The public space may be hotly contentious, but there's no denying Times Square's new modern art exhibit is very cool. The retail venue has staged three fascinating installations from three acclaimed visual artists.

The outdoor piazza now features a display from mainland artist Yue Minjun, famous for his smiling-faced figures, called Contemporary Terracotta Warriors. The second floor lobby is taken up by bizarre works from leading Taiwanese artists Hung Tunglu (far right) and Huang Chihyang (second from left), both of whom now live in Beijing. The artworks were launched on Tuesday with a ceremony and they are curated by Hanart TZ Gallery's Johnson Chang Tsong-zung (left). 'Huang Chihyang's main theme often evolves from nature, whereas Hung Tunglu's creativity comes through the skilful use of technology to present pop culture in a surrealist light,' Chang says.

However, instead of inviting the intellectual and arts community, it was still the usual socialites who promoted the art and had their photos taken, which I guess it makes publicity sense. Still, you have to wonder what relevance there is to bringing a bubble-gum singer like Joey Yung Cho-yee (third from left) to a high-art event. 'Last year, I stayed in Beijing for about two weeks when I did the tribute concert for the late Teresa Teng. I took some time off and went to the famous 798 Art Space in Beijing. I saw many amazing artworks, including some by today's exhibiting artists,' Yung said. Oh, I see.