From October 18 to 20, the Grand Palais hosts the third edition of the Art Basel Paris contemporary art fair. Among the 195 participating galleries, focus on the High Art gallery, a fervent defender of emerging creation in Paris, which notably presents works by artists Matt Copson, Philipp Timischl and Masanori Tomita on its stand.
Jason Hwang of High Art gallery wears cotton top by Craig Green. Photo: Blommers & Schumm for Numéro art. Styling: Emmanuelle Ramos. Hairstyle: Marion Anée at Call My Agent. Beauty: Khela at Call My Agent. Design and retouching set: Anuschka Blommers & Niels Schumm. Production assistants: Lola Maqueda, Asalah Benatia and Galatea Stroh. Thanks to Luc Jossinet.
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The High Art gallery at Art Basel Paris
What started as a project space managed by two friends, with a limited budget, has since given way to a galerie installed in Pigalle, complemented by a second space sheltered in a 12th century chapel, in Arles. Let’s rewind to the year 2011: “Romain [Chenais] and I were directing Shanaynay, in Ménilmontant, when the project spaces flourished in Paris, remembers Jason Hwang. There was energy, with places like castle/corrals, Thirteen or The Institute of Social Hypocrisy. At the time, we wanted to think about the very definition of an exhibition, starting from the basics: What is an opening, a press release, a space devoted to art? All of this was dissected, before being reassembled.”
Fast forward to two years later. The duo changed gear, now eager to “stability and more lasting relationships with artists, hence the decision to try [sa] luck with a shopping mall”. At the same time as the two friends were considering this transition, Chris Sharp, a close[cofondateurde[cofondateurdeLulu, un project space à Mexico, et plus récemment de la Chris Sharp Gallery à LA]presented to them Philippe Joppinwho had just left Perrotin and already had gallery sales experience. High Art was therefore born from the happy coincidence of this meeting, in 2013, between Jason Hwang, Romain Chenais et Philippe Joppinits three co-founders.
<img decoding="async" width="1024" height="1024" http:="" alt="Michael Ho, What Was Left Unsaid (2023). Huile et acrylique sur toile, 170 x 180 cm. © Courtesy of the artist and High Art. Art Basel Paris” class=”wp-image-583762″ srcset=”https://numero.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/High-Art-Michael-Ho-As-Feelings-Burn-Their-Way-27-1024×1024.jpg 1024w, https://numero.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/High-Art-Michael-Ho-As-Feelings-Burn-Their-Way-27-300×300.jpg 300w, https://numero.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/High-Art-Michael-Ho-As-Feelings-Burn-Their-Way-27-150×150.jpg 150w, https://numero.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/High-Art-Michael-Ho-As-Feelings-Burn-Their-Way-27-1536×1536.jpg 1536w, https://numero.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/High-Art-Michael-Ho-As-Feelings-Burn-Their-Way-27-2048×2048.jpg 2048w” data-lazy-sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px” src=”https://numero.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/High-Art-Michael-Ho-As-Feelings-Burn-Their-Way-27-1024×1024.jpg”/>Michael Ho, What Was Left Unsaid (2023). Oil and acrylic on canvas, 170 x 180 cm. © Courtesy of the artist and High Art.
Since then, the gallery has made a name for itself by offering solo exhibitions to artists like Max Hooper Schneider or Valerie Keane, and by offering programming that thwarts any attempt at easy categorization, with names like John RussellPhilipp Timischl, Melanie MatrangaKentaro Kawabata, Wangshui or Maryam Hoseinibut also some newcomers such as Michael Ho, snow turtle and Masanori Tomita, among the artists she represents. “We realized quite quickly that the identity and programming of a gallery are not fixed things, explain Romain Chenais. They are constantly in motion, with shifts taking place, reflecting both the interest of gallery owners, of course, but also that of the artists with whom we maintain a dialogue.” In a way, this is what justifies the name of the gallery: “A name in the past, present, future, with a very generic connotation which gives it its openness and its good fit with our program.”
“Our place is truly artist-run. The main thing comes from our artists, our links with them and the responsibility that is ours within the framework of this relationship. Everything else takes second place.”
Jason Hwang
As for the artists exhibited, “there is great permeability in their shapes”, declares Hwang. So, “Masanori Tomita comes from manga and, even if this does not appear directly in his works, it nourishes his practice.” His abstract paintings are in fact an amalgamation of very stratified surfaces, tones and textures. This formal porosity is also found in Matt Copsonwhich uses theatrical devices, particularly laser animation, as an alternative way of drawing in space. Or even at Michael Howhose paintings, with their gestural and abstract motifs, owe as much to his training as an architect as to the aesthetics of Chinese ink painting.
Which allowed the galerie to last over the years? “Our place is truly artist-run. The main thing comes from our artists, our links with them and the responsibility that is ours within the framework of this relationship. Everything else takes second place.”
Art Basel Parisfrom October 18 to 20, 2024 at the Grand Palais, Paris 8th.
Find Issue art 15 on newsstands and on iPad.
