Beijing Visitor Guide

Tickets to Art Central 2022 are now on sale online. Art Central is widely recognised as an important incubator for artists and galleries in the rapidly growing market for contemporary art in Asia, presenting younger artists alongside established names, and showcasing progressive works that challenge the boundaries of contemporary art. In response to a successful edition in 2021, and despite ongoing international travel restrictions, Art Central 2022 occupies a significantly larger space than the previous edition and will feature a dynamic group of over fifty galleries with strong representation from Hong Kong-based exhibitors. 

Over twenty galleries will join Art Central for the first time in 2022, including Hong Kong-based exhibitors Touch Gallery, Double Q Gallery and Square Street Gallery, as well as notable international exhibitors including Gin Huang Gallery, based in Taichung, and Mwimbi Fine Art, Lusaka, amongst others. 

Art Central 2022 will welcome the participation of a record number of Hong Kong artists spread across its diverse programme of gallery booths, public art projects, curated installations, and which will continue throughout a compelling series of public talks, video and performance art presented by Asia Society Hong Kong Center, the Official Education Partner of the Fair. 

Art Central's Yi Tai Sculpture & Installation Projects sector provides a platform for the support and development of contemporary artistic practice with a focus on works of scale and conceived through non-traditional methods. 

Coalescing around the curatorial theme Thinking magic, according to 2022 Curatorial Advisor Qu Chang "the projects selected for Yi Tai 2022 exhibit a kind of magical charm that isn't completely removed from reality, but rather deeply entangled with the memories, beliefs, affects, conventions and crises of our time." 

The selected projects include those by Afa Annfa (JPS Art Gallery, Hong Kong); Batten and Kamp (Jeeum Gallery, Seoul and Hong Kong); Marton Nemes (Double Q Gallery, Hong Kong); Bing Lee (Soluna Fine Art, Hong Kong); Louis To Wun (CWC Art Gallery, Hong Kong) and Sueyong Yang (Art Projects Gallery, Hong Kong). The 2022 fair will continue to inspire discovery and dialogues amongst collectors and visitors alike as they engage in art activities. 

Presented for the sixth consecutive year with Lead Partner, UOB, Art Central demonstrates a shared commitment to developing the local art ecology in Hong Kong and encourages cultural inclusion of the wider community through outreach partnerships with educational institutions across the territory. 

Corey Andrew Barr, Fair Director, Art Central, said, "Art Central's return in 2022 – with an ambitious programme of gallery booths, installations, moving image and performance projects – is entirely the result of the dedication of our galleries and partners and a testament to their commitment. 

Increased engagement with Hong Kong galleries and artists has been a silver lining to the pandemic situation, and we are proud to support their work as part of our mission to bring greater attention to the creative talent of our home city." 

Christine Ip, CEO – Greater China, UOB, said, "UOB's commitment to supporting Hong Kong and the communities in which we operate extends beyond providing financial services to cultivating cultural capital. As part of our long-term efforts in forging a sustainable future, we continue to support Art Central that brings the treasures of more than 50 galleries under one roof. 

The fair also serves as a platform for artists to shine on the international art stage and enhances dialogues among art enthusiasts. Together we want to open more hearts and minds by sharing and promoting the arts in the wider community." 

Gallery highlights for the 2022 edition of Art Central The Fair is set to showcase gallery presentations in three sectors: Chung Dim Central Galleries, Gwo Wai Curated Booths and Duk Dak Solo Presentations. The Art Central programme is presented with dual Cantonese-English designations Literally "centre point", Chung Dim Central Galleries represent leading artists from across the globe and affirm the Fair's position at the centre of Asia's market for contemporary art. 

Selected highlights: Novalis Art Design (Hong Kong) presents a showcase of Programmed and Kinetic Art, looking back to avant garde art movements from the 1960s and 70s. Inspired by developments in psychology, political theory, and with increasing economic stability, these artists merged art with architecture and industrial design in an attempt to liberate art from 'expression' by investigating light, optical illusions and colour theory. 

