Celebrating 35 Years: Interview with Daphne King Yao
By Sylvia Tsai
Alisan Fine Arts director Daphne King Yao with WEI LIGANG’s The Inundated Area (2003), a work that will be exhibited in public for the first time at the gallery’s 35th anniversary show at Hong Kong Central Library. Photo by Jessica Keung for ArtAsiaPacific.
Alisan Fine Arts gallery has been a pillar in the Hong Kong art scene since 1981, cultivating the careers of Chinese modernist painters who were living abroad, such as Zou Wou-ki, Chu Teh-chun and Walasse Ting. Championing these artists was the gallery’s enthusiastic co-founder, Alice King, who curated the landmark exhibition “New Ink Art: Innovation and Beyond” at the Hong Kong Museum of Art in 2008. The exhibition presented alternative interpretations of ink art, with many works taking forms that moved beyond the brush and paper. In 2005, King’s daughter, Daphne King Yao took over as director of Alisan Fine Arts and has continued to promote Chinese contemporary art, particularly ink painting. On the occasion of the gallery’s 35th anniversary, ArtAsiaPacific sat down with King Yao at their location in Aberdeen, south Hong Kong Island, to speak about the gallery’s evolution. King Yao sheds light on Alisan Fine Arts’ early days, her mother’s vision and passion for the artists, and what visitors can expect to see at the anniversary exhibition, held in Hong Kong Central Library from December 2 to 8, 2016.
