UBS marks 2017 edition of Art Basel in Hong Kong with two new publications:

• UBS Art Collection: To Art its Freedom, the first major publication about the UBS Art Collection in nearly a decade – available for the first time in Asia
• The Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report jointly published by Art Basel and UBS written by cultural economist Dr. Clare McAndrew
• The UBS lounge will showcase works featured in UBS Art Collection: To Art its Freedom as well as a selection of new acquisitions to the Collection. Artists to feature include: Andreas Gursky; Michael Craig-Martin; Samson Young; Ed Ruscha; Christian Marclay; and Thomas Demand.
  

Hong Kong - March 2017 – UBS, partner of Art Basel since 1994, celebrates its fourth year of partnering with Art Basel in Hong Kong (23 - 25 March, HKCEC) with an extensive program of public, client and employee activities and the launch of two publications. The first major publication on the UBS Art Collection in nearly a decade is available for the first time in Asia, while as announced in June 2016, Art Basel and UBS will jointly publish The Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report by cultural economist Dr. Clare McAndrew, founder of Arts Economics.

This new report, which will be released each year, covers macro-economic trends within the art market. For the report, Dr. Clare McAndrew and her research team were able to leverage the expertise of the UBS Chief Investment Office (CIO) to expand the data set on high net worth wealth and buying behavior. The report complements UBS’s leading position in global financial research and analysis, and also underscores UBS's long-standing commitment to contemporary art.

"UBS is focused on offering our clients relevant perspective and insights around the topics that are important to them, whether it's their financial goals or their personal passion for things like art," said Kathryn Shih, President Asia Pacific, UBS. "Our long-standing partnership with Art Basel reflects that goal by enhancing our ability to help clients understand and navigate today's contemporary art market. As the appetite for contemporary art continues to grow dramatically in the region, Art Basel in Hong Kong remains an unparalleled venue for connecting local and international collectors with today's most important artists and their work."

The new deluxe 274-page hardback overview of the UBS Art Collection, UBS Art Collection: To Art its Freedom, published by Hatje Cantz, includes a history of the collection by Global Head of the UBS Art Collection Mary Rozell and an essay by art scholar, Dieter Buchhart. The volume features more than 200 color illustrations of works by established and emerging artists.

This year’s display of works from the UBS Art Collection in the UBS Lounge was inspired by the new publication, To Art its Freedom. The selection showcases 24 artworks by 14 artists that offer insight into the history and evolution of the Collection, as well as new acquisitions that reflect the current moment in contemporary art. The display, curated by Mary Rozell (Global Head UBS Art Collection), includes seminal works by Nobuyoshi Araki (Satchin, 1962/2001), Max Bill (Farbbündel durchzogen, 1975-77), Michael Craig-Martin (Untitled, 1998), Andreas Gursky (Autosalon Paris, 1993), Naoya Hatakeyama (Four works from the Blast series 1998-1999), David Hockney (House Behind Chateau Marmont, 1976), Jenny Holzer (The Living Series: Some days you wake and immediately..., 1980-82), Alex Katz (Good Morning I, 1974), Matt Mullican (Untitled (Paris Opera), 1986-87) and Ed Ruscha (Fine Wires, 1972; Tex, 1962; Trademark #7, 1962; Oklahoma E, 1962; Gasoline Stations Book Cover, 1963). These works provide the foundation and context for a number of new and recent acquisitions by Thomas Demand (Blossom II and Blossom III, 2015) and Christian Marclay (Actions: Splish, Plop, Plash, Plash (No. 4), 2015), as well as by the acclaimed artist Hema Upadhyay (Angry Birds, 2013) and emerging artist Samson Young (3 works* from his What the lighthouses taught me series, 2016).

Mary Rozell, Global Head UBS Art Collection said: “UBS Art Collection: To Art its Freedom is intended to juxtapose Pop art with geometric abstractions and photography, resulting in a dynamic exchange of some of the most intriguing and influential artists and ideas from 1962 to the present. The range of artwork featured in the publication and in the UBS lounge underscores the company’s long-standing commitment to contemporary art.”

A series of talks in the UBS Lounge will feature cultural opinion-formers, artists and representatives from leading art institutions, including artists; Gonkar Gyatso, Kyungah Ham, Haegue Yang and Tobias Rehberger. Speakers also include; Dr Clare McAndrew, Founder, Arts Economics; Lynn Fung, Director, Liang Yi Museum; Tim Reeve, Chief Operating Officer of the V&A; Fred Scholle, Founder, Galerie du Monde; Catherine Kwai, Founder, Kwai Fung Hin; Emi Eu, Director, STPI; Mami Kataoka, Artistic Director of 21^st Sydney Biennale 2018; Fernando Botero, Son of Colombian artist Fernando Botero; Carlos Cruz-Diez Jr, Son of Venezuelan artist Carlos Cruz-Diez; and Adriana Alvarez-Nichol, Director of Puerta Roja Gallery.

In collaboration with the Financial Times, UBS will host a private forum featuring; Artist, Michael Craig-Martin; Artistic Director of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, Tim Marlow; and Financial Times art experts, Jan Dalley and Rachel Spence.

The UBS Junior Art Hub will return to the show for the fourth year, providing children with art-inspired activities aimed at developing their understanding of visual art, throughout the week. Sessions are open to the public, and will include paper weaving, 3D paper craft, interactive drama games and spin painting.

Throughout the week, trending topics and contemporary art news based on data gathered from global media sources will be available via the UBS Planet Art app. The app allows users to navigate and distil large amounts of information about contemporary art, and collect and organize news, features, and market stories into custom content streams.

