galerie Perrotin, said, “I am very
excited about the opening of our space in Hong Kong which marks a significant
milestone for our gallery. Founded in 1990, Galerie Perrotin has pioneered
the collaboration between a Western gallery and Asian artists. This dates back
to 1993 when we became the first gallery outside Japan to present Takashi
Murakami to the global audience. Over the succeeding two decades, we have
supported and exhibited works by eminent Asian artists through myriad collaborative
projects, whilst representing prolific French and international arists. We
have also participated in many important art fairs held throughout Asia. Building
upon our well-established connection with the Asian art scene, it is a
natural move for us to open a gallery in Hong Kong. As a pivotal art trade hub, Hong
Kong provides us with a favourable environment in which to showcase exceptional
works by our outstanding contemporary artists to the Asian audience.” Some artists of
the gallery have got strong links with Asia already (in their projects themselves or their
venues) including for example Sophie Calle, Wim Delvoye, KAWS, Xavier Veilhan, and
Jean-Michel Othoniel.
Galerie Perrotin Hong Kong’s highly anticipated 8,000 square-feet space (nearly
800 square meters) is conceived and designed by architect Andre Fu of design
studio AFSO. Amongst the most sought-after young design talents in Asia,
Andre Fu is renowned for his sensuous and unique interiors, with clients including Swire
Hotels, Four Seasons Hotels and Lane Crawford. His work combines clarity in space
planning with a meticulous attention to detail. Not only is every design project for him a
new passion which must satisfy the purpose of the venue, Andre Fu also aims to provoke
an emotional connection between the architecture and its user. For Galerie Perrotin
Hong Kong, there is no doubt that he seeks to utilise the unique 270 degree floor-toceiling
views of the magnificent Victoria Harbour as the backdrop – with a timeless palette
of 1 foot wide oak timber parquet flooring and solid bronze, its highly architectural and
balanced design language embodies an intellectual kind of beauty, thus providing a
delightful journey for the appreciation of contemporary art.
Prior to the gallery’s grand opening, important works by Jean-Michel Othoniel (b.
1964), the prominent & delicate French contemporary artist represented by Galerie
Perrotin, will be exhibited at the Macau Museum of Art from 25 April to 17 June as a
part of this year’s Le French May. Entitled ‘My Way’, this retrospective exhibition was
presented recently in 2011 at Centre Pompidou ; at Leeum Samsung Museum of Art/
Plateau in Seoul ; at Hara Museum in Tokyo before proceeding to Macau Museum of Art (23 April-30 June) and eventually Brooklyn Museum in New York (17 August-2
December). Over the years, Galerie Perrotin has curated and staged a number of
very successful exhibitions of Jean-Michel Othoniel’s work that have won high acclaim.
About Galerie Perrotin
Emmanuel Perrotin has represented some of the world’s most famous artists, including
Takashi Murakami & Maurizio Cattelan, for over 20 years. He is credited with bringing
new energy to the Parisian gallery scene and sending shock waves through the French
contemporary art world since he began dealing from a small apartment in the late
1980s. Today Galerie Perrotin occupies two floors in an elegant 18th century building
alongside a ‘white cube’ building in Paris’s trendy Marais district. In May 2012, the
gallery will open a new 8,000 square-feet space in Hong Kong on the 17th floor of 50
Connaught Road Central with an outstanding view of the Hong Kong bay.
The secret of Emmanuel Perrotin’s success in building a world-scale art business has
been his ability to spot early promise. He has given the possibility to young artists to
produce their works and realize their dreams, whereas previously money was only
given to established artists. Perrotin’s flair for picking potential stars and nurturing talent
is perhaps partly due to the fact that he himself began early in the art business.
By the age of 21, he was dealing and putting on exhibitions himself from his own flat in
Paris, including Damien Hirst’s first solo show in 1991. For the next 20 years he
steadily expanded, building an impressive roster of international artists. In 1993,
Perrotin brought the works of Damien Hirst and Maurizio Cattelan – still relatively
unknown at the time – to the Yokohama contemporary art fair, NiCAF. During the fair,
the young Takashi Murakami was attracted to his booth and a long-term collaboration
was born. They met again in New York the following year, where Perrotin showed
Murakami’s work at the Gramercy International Art Fair, becoming the first person to
exhibit Murakami in the United States and outside Japan. Multiple group shows and
nine solo shows followed over the next two decades, including one held in 2009 that
attracted more than 18,000 visitors over 25 days.
Emmanuel Perrotin is also proud to have brought many French artists to international
recognition and to have placed their work in leading museums. These include Tatiana
Trouvé, Xavier Veilhan, Jean-Michel Othoniel, Bernard Frize and Sophie Calle. Perrotin
was co-organizer of the exhibitions at the Palace of Versailles for Xavier Veilhan (2009)
and Takashi Murakami (2010) which created a sensation in the art world.
At the same time, the Gallery has organized private concerts with different musicians
such as Jay-Jay Johanson, Feist, Gonzales, Jamie Lidell, We Have Band, Laura
Marling, Housse de Racket, Massive Attack, N.E.R.D., Pharrell Williams, and many
others.
Thanks to his strong links with Japan in the early days, Perrotin was one of the first
Western gallerists to tap into the Asian art market. His stable now includes critically
acclaimed Japanese artists including Chiho Aoshima, Aya Takano and Mr., as well
as Bharti Kher, Farhad Moshiri and other internationally acclaimed artists such as
Maurizio Cattelan, Elmgreen & Dragset, Wim Delvoye. Galerie Perrotin publishes a
collection of monographs and artists’ books.

Written by: admin on April 25, 2012.