FENG MENGBO, Beijing computer-games-artist extraordinaire, is missing. He has yet to show up for our meeting at the Hanart TZ gallery and even the staff there have no idea where he's gone, after the opening of his show was cancelled the previous day when a typhoon eight signal was hoisted.
'Mengbo is a little depressed because his opening was cancelled by the typhoon,' says gallery assistant Marcello Kwan. Within 90 minutes, Feng is due to give a multimedia presentation at the Asia Art Archive (AAA) on Hollywood Road.
Feng, who has lectured at the likes of New York's Museum of Modern Art, is a sought-after speaker. The mainland artist, who presents his images in the stylised format of computer games, has shown in more than 20 countries, most notably at the prestigious Centre Pompidou in Paris. Has he decided to call the Hong Kong trip a washout?
When Feng eventually calls the gallery 30 minutes later, Kwan is clearly relieved. 'He was stuck at a ToysRUs, up in the New Territories,' he says. 'He's on his way now.'
With the artist safely en route, Hanart founder Johnson Chang Tsong-zung offers a brief take on Feng and his cultural identity.
'Unlike many Chinese artists, Feng doesn't much care for talking about the social context of his art,' Chang says. 'He doesn't mix much with the Beijing art scene. Until recently, he'd never exhibited in China. The first time he did was in 2002 at the 10-year retrospective of Chinese experimental art.