Notes to editors:

About the UBS Art Collection

UBS has been an active contemporary art collector since the 1960s, a practice driven by the company’s long-held belief that the art of today provides inspiration and challenge while encouraging the innovative thinking that has shaped UBS’s corporate culture over the last half century.

Today the UBS Art Collection is considered one of the largest and most important corporate collections of contemporary art in the world. Comprised of various individual art collections with unique attributes that have been integrated over time through a series of mergers and acquisitions – notably between Union Bank of Switzerland, Swiss Bank Corporation and PaineWebber Inc. – the UBS Art Collection currently includes more than 30,000 paintings, works on paper, photography, sculpture, video and installations by artists from 73 countries. The vast majority of these works are displayed in more than 800 UBS offices around the world, serving as an inspiration for employees and a platform for dialogue with clients and the public.

UBS takes a dynamic approach to the collection, continuing to grow and evolve its holdings, acquiring works from around the world in accordance with the geographical reach of its business. UBS also actively supports artists and galleries and actively lends works to major art museums and cultural institutions for public exhibitions.

About UBS Art Collection: To Art its Freedom

UBS Art Collection: To Art its Freedom will feature more than 200 color illustrations and includes the text: “UBS Art Collection: A History and a Moment” written by Mary Rozell, Global Head UBS Art Collection, which presents a history of the Collection, as well as a view to its future. The central essay by noted art historian and curator Dieter Buchhart entitled “To Art its Freedom: A Collection as Emblem of Post-postmodern Polyphony” which contextualizes the Collection within the framework of art history and makes connections among the various featured works. The title of the publication is a quotation from the famous words above the entrance to the Secession Building in Vienna, “To Every Age its Art, to Art its Freedom,” which, according to Buchhart, reflects the spirit of the UBS Art Collection – one that endures and remains relevant, independent of changing circumstances or frameworks. UBS Art Collection: To Art its Freedom is available for purchase through publisher Hatje Cantz. The 24 × 30 cm, portrait format, hardcover volume is available in English at https://www.hatjecantz.de/.

UBS and Contemporary Art

UBS’s long and substantial record of patronage in contemporary art enables clients and audiences to participate in the international conversation about art and the global art world through the firm’s global art platform. In addition to the UBS Art Collection, considered one of the world’s largest and most important corporate collections of contemporary art, UBS has an extensive roster of contemporary art programs that include the firm’s long-term support for the premier international Art Basel shows in Basel, Miami Beach and Hong Kong, for which UBS serves as global Lead Partner; the Guggenheim UBS MAP Global Art Initiative with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; and a global exhibition tour of WOMEN: New Portraits, an exhibition of newly commissioned photographs by renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz. These activities are complemented by a number of regional partnerships with fine art institutions including the Fondation Beyeler in Switzerland, Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Milan, the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco, the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark, the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg and the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. UBS also provides its clients with insight into the contemporary art world through the free art news app UBS Planet Art, collaborations with the Swiss Institute, and the online resource Artsy, as well as through the UBS Arts Forum. For more information about UBS’s commitment to contemporary art, visit ubs.com/art.

UBS and Art Basel

The relationship between UBS and Art Basel began in 1994 when the Swiss financial services firm began serving as lead partner for the original edition of the show in Basel. In 1999, the partnership was extended to include Art Basel’s Unlimited exhibition platform – which enables artists to realize highly original and ambitious projects – and, in 2002, the inaugural edition of Art Basel in Miami Beach. In 2014, UBS became involved with Art Basel in Hong Kong, officially assuming its current role as global Lead Partner of Art Basel for all three of its acclaimed international venues. In June 2016, it was announced that Art Basel and UBS would partner to commission a comprehensive, new annual art-market report by renowned cultural economist Dr. Clare McAndrew. The Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report will be issued in March 2017 during Art Basel in Hong Kong.

About Art Basel

Founded in 1970 by gallerists from Basel, Art Basel today stages the world's premier art shows for Modern and contemporary art, sited in Basel, Miami Beach, and Hong Kong. Defined by its host city and region, each show is unique, as reflected in its participating galleries, the artworks presented, and the parallel programming produced in collaboration with local institutions for each edition.

Art Basel’s engagement has expanded beyond art fairs through a number of new initiatives. In 2014, Art Basel launched its Crowdfunding Initiative, in collaboration with Kickstarter. This initiative presents jury-selected art projects to potential benefactors, which include Art Basel’s vibrant audience and the Kickstarter community. The initiative has catalyzed much needed support for outstanding non-commercial art projects worldwide and so far has helped pledge over $1.4 million to creative projects around the world. For Art Basel Cities, launched in 2016, Art Basel is working with selected partner cities to develop vibrant and content driven programs specific to the individual city. Connecting them to the global art world through Art Basel's expertise and network, Art Basel Cities supports its partners to develop their unique cultural landscape. For further information please visit artbasel.com.

About UBS

UBS provides financial advice and solutions to wealthy, institutional and corporate clients worldwide, as well as private clients in Switzerland. The operational structure of the Group is comprised of our Corporate Center and five business divisions: Wealth Management, Wealth Management Americas, Personal & Corporate Banking, Asset Management and the Investment Bank. UBS’s strategy builds on the strengths of all of its businesses and focuses its efforts on areas in which it excels, while seeking to capitalize on the compelling growth prospects in the businesses and regions in which it operates, in order to generate attractive and sustainable returns for its shareholders. All of its businesses are capital-efficient and benefit from a strong competitive position in their targeted markets.

UBS is present in all major financial centers worldwide. It has offices in 54 countries, with about 34% of its employees working in the Americas, 35% in Switzerland, 18% in the rest of Europe, the Middle East and Africa and 13% in Asia Pacific. UBS Group AG employs approximately 60,000 people around the world.