Artists drawn to Hong Kong's bright lights

"Hong Kong sucks. It's expensive and stressful," says Korean-American artist Jin Meyerson. A big name in the art world, he has worked in New York, Paris and, most recently, Seoul. This morning, however, he is standing in his new studio, a converted industrial space in Fo Tan.

The artist abroad is not a new phenomenon. Impoverished, emerging artists are often drawn overseas by the promise of a receptive audience, cheaper living and a more bohemian culture. So why are so many foreign artists now making their home in Hong Kong, a city famous for its high cost of living and a tendency to favour wealth creation over artistic expression?

Most assume the driving force is the chance to get a break on the mainland. The Chinese market for art is booming and it is thought that Hong Kong offers foreigners a relatively easy point of entry. Not so for many emerging modern artists, who say that notion is outdated.

"I always use the internet to show my work and get opportunities," says French artist Charles Munka, who has made his home in Hong Kong for the past four years. "The world is getting smaller. Perhaps where you happen to be in it doesn't matter so much."

For many, one of Hong Kong's biggest draws is that it's unlike the mainland. Laurent Segretier, a French photographer who lives and works in a shared flat in Causeway Bay, tried to make his home in Shanghai and Shenzhen but soon became frustrated.

"China wasn't easy to live in and the language barrier started to be a real obstacle for my personal development. It was difficult to get resources such as books and most of my favourite websites were censored ... Living in China is not that cheap any more and it's much more difficult to collaborate or produce works over there in terms of quality and copyright."