The art of seeing

LISSON GALLERY

Asia Debut at Art Basel

It's all systems go in Asia for London-based Lisson Gallery, which launches a space in Shanghai (its Asian debut) on March 22 and brings a roster of artistic riches to Art Basel in Hong Kong; there has been talk of opening a gallery space next year. Two large-scale works by prominent female artists Laure Prouvost and Joyce Pensato will greet visitors in the Lisson booth at the fair this year. Prouvost's enigmatic tapestry This Means Tableau (2018) will take over one wall, exploding with dreamlike imagery and language familiar from her practice, while across the adjacent wall, the exuberant painting of Mickey Mouse by Pensato, titled I Must Be Dreamin' (2007), will offer a darkly humorous interpretation of this cartoon character. Additionally, a life-size group portrait painting by Julian Opie will be presented. Capturing gatherings of people in an abstract, refined form, Opie bestows each individual with their own unique characteristics, rendered through a singular pose, object or movement. A highlight in the booth will be a vibrant yellow Estructura by Carmen Herrera. Based on paintings "really crying out to become sculpture", Estructuras represent a rare break in the artist's insistent planarity and two-dimensionality of her paintings to present her long-standing method of working; her forms and distinctive meticulous sharp edges are physically manifested, first in drawing, then painting and finally in sculpture. To top off Lisson's inventory, the artistic director of London's Royal Academy of Arts, Tim Marlow, will interview celebrated British painter Christopher Le Brun. (March 29–31)