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Christie Lee

As an art gallery director, it can often feel that your calendar isn’t neatly divided into 12 months, but instead into the spring and autumn “high” seasons, and summer and winter “low” seasons. