Southeast Asian Art Market Proves Resilient

Spotlight Singapore's Must-See Exhibitions: Art Gallery Weekend 2023 Tessa Moldan

The global auction market cooled 18% during the first half of 2023, but Southeast Asia seems to be faring better than many regions thanks to a surge of new events and activities.

According to Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report 2023, auction sales dipped in Japan, South Korea, and other smaller markets internationally in 2022. Singapore was an exception, with double-digit growth largely thanks to Sotheby’s first live Modern and Contemporary Art sale in the city in 15 years in August 2022.

Art fair ART SG debuted this year at Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands, with reportedly strong sales from major international galleries such as White Cube, Gagosian, and David Zwirner.

The city also recently announced a new gallery weekend launching on 15 September, in conjunction with the annual Singapore Grand Prix which drew a record-breaking 302,000 in 2022, following a two-year pandemic-induced hiatus.

There’s reason for optimism in other countries in the region too. While Singapore narrowly avoided a recession in Q2 of 2023, with the economy growing just 0.3%, Indonesia’s economy grew 5.17%, laying a strong foundation for Art Jakarta from 17 to 19 November.

Art Fair Philippines returned for its tenth edition in February with 63 exhibitors, an uptick from 46 exhibitors last year. (The fair returns from 16 to 18 February, 2024.) The country’s leading gallery, SILVERLENS, expanded westwards with an outpost in New York last July.

Artists from the region are also seeing sustained interest.

Ken Tan, who oversees Lehmann Maupin‘s business in Southeast Asia, said, ‘the recent results of the major Asian auction sales will show a strong appetite for artists in the region. This is because of the quality of the work—I think collectors are ever more discerning in our current economic climate and will pay for great work, since primary access is increasingly more difficult.’

Sotheby’s Singapore auction in July raised US $11.1 million compared to, US $17.5 million last year, but contemporary women artists performed well.

Singaporean artist Jane Lee‘s Melt VII (2017) achieved US $140,877 and Indonesian artist Christine Ay Tjoe‘s The Team of Red (2013) sold for US $576,818—both above high estimates.

Jasmine Prasetio, Sotheby’s Managing Director, Southeast Asia, said, they are ‘fantastic artists with unique sense of style and identities who worked conscientiously with idealism and persistence throughout their lifetime or established careers.’

‘In their own ways, they broke boundaries and gained recognition and validation from a strong following of collectors from their own domestic circle as well as from international patrons and institutions,’ Prasetio said.

Ay Tjoe was an honouree at the 2019 Asia Arts Game Changer Awards, Hong Kong, from Asia Society while Lee currently has a solo exhibition at the Singapore Art Museum.

Ning Chong, a Singaporean art consultant and collector, observed that collectors in the region have their eyes on Lee, citing her ‘almost sold out shows’ at Singapore’s Gajah Gallery and STPI - Creative Workshop & Gallery this year.

Additionally, Chong referenced Indonesian auction company Larasati Singapore’s first in-person auction this April, when Lee’s The Little Red Painting (2009) sold for SG $36,600 (US $27,000), well above Larasati’s pre-sale estimate of SG $15,000–20,000 (US $11,000–15,000).

Chong said another artist to watch is I Gusti Ayu Kadek Murniasih (1966–2006), who has seen growing interest this year.

Joseph Kong, Sales Manager at Gajah Gallery, described Murniasih as ‘an indomitable voice in the Indonesian art scene.’

‘We recently exhibited her works at Tokyo Gendai, and a solo feature at Art Basel in Basel, where her works sold to several institutions and important private collectors.’ —[O]

Main image: Exhibition view: Kei Imazu, Wooo (2017). Oil and acrylic on canvas. 213 x 408 cm. Courtesy Sotheby's, Singapore.