Art Basel, Documenta and Venice Biennale gatecrashed by maverick art activist who critiques exclusivity of the art world
- Hong Kong-based art activist Alberto Gerosa infiltrated the contemporary art world’s big three events with unsanctioned exhibitions and performances
- The Italian art disruptor set up a fake gallery booth and an unofficial pavilion to critique the snobbery and Eurocentrism present in contemporary art
Art Basel, the Venice Biennale and Documenta in Germany are the triumvirate of the global contemporary art world. Between them, the art fair and the two influential exhibitions hold immense power in deciding who are the most important artists of each generation.
That makes them symbols of a rotten system that is Eurocentric and exclusive, according to a maverick art activist based in Hong Kong’s Sham Shui Po neighbourhood – who has just managed to gatecrash all three exclusive events and stage performances on site to challenge the way art is valued and interpreted.
Galleries can only participate in the fair if they are approved by a selection committee and pay a substantial amount to rent a booth. Gerosa just sat in front of a blank partition wall and put up printouts of paintings by anonymous, online forgers – copies in the fashionable naïve style of artists whose works command stunning sums at the art fair.