Author: Candra

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9 Galleries to Know Ahead of Art Basel Hong Kong

With Hong Kong Art Week set to take off Monday, art world jet-setters are officially en-route and eyes are squarely on the coastal metropolis. 

It’s been a busy, challenging year for Hong Kong, as 2023 marked the first Art Basel Hong Kong since the lifting of “Zero Covid” restrictions that had all but eliminated international tourism to the metropolis. It couldn’t have come sooner, as the launch of Tokyo Gendai and Art SG last year and Frieze Seoul in 2022 marked those other cities’ entrance in the competition for Asia’s leading art hub. However, any hopes that local politics could be forgotten were dispelled earlier this week when Hong Kong’s legislature passed a new sweeping national security law that curators and artists are already worrying could dampen artistic production.

Next week should tell us a lot about how the competition for regional dominance is shaking out. But early signs point to Hong Kong’s continued centrality to the Asian art market, as Sotheby’s and Christie’s both prepare to open massive new headquarters in the city this year, and M+ Museum (opened in 2021) and Tai Kwun Contemporary (opened in 2018) anchor the institutional scene. In January, Hauser & Wirth inaugurated a

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by Candra•
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Di’orr Greenwood Nike SB Blazer FQ0792-001

If it wasn’t for family. Di’orr Greenwood might not be the rising star in skate that she is today. Di’orr would steal away her brother’s Walmart-brand skateboard whenever he was off doing other activities, and her older sister would buy her skate shoes whenever she could. Even her mother encouraged her to paint on skate-decks to sell at local swap meets.

Her familial bond to family and heritage is at the core of Di’orr’s work. Born and raised in the Navajo nation, she helped pioneer a skate movement among her people, selling her artworks to help fund participation of skateboarding for the young’ins of her community. Now, she gets to express her vision with Nike SB as she embarks on a collaborative project involving two of the brand’s mainline models.

Using the SB Blazer as the base material, Di’orr injects her artwork in unprecedented ways. The honeycomb texture is chiseled in such a way that her signature peaks line the base of the midsole, rising upward like a mountain valley. That same edging is cut into the premium leather lace shroud, itself fixed onto the collar via thick stitching. That extra layer of material opens up longitudinally yet asymmetrically to

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by Candra•
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Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell Win Best Song Oscar for ‘Barbie’

Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell made Oscar history by becoming the two youngest two-time winners in Academy Awards history, as they picked up the best song trophy for a second time Sunday night for “What Was I Made For?,” their contribution to the “Barbie” soundtrack.

The pop-star siblings previously won for “No Time to Die,” the title song for the 2022 James Bond film. At 22, Eilish has now become the youngest two-time winner in Oscar history; at 26, O’Connell is believed to be the second youngest dual winner.

Eilish’s acceptance speech was punctuated with nervous laughter, as she thanked director Greta Gerwig. “I’m so grateful for this song and for this movie and the way it makes me feel,” she said. “This goes out to everyone who was affected by this movie.” She thanked her school dance and choir teachers (including one “Miss Teague, who didn’t like me but you were good at your job,” which brought a laugh from the Dolby Theater audience). She also thanked her “best friend Zoe for playing Barbies with me growing up.”

O’Connell added thanks to producer-star Margot Robbie, score composer-producers Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt “for making the song with us,” and

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by Candra•
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LA Art Dealer Expands to Tribeca, Racquel Chevremont Is Now a ‘Real Housewife,’ and More Juicy Art World Gossip

Every week, Artnet News brings you Wet Paint, a gossip column of original scoops. If you have a tip, email Annie Armstrong at [email protected].

MATTHEW BROWN COMES TO TOWN

At last, it is official. The papers have been signed, and Los Angeles dealer Matthew Brown is now bicoastal. After months of rumors, Brown has secured a lease on the ground-floor space on Broadway in Tribeca that formerly housed Jasmin Tsou‘s taste-making gallery JTTwhich was shuttered last year.

Brown, who can be a bit elusive, confirmed the expansion to me by phone but declined to comment. It is not clear when the new location will open, but this much is certain: he is looking for a gallery manager.

Brown’s decision to hang out a shingle on the Eastern seaboard marks an important new chapter in his meteoric ascent, which began in 2019, when he started his LA gallery at the ripe age of 23. His roster currently includes hot names like Sedrick Chisom, Kenturah Davisand former JTT artist Dan Herschlein.

Two years ago, I profiled Brown as a “breakout star,” writing about how he cultivated an aura as a somewhat mysterious boy wonder among

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by Candra•