Since opening they have hosted everything from a live tattoo demonstration to a sneaker exhibition presented by the local brand Fat Coffee With, and three floors of risqué installations and photography by the anonymous Hong Kong artist and “vulgar poet” Matsuhimaon. While some may think this lacks direction, Mr. Ko said he thinks it is instrumental to expanding the community of art collectors.
Tucked away on a quiet road near the decades-old seafood shops and paper offering stores of the Sheung Wan district, 13a New Street Gallery knows it’s taken a village to make their business successful. The group of young artists, fashion designers and content creators who run the art space have leaned heavily on the people they know during the pandemic, as the city’s strict gathering restrictions made their original plans of running an events space impossible.
The group started by supporting young artists and designers, who don’t often have a space to show their work — friends and classmates from Central Saint Martins, London’s renowned art and design school, said the gallery’s co-founder Ruby Fung. They then expanded to include work by Hong Kong artists who they met through these connections, looking for fresh perspectives.
Their search yielded gems such as Tommy Fung of SURREALHK, a graphic designer and master photo manipulator who creates funny, surreal photos of Hong Kong, and Fapopo (Grandma Flower), a 92-year-old self-taught artist who began painting at 80. Billed as Hong Kong’s version of Yayoi Kusama, her feathery brush stroke flowers, lucky cats and pretty boys adorn everything from canvas to chairs, traffic cones to toy cars.
In anticipation of Art Basel this week, the city that boasts “a New York minute is a Hong Kong second,” has been getting back up to speed with the rest of the world. “Because we’ve been shut for the last three years, right? Because of that, Singapore, Seoul, Taipei, all these other cities in our region have used this opportunity to take our lunch,” said Mr. Jhunjhnuwala. “It’s smart of them because they would have had no other opportunity otherwise.”
But that won’t last for long, he said, “Hong Kongers hate being second place to anyone or anything.”
Christy Choi
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