Although he was a native of Hong Kong, when Ben Brown decided to open an art gallery, he chose London rather than his home town for his first venture. When Ben Brown Fine Arts opened its doors in London’s Cork Street back in 2004, Hong Kong still seemed an unpromising location for a gallery aiming to specialize in western contemporary art. But by 2009, having already opened a second London branch, Brown was ready to take the plunge in Hong Kong.
It turned out he was at the very start of a wave that has brought a raft of internationally focussed players to Hong Kong in recent years. Leading dealers Edouard Malingue and Pascale de Sarthe opened their eponymous galleries in 2010, while Gagosian joined Brown in central Hong Kong’s historic Pedder Building in January 2011.
This month Brown will be testing the waters in Hong Kong’s rival port city of Singapore, exhibiting a selection of Indonesian masters at Art Stage Singapore, which runs until January 15. On the eve of his departure for Art Stage, Brown spoke to ARTINFO HK about why Belgium is probably a better market than Hong Kong, the importance of art fairs and his attitude to new kids on the block like White Cube.
How did you go about setting up your gallery in Hong Kong?
Well, at the time I was trying to do it slightly on a shoestring, which in Hong Kong is almost impossible. It was most difficult from a manpower perspective. Since then the rate at which the Hong Kong art buyer is consuming Western art has increased incrementally. Previously the market had been preoccupied with Asian masters.
Have you seen the market grow and change since you have established Ben Brown Fine Arts, Hong Kong?
Well, put simply, more and more people are buying Western art. So yes.
Do you have any particular artists in your stable that you have found have done particularly well in the Asian market?
I would say I do particularly well in Asia with Ron Arad and Candida Höfer.
Is there something in their work that particularly appeals to the Asian buyer or is it about availability?
I think it is about availability and about actually bringing the works to the market. They are also names that are admired from afar. Asian buyers, like most buyers, want to see the work of art before they spend their money on it and no one else brings this level of art out to them.
What is coming up next for the gallery in Hong Kong?
My next show in Hong Kong will be based around German photography. These are new works and a group show and that will take us through to the Hong Kong art fair [ART HK] in May. I am currently deciding between two new artists as to who we will lead our presentation at the fair.
How do you feel about having new neighbors like Gagosian Gallery and White Cube, which are due to open in Hong Kong in early 2012?
Well for a start, I think it is great. I think the more foreign galleries that come and do good shows the better it is for Hong Kong; and the more the market will head towards buying Western art. I think they will all find it a little more difficult than they initially think though.
Why is that?
Well their experience has been coming out for one five-day spree at the art fair and they seem to think that they will do 52 times the same amount of business that they did in that one week.
How reflective is ART HK of the reality of the art market in Hong Kong?
I would say not reflective at all. The reality is that there are fewer buyers of Western art in Hong Kong probably then there are in Belgium, which is probably not that surprising considering Belgians have a 500-year history of buying Western art compared to Hong Kong.
Do you think people's tastes are changing?
Yes I do. Hong Kong is evolving and the range of buyership is ever expanding.
How much of that do you think is dependent on ART HK?
Very much so. I would say that it has been instrumental. I think the expansion of the western art market based in Hong Kong and also around Asia generally has been positively affected by the proliferation of art fairs — and I include Art Beijing in there as well, although it has not been as successful ART HK yet. Galleries, like myself, opening up and doing museum-style shows in a city like Hong Kong, which has no museums, has also bolstered the market. I think there is also a promising future with the development of the West Kowloon Cultural District but we are five years away from that.
Do you believe the proposed M+ Museum and the whole of the West Kowloon Cultural District will be completed to a standard that reflects its intention?
I think it is going to be vital to the cultural enrichment of Hong Kong. I think it will be hugely influential. As to how I perceive it emerging? At this stage I think it is too early to tell, we are too far away from its completion. I would say at the moment we have a situation where it will be interesting how much money [the museum] have to play with and if they can put together a collection that is worthwhile.
How do you think the curators should go about building a collection that will put Hong Kong on the map in terms of art museums?
One: spend money. But to get together a credible collection of credible Western art they will have to spend so much money that I don’t believe for a second that the Hong Kong government will politically be able to give them that money. The other option is to be given a collection by someone within the community but usually those kinds of donations are contingent on some sort of tax exemption which is kind of irrelevant in Hong Kong because the tax is so low. Barring both of those options it will be a slow process. It is going to be very interesting. We will have to wait and see.