Floating an Idea

THE PENINSULA LOVE ART GALA DINNER

Natalie and Diego Gonzalez Rainy Chan, Elaine Marden and Olivia Toth Kristine Li and Kate Dong Anto Marden Axelle de Buffévent, Kai-yin Lo and Frantz Hotton This year marked the fourth edition of Love Art at The Peninsula, the hotel’s acclaimed public art initiative, an annual collaboration with the Royal Academy of Arts in London. The Irish-british contemporary artist Michael Craig-martin was chosen for this year’s project, which coincided with Art Basel in Hong Kong. His sculpture Bright Idea, a vibrant yellow, four-metre-high outline of a light bulb, was installed above the fountain in the hotel’s forecourt as if floating.

A champagne and canapés reception, accompanied by the 1920s tunes of the hotel’s band, was held in the grand lobby of The Peninsula to launch the installation. A fourcourse dinner followed, with short, witty speeches between courses by Craig-martin and Tim Marlow, the director of artistic programmes at the Royal Academy. “We all need a little bit of optimism these days, don’t we?” Marlow quipped to Craig-martin. “A light bulb seemed to me the perfect item for The Peninsula,” Craig-martin said. “It represents many things, from light to warmth, but also, figuratively, the concept of sparking an idea. Perhaps even a Bright Idea.”