The LISTE art fair is Art Basel’s kid brother, the fair that welcomes the “young” galleries of the world. In order to qualify your gallery needs to be less than 5 years old and be planning to show artists who are younger than 40. You also have to beat off some pretty stiff opposition. Running parallel to Art Basel from 12-17 June, Liste will this year welcome 63 participants, of whom just two hail from China. One — Beijing’s Platform China — is a veteran of the fair with 2012 being their third outing, the other is Hong Kong’s 2P Contemporary Art Gallery, the first ever gallery from the Harbor City to participate.
ARTINFO HK checked in with Pui Pui To, the founder and director of 2P Contemporary Art Gallery, just after she heard the news.
What does it mean for you gallery to be accepted into LISTE?
It is an opportunity to get great exposure. Of course we have ART HK here in Hong Kong which is a great platform for artists in the region but LISTE has been established since 1996 and also it has an audience and people attending that would be impossible to reach from Hong Kong. It is not only about the exposure though it is an honor to get in. Often the galleries that are featured in LISTE graduate into Art Basel.
Is that something you see for 2P in the future?
I have no idea. To get into Art Basel is very, very difficult but it would be a dream. But definitely being in LISTE has opened the first door to something like that.
Who are the artists that you plan to bring with you to LISTE?
We are bringing three artists Wun Ting Tai, Magdalen Wong and Will Kwan. Wun Ting Tai and Magdalen Wong are Hong Kong-based artists and then Will Kwan was born in Hong Kong but lives in Canada. They are all still quite young but they all have a strong conceptual grounding in their creative processes. They all have their own individual concepts that make them stand out.
How did you go about choosing who to show?
Right now we represent 6 artists and the decision of who to show was made with availability in terms of work in mind and what would work in terms of the curatorial approach we wanted to make. The decision was very much based in terms of the curatorial content that would work that was my main priority.
You are the first Hong Kong Gallery to be accepted into LISTE. Do you feel a burden of responsibility?
In a way I still cannot believe it. On the other hand I was emailed by one of my mentors and he was saying, now you have to perform. In a way I am so excited to bring Hong Kong artists to an international market and audience. Of course it is a lot of pressure but this is what I have chosen to do as my profession and I am ready to take this on.