London contemporary-art dealer White Cube is opening a branch in Hong Kong as it lures business from Asian billionaires. Its rival, Gagosian, opened a branch in the former U.K. colony in January with a Damien Hirst show. Both dealerships were among 260 exhibitors at the fourth annual edition of the Hong Kong International Art Fair in May.
White Cube, which represents Hirst, Tracey Emin and Jake and Dinos Chapman, has acquired a gallery at 50 Connaught Road Central, it confirmed in an e-mail yesterday. The two-story space has been leased for three years and will open in early 2012.
"Asia is the big growth area," Philip Hoffman, chief executive officer of the London-based Fine Art Fund, said in an interview. "Though the Chinese still tend to concentrate on their own art and antiques, there's growing interest from some Asian buyers in the established brand names of western contemporary art. Hirst is a hit."
White Cube is also planning to add to its two London galleries in St. James's and Hoxton with a third space in the southwest of the city. It has acquired a 15-year lease on a former warehouse at Bermondsey St., and its new gallery there will open near the end of 2011.
(Scott Reyburn writes about the art market for Muse, the arts and culture section of Bloomberg News. Opinions expressed are his own.)