Audemars Piguet kicked off the 2015 ART BASEL SHOWS

François-Henry Bennahmias, CEO of Audemars Piguet, welcomed guests to the event saying: “Art has always been an important source of inspiration for Audemars Piguet. The collaborations between contemporary art and the superb artistry and technical mastery of watchmaking continue to extend, and stronger connections between the two worlds are forged each year.” François also thanked Art Basel for the successful and ongoing partnership with Audemars Piguet.

Guests were welcomed to last night’s event to celebrate Audemars Piguet’s activities at Art Basel’s show in Hong Kong 2015. With curator Ruijun Shen and artist Alexandre Joly in attendance, the reception was held across two floors at the prestigious California Tower. The event included an atmosphere created by décor inspired by Lehanneur’s eco-living wall and the accompanying bespoke sound work by Alexandre Joly.

On Friday, 13 March 2015, renowned actress Sandra Ng and distinguished Hong Kong actor Louis Koo were welcomed to the Audemars Piguet lounge and given a tour of the beautiful historic and contemporary women’s timepiece from 1900 - 2015 displayed on the stand. Sandra picked out a beautiful white gold and diamond Millenary 5201 full-set timepiece and Louis wore a Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Tourbillon Chronograph.

Ruijun Shen, the second guest curator for the Audemars Piguet Art Commission, will work with a selected artist to be announced in early 2016, to create a new work later that year. Shen, a renowned artist and curator, has previously exhibited in and curated shows at The Shanghai 21st Century Minsheng Art Museum, China, Guangdong Times Museum, China, Queens Museum, New York and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco. Bringing her experience and expertise in Asian art to the second Art Commission project, Audemars Piguet are excited to work alongside Shen to support the creation of one new major artwork by an emerging or midcareer artist, which will be unveiled at the Art Basel show in Hong Kong in 2016. Renowned art world figure Marc-Olivier Wahler, founder and director of Chalet Society Paris, is the first guest curator for the Audemars Piguet Art Commission and Swiss artist and composer Robin Meier has been selected as the first artist. Meier’s work for the new Art Commission will be unveiled to coincide with Art Basel in Basel in 2015.

Audemars Piguet’s updated stand in the Collectors Lounge at the Art Basel show in Hong Kong in 2015 is inspired by Audemars Piguet’s home in the Vallée de Joux, Switzerland. The stand entitled ‘MINERAL LAB’, created by leading French designer Mathieu Lehanneur appeared in an altered form, as its design concept shifted seasons from winter to spring. The updated 2015 edition also includes an eco-living wall, as well as a newly-commissioned sound installation by French artist Alexandre Joly and an exhibition of Audemars Piguet’s exceptional women’s heritage timepieces from 1900 – 2015.

Joly’s work predominantly combines the visual with sound, often creating site-specific installations which explore the sensory, imaginary, aesthetic and ethical relationships that man holds with nature, technology and the environment. Within his practice, Joly mixes sounds recorded in natural settings including weather, landscapes, insects and frogs, and mixes these with electronic sounds and frequencies to enforce sound as a material and separate entity, while referencing the visual scene it accompanies. Alexandre Joly recorded the natural sounds from around Le Brassus as well as from the Audemars Piguet manufacture and museum. Fusing these natural and industrial sounds, Joly created a bespoke Audemars Piguet sound which was played alongside the eco-living wall on the Audemars Piguet stand for Art Basel 2015, complementing the design concept of Mathieu Lehanneur. 

March 24, 2015