Art News

UK’s White Cube opens Hong Kong gallery in pursuit of China’s booming art market

HONG KONG (AP).- Britain’s White Cube gallery, known as an early champion of provocative British artists Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin, launched its Hong Kong branch on Thursday, becoming the latest Western gallery to open an Asian outpost in pursuit of China’s booming art market. White Cube unveiled a 6,000-square-foot (557-square-meter) space in a new building in Hong Kong’s central business district. With its first branch outside Britain, White Cube follows other British as well as French and American galleries that have set up shop in Hong Kong in recent years. As their home markets plateau, they’re pinning hopes for future growth on Asia, particularly China, where a strong economy has been minting millionaires at a rapid clip. “Obviously there’s a new generation of collector that is emerging in China,” said Graham Steele, White Cube’s Asia director. But he added that Taiwan and South Korea are also major markets for contemporary art, while Japan, India, Indonesia and Austral