Art LOFT is a curated online platform that features emerging talents of the Asian contemporary art scene and gives you preferential and direct access to their diverse collections. It believes in their stories and inspirations, and interweaves these into a narrative, which shines a spotlight on the amazing artworks they create. Spanning both online and physical spaces, Art LOFT enables you to discover, appreciate and invest in the works of promising Asian artists from early on in their careers, before they take their bow on the larger stage. In addition to the discovery of these emerging artists, the website also facilitates buying and renting of contemporary art (for as little as $20/month).
Super sad that I couldn’t attend the launch party for this. :'( I love art, especially contemporary art by emerging Asian artists, so I hopped on the Art Loft website to check out the curation and who + what are being featured. I’m terrible with artists’ names, but I usually can remember the work visually.
Not so long ago in recent memory, I was invited to contribute as a writer to an overseas online magazine with a focus on art. I had to turn it down because even though I may know a bit more about the subject compared to the average person — I’ve paid my dues attending four years of art and design school, art history was one of my fave subjects, and I appreciate various art forms and creative expressions — I’m not an expert in this area and I also don’t want to publicize my opinions since my preferences change over time and a particular piece may struck me as memorable depending on what mood I was in at the time. Besides I like art because of what individual pieces say to me. That’s the thing with art, isn’t it? They are subjective and don’t mean the same to different people. I like looking at it while it hangs on my wall and I can have a silent conversation with it. But I’m not capable of reciting poetry to others over what an art piece means to me. I digress, sorry. :X
So, on the website I see some familiar pieces that I came across in previous years of Art Stage and Affordable Art Fair – such as etchings by Etsuko Fukaya and the Vessel series by Leo Liu Xuanqi. I could’ve sworn I took a picture with the Chanel piece at one of the art fairs back in… 2011 (?). Lemme dig for it. AHA! Here it is. I highlighted the pieces I liked at AAF2011 here and here.
Interesting to note that the canvas edition at the art show cost over ten times more than the Giclée print – the latter is an inkjet reproduction, hence the price discrepancy. This is great news to budding collectors and art admirers who don’t want to splurge on canvas but still want to own a (smaller) version of the artwork. New to buying art? Read this.
Anyhoo, the artist whose work I end up liking after visiting the Art LOFT website is Tan Zi Xi (Messy Msxi) whose Ten Years Of Work for Every Minute on Stage series features gymnasts/acrobats training to convey that success never comes easy and it is the journey that’s truly more important. The gymnasts are shown going through failure, process, suffering, bruising, determination and a toast to “the beginner’s spirit”.
* For my own reference: How Chinese Art Became Contemporary.
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