The presentation includes works by Marina Apollonio (Italy), Herman De Vries (The Netherlands), Yvaral (France), Marcello Morandini (Italy) and Horacio García Rossi (Argentina). LEE & BAE (Busan) showcases the work of three established Korean artists: Jinwook Yeom, Seungtaik Jang and Seontae Hwang. The presentation includes works from Jinwook Yeom's acclaimed 'Memory of Mountain' series of paintings, hung alongside minimal and conceptual explorations of color, opacity and superposition by Seungtaik Jang. 

Seontae Hwang's etched and printed light boxes create three-dimensional spaces which elicit tactile responses to comfort, temperature and time. JPS Art Gallery (Hong Kong) returns with full roster of artists including Afa Annfa (Hong Kong), an emerging star in the local art scene whose works probe the complexities of human emotions and capture tensions between human psyche and the material world; and Adam Linn (United States), whose drawings depict flamboyant contortions of an anthropomorphic world and probe topics of self-discovery and intimacy. 

Touch Gallery (Hong Kong) presents works by Ogata Kamio (Japan), Sara Tse (Hong Kong) and Szelit Cheung (Hong Kong), three artists expressing life and culture in different forms and tones yet finding a shared sense of simplicity and calmness at the heart of their ingenuity. 

Leading international participant Whitestone Gallery (Hong Kong, Tokyo, Karuizawa, Taipei) returns with a group exhibition of leading young artists from Japan and emerging artists from China, presented alongside an important selection of works by post-war avant-garde artists Shinoda Toko and Yayanagi Go, both having developed idiosyncratic styles of global influence. Jason Shin (Seoul) presents a booth featuring works by Huseyin Sami (Australia) and Eunjeong Choi (South Korea). 

Huseyin Sami deconstructs the process and substance of painting – colour, form and material – in order to formulate what he calls 'a unique material language of painting'. Eunjeong Choi's wild, illusionary oil paintings create cityscapes with kaleidoscopic forms, cascading in two and three dimensions. A platform for innovative projects of up to three artists, Gwo Wai Curated Booths at Art Central demonstrate a strong concept developed specifically for the Fair. 

Gwo Wai is a term from Cantonese opera which describes the movement of performers crossing paths on the stage. Highlights include: First time exhibitor Mwimbi Fine Art (Lusaka) presents artists Lee du Ploy (Hong Kong) and David Makala (Zambia) with works that explore themes of race, power, traditions, place and identity. 

Soluna Fine Art (Hong Kong) showcases the works of three contemporary artists from South Korea: Kim Young-Hun, Kim Sun-Doo, Lee Kyou-Hong and Song Kwangik, demonstrating a diversity of aesthetic approaches – from traditional Korean landscape painting, to Dansaekhwa, minimal mixed media work and contemporary abstract painting. Square Street Gallery (Hong Kong) presents a Gwo Wai Curated Booth by Hong Kong-based artist Lousy. 

A common Cantonese phrase meaning "individually special", Duk Dak Solo Presentations feature both emerging and established artists. Double Q Gallery (Hong Kong) presents a solo exhibition of acclaimed Hungarian artist Gizella Rákóczy. A central figure in Hungarian and international geometric art, Rákóczy's artworks are deduced by mathematical laws, which lead to an outcome of speculative knowledge exuding the charm of rational aesthetic. 

The booth is curated by Mónika Zsikla, who has also curated the Hungarian Pavilion for the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022. Galerie Zink (Waldkirchen) presents new paintings by Gregory Forstner. The artist is known for paintings that capture human nature with expressive brush strokes and bold colours. 

Art Central 2022 will be the occasion of the artist's first show in Asia, featuring paintings and charcoal drawings from his most recent series, 'Flowers For The Bold'. Contemporary by Angela Li (Hong Kong) unveils a new collection of paintings by local artist Wong Sze Wai. 

A heralded, emerging talent among the next generation of Hong Kong artists, Wong's artworks address the loss of memories and the process of recollection through inscription and erasure. Popular feature Yi Tai Sculpture and Installation projects includes six large scale installations, curated by Qu Chang.