I n a world first, Sotheby’s and de Sarthe Gallery invited globally-recognized sculptor and conceptual artist Bernar Venet to Hong Kong to perform an exclusive live art piece at Sotheby’s Spring Sales 2019 cocktail reception at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center. This is also the first time that an auction house has hosted an artist to create during a live art event and then to exhibit the newly created piece for an upcoming auction.
The Steel Bar and the Pictorial Memory of the Gesture, created with paint and a steel bar suspended from a hook above the canvas, is a combination of live performance, sculpture and painting. The series has hitherto comprised of monochrome pieces – this is the first time Venet has used color within this particular body of work. After the performance, the canvas was taken from the wall and stretched onto a frame.
The newly created artwork will be auctioned on April 1. Venet and de Sarthe have decided that the proceeds will go to amfAR -- The Foundation for AIDS Research -- in support of the global fight against AIDS and the prevention of HIV.
