Global media coverage of the booming Hong Kong gallery scene tends to focus on international dealers who open stores in the city. However, this myopic view overlooks a very dynamic, dynamic new player who has recently entered the scene, especially in the aftermath of the pandemic. Despite the ongoing scrutiny and speculation about the decline of Hong Kong following the protests and their close ties to China, these new galleries are often defined by experimental plans that push the boundaries of traditional aesthetics and face the most pressing problems facing younger, more generations.
The podium is one of the emerging galleries that have rapidly established a reputation in the Hong Kong art ecosystem. As the gallery celebrates its second anniversary, amid the hustle and bustle of artwork in Basel this year, observers caught up with the podium co-founder Cusson Cheng to learn more about the vision and curatorial direction that guides the gallery’s growth.
See: Must-see exhibition for Observers in Basel Hong Kong Art
Cheng has previously held curatorial positions in experimental institutions such as Para websites and other experimental institutions, and entered the gallery business. He said the experience allowed him to create a commercial art gallery from scratch and brought minimal barriers, especially in the joint venture with important resources (especially the international network of talented artists and loyal customers). “Before I was on the Para website, I was a manager of a local gallery, focusing on Korean contemporary art,” he said. “In my extensive experience in the nonprofit and business sector, I identified a gap in the local scene, the shortage of art spaces in Hong Kong that intertwined, forcing aesthetics, academic complexity and commercial viability to intertwined.” This gap was the catalyst that prompted Zheng to create such a strong international reputation in his hometown.
“Even before opening, I set a general curatorial trajectory for our annual plan,” Cheng explained. “The first year’s exhibition was designed to inspire our listeners to imagine other futures beyond tradition.”
The programming of the podium focuses on the current issues, although there is no explicit or public interaction with politics. A recurring theme is the shift in the relationship between human and non-human entities, as well as the current flow and the evolving understanding of identity. This translates into works that explore the power of queer ecology, laughter politics, Buddhist enlightenment and quantum physics, as well as the aesthetic of violence and companionship.
Cheng and his partner and co-founder Charlotte Yin named the gallery podium with a clear intention: creating platforms for underrepresented sounds, especially LGBTQ+ artists and women. “This particular focus is a combination of the passion of my partner, Charlotte Lin,” Cheng said. “We have aroused the creativity of these artists and hope to pave the way for them in Hong Kong, Asia and beyond.” But their commitment is more than simply showing the work. More broadly, they provide overall support to their art peers – assisting in grants and residency applications and supporting their institutional projects in various capacities. “We envision podiums as a solid cornerstone for career development and sustainable development.”
The second year of the gallery began the blockbuster band exhibition “Authshock”, featuring works by Ivana Bašić, Sihan Guo, Ittah Yoda, Yein Lee and Diane Severin Nguyen. Zheng said the exhibition marks a new chapter in the art gallery, an art that urges viewers to fundamentally imagine possibilities, renewal and regeneration possibilities after extreme destruction, in other words, healing in the ongoing chaos.
The show takes a global perspective and brings together regional and international artists whose works all seem to be suspended in the embryonic state. Imagine matter in endless deformations, artworks exist in the confined space between attenuation and renewal, transformation and degradation, as if waiting for its next organic and alchemy phase. Each artist contains the fluidity of matter, visualizing the infinite interaction between the implementation and the non-institution, evoking a continuous continuum of change driven by the permanent rhythm of the natural cycle. Ultimately, the exhibition proposes a new concept of reality and identity, a type that a new generation seems to be ready to live in.
It is worth noting that the podium is not only participating in its generation of artists, but also educating and sharing these groundbreaking aesthetics with a young group of young collectors. “We have a lot of people supporting the gallery program, from the budding outings of purchasing electricity within $5,000 per acquisition to experienced collectors and institutions that particularly like conceptual, experimental work,” Cheng explained.
Cheng firmly believes that despite the global cooling of the art market, the Asian collector base is still healthy. “These collectors tend to attract new artists, new visions and new ideas, and I’m grateful that they resonate with the artistic direction of our program.” He undoubtedly will maintain its role as a major international art hub in the region.
“During the pandemic, there is some speculation that Singapore and South Korea will take over Hong Kong as an art nouveau hub for Asia,” Zheng said. “However, I really believe that my hometown still has one of the key areas in the art market. In addition to favorable tax policies and worry-free customs for art trading, Hong Kong attracts international collectors, curators and museum representatives throughout the year, and also allows us to spend the year without relying on challenges from the local market.”
Hong Kong can also provide opportunities to cultivate collectors and gradually grow into museum customers, creating a sustainable art ecosystem that promotes the continuous flow of resources across sectors of the industry. “All of these reasons lead us to believe that Hong Kong is still full of potential to foster and grow a young gallery.”
The podium opens near the south side’s underground but fast-growing Wong Chuk Hand, where galleries like Axel Vervoordt, Rossi & Rossi and Ben Brown have long lived. “When we scouted, we obviously were a place,” Zheng said. “Southside Gallery is closely connected, we have a strong sense of community, we work together and support each other.”
To date, the gallery has focused primarily on group shows, but this year’s highlights include several first exhibitions, highlighting the podium’s commitment to investing in full young talent. This includes the September solo show by Berlin artist Min-Jia, whose work reshapes the tradition of ancient Chinese shadow puppets. In November, the podium will host a solo exhibition and the Asian debut of Dennis Scholl of Berlin, Asia, who will showcase lush and complex oil paintings and drawings that reminisce to a mysterious worldview where human and non-human creatures vibrate between cruelty, beauty, violence, violence, violence, violence and tenderness.
Until May 24, 2025, the “aftershocks” were watched in the scenery on the podium in Hong Kong.
