Ask Magnus Renfrew, director of the Hong Kong International Art Fair (Art HK), how good this year's edition is going to be, and his answer is simple: 'It's only as good as the galleries that participate.' And judging by the A-list exhibitors and artists who will be showing, and the international art collectors and curators who are attending, Art HK looks set to maintain its position as this region's premier contemporary art fair this year.
Ahead of the annual pilgrimage to the art mecca of the East, which falls between May 17 and May 20, we catch up with some of the major players in the art world who will be adding credibility, cultural depth and diversity to this year's fair.
William Zhao, Chinese collector and curator
Zhao has an eclectic taste in art that runs from the ancient (limestone Buddha statuettes from Afghanistan and Tang dynasty burial artefacts) to the contemporary (works by mainland painter Zeng Fanzhi and German artist Georg Baselitz). There are an estimated 200 to 300 works in his vault, with about 10 per cent on display in his Peak residence. On one wall, for instance, there are Zhan Wang's Artificial Rock No110, Jules de Balincourt's Untitled in oil and enamel on panel, Zeng's Warhol as well as two smaller pieces by Zhang Huan and Zhang Enli.
The 43-year-old Zhao says he rotates the artwork occasionally, depending on his mood. The art he collects, he says, connects with him aesthetically and intellectually. Zhao says it is hard to identify an 'Asian taste' as collectors in this region are increasingly exposed to art from around the globe.
An avid painter since he was a child, Zhao abandoned his passion to pursue a career in finance, which led him to France where he spent 11 years between 1993 and 2004. Today, he has returned to what he loves most and is an independent curator; both Jean-Michel Othoniel's 'My Way' (now running at the Macau Museum of Art) and de Balincourt's 'An Honest Statement' (which opens on May 15 at Espace Louis Vuitton), which are part of this year's Le French May, are curated by him.
Zhao says that as an art collector, there is a lot of pressure on him to preserve not only the objects but history: 'All these art objects have a life and you don't want to do anything to harm them.'