Interview with Gallery Exit director Aenon Loo
By Kathy Zhang
Portrait of Aenon Loo, 2011. Courtesy Gallery Exit, Hong Kong.
Aenon Loo is the founding director of Gallery Exit, the leading art space for emerging local artists in Hong Kong. Loo, who holds a PhD in electronic music and composition, divides his time between his two passions, music—helping launch the annual Hell Hot New Music Festival in 2010—and visual art—running a full-time gallery. In late August, Exit officially announced their move from their original space in Central to a warehouse location (dubbed Southsite) on the south of Hong Kong Island. In addition to this bold move, Loo, Art Asia Archive researcher Anthony Yung and Sonja Ng from Sotheby’s have pooled their money to open Hardneck, a self-described “go-on-until-we-can’t-go-on initiative” located in Wan Chai’s Foo Tak Building. Hardneck serves as a space to present first exhibitions by new Hong Kong artists, opening in July with Lam Hoi Sin’s exhibition of repurposed unwanted goods called “The Crap Show” (July 7–August 4). Currently showing at Hardneck are drawings and video installations by Chinese University of Hong Kong graduate, Ko Sin Tung. Loo speaks with ArtAsiaPacific about Gallery Exit’s conception and the gallery’s recent initiatives.
