Thousands of artworks will be exhibited to the public on their new online platform starting Friday.
On Mar 20, Art Basel will be launching its new digital platform “Online Viewing Rooms.” The platform, which is available for all galleries and collectors, will allow visitors to explore the thousands of works presented by Art Basel’s participating galleries, many of which will be online exclusive. The Viewing Rooms will be running parallel to all three shows in Basel, Miami Beach and Hong Kong.
“The Online Viewing Rooms will provide galleries with a further possibility for engaging with our global audiences,” said Marc Spiegler, Global Director, Art Basel. This initiative will prove particularly useful for those galleries which were set to participate in the first edition of the Hong Kong show which has now been canceled due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis. The galleries have been invited to take part in the Online Viewing Rooms for free for this first edition of the show that was supposed to take place Mar 20-25.
With no space restrictions, the 233 galleries will be showing some pretty amazing things during the online exhibition, all the way from outdoor sculptures to video art and woven mats made following indigenous Malay practices.
Pilar Corrias Gallery from London will be presenting Philippe Parreno’s amazing floating fish display, My Room is Another Fishbowl (2016) which the artist created for his Tate Modern Turbine Hall installation.
Meanwhile, Tokyo’s Ota Fine Arts will be presenting one of the most exciting displays in the online exhibition. Viewers will be able to virtually explore Yayoi Kusama’s most recent creations from her much-acclaimed Infinity Rooms series–the mirror-box Life Shines (2019).
The virtual exhibition will also feature a large selection of works by major Middle Eastern, Asian, and Southeast Asian masters which are less known in the Western world. With an incredibly vast selection of artworks from all over the world, Art Basel’s Online Viewing Rooms sounds like an exciting opportunity to experience new and contemporary works of art. The Online Viewing Rooms will be opening at 6 pm Hong Kong time (that’s 6 am Miami time) on Mar 20 and closing on Mar 25 also at 6 pm HKT. You can join the virtual experience using the Art Basel App or by visiting their website!
Feature image: Art Basel Miami Beach