How hosting a show by Australian artist Jordy Kerwick changed the life of gallery owner and streetwear label co-founder Kevin Poon
- Kevin Poon, who owns the Woaw Gallery in Hong Kong’s Central district, recently put on a show for Australian artist Jordy Kerwick
- The entrepreneur, who’d only opened the gallery two years ago, was inspired by the show, which he says proved he was doing the right thing
Self-taught France-based Australian artist Jordy Kerwick paints maximalist, brightly coloured still lifes that often combine images of animals with domestic objects. Queens Towers & Flowers (2021) was displayed as part of “Année du Tigre, L’heure du Tigre”, his recent solo show celebrating the Year of the Tiger, at the Woaw Gallery in Hong Kong’s Central district.
Kevin Poon, owner of the gallery, as well as co-founder of streetwear brand Clot, retailer Juice, distributor District and marketing agency Social/Capital, tells Richard Lord how it changed his life.
Everything started with the gallery in 2019. Before that, I was just an admirer of the arts, collecting here and there, and going to art fairs. My background is in the fashion industry, but I see a lot of connections between the fashion and art worlds.
I was pretty much travelling between art fairs and then the pandemic hit and I wasn’t able to go to any of them and I just wanted to bring the work to myself. We did shows by Charlie Roberts and Cristina BanBan in 2020, and that gave me the confidence to do more.
Because of the pandemic, we fell into this beautiful space in 9 Queen’s Road, which we wouldn’t have been able to get usually – it would have been reserved for luxury brands. We signed a one-year lease at a very affordable rent and did show after show. Now we have two galleries in Hong Kong and one in Beijing.