UNDERCOVER EXPAT: Art Beijing 2012

So, Beijing has a lot of art.

Traditionally, they've separated the art fairs and did a Fine Art Fair and then a Contemporary Art Fair. Well, that all changed this year as they joined forces with Mercedes Benz and Hermes to bring us one big combined art fair called, appropriately, ART BEIJING 2012.

The art itself was mostly very very commercial as this was seemingly catered more towards hotels, businesses, etc who needed really big pieces for lobbies, atriums, etc, so I won't comment much about the art itself. However, I will comment about the spectacle that was Art Beijing 2012 on preview night.

Lovely invite, good card stock. 

This was the 2nd security check point to get in, and we started to wonder "what do they have in there to justify and prompt this much security?"

AND as soon as we walked in, we were greeted with this: A ginormous Hermes Kelly Bag. And yes, people are not only falling in line to take a picture with it, but also to WALK INTO it.

Naturally, we wanted a closer look of course. 

And post Art Beijing 2012, we were starving, and in line with the spectacle that was Art Beijing we went to the Willy Wonka of dumpling shops and had technicolor dumplings for dinner. It just seemed appropriate.

Another wonderfully bizarre night in Beijing.