Celebrity Life

Audemars Piguet has always had very visible support for the arts and fashion. The brand has always been a proud partner for Art Basel. In 2014, it set up the Audemars Piguet Art Commission, extending its support to artists around the globe in their creation of works of exceptional complexity and precision.

This year, for its Asia debut, Audemars Piguet has selected Hong Kong-based multidisciplinary artist Phoebe Hui to realise its 5th Art Commission. The collaboration is done with independent curator Ying Kwok, who most notably curated the Hong Kong Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale in 2017.

Says Kwok of the support Audemars Piguet gives to artists: "Audemars Piguet Contemporary’s support has enabled Phoebe’s work to progress in meaningful ways. The programme encourages the artist to take risks and be ambitious, knowing that she would be supported with the much needed resources and expertise to push the artist’s work to a whole new level.”

Hui's work, titled The Moon is Leaving Us, is inspired by both historical and contemporary observations of the Moon. Hui is both a researcher and a maker and is known to deconstruct and visualise scientific inventions to reveal their inner complexities and concealed beauty.

The moon, in particular, has always been the artist's inspiration. Her interest in the moon was re-ignited in 2019 when she visited the Audemars Piguet headquarters in the remote Vallée de Joux, where she found herself on a dark moonlit road one evening.

To realise her work, Hui even met with an astronaut to gain a different perspective. "This commission is an artist’s dream and has taken my practice to a new level," she says. "The support provided by
Audemars Piguet Contemporary has encouraged me to reflect on the fundamentals of my practice and given me the opportunity to interact beyond my network. Meeting astronauts, engineers, and scientists brought fresh new perspectives to the project. Without this insight, I could never have made this work."

Where to see

Hui has been working on the piece since last year, but the showing was postponed due to Covid and the cancellation of Art Basel Hong Kong in 2020. It'll be unveiled in April instead, marking its debut at Tai Kwun, Centre for Heritage and Arts, on April 23, 2021. The display will be there for four weeks and will remain on view through Art Basel Hong Kong from May 19 to 23, 2021.

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