Agnes Lin's huge art gallery in Kwun Tong aims to bring local and international contemporary art to the community
A giant warehouse in a block of industrial buildings in Kwun Tong is not the most likely venue for a new art gallery on a mission to become the premier showcase for contemporary art in Hong Kong.
But then again, perhaps it is. After all, the gallery's founder and director, Agnes Lin, built her global merchandising group Osage, from a neighbouring godown.
From a practical point of view, finding an affordable gallery with 1,500 square metres of exhibition space in a more accessible and fashionable location would also be prohibitively expensive - not least because contemporary art in Hong Kong is a relatively new genre. But after spending 20 years building her merchandising business, to the extent that she finally felt confident of running much of it by 'remote management', Ms Lin has diverted her attention to becoming a patron for the modern cultural cause.
'There was basically no exhibition space in Hong Kong for large-scale work being made by contemporary and experimental artists,' she said.
'I thought about what I was going to do for the next 10 years or so, and about what I could do to give something back to my community.
'As a businesswoman, I also thought about how I could make a success of it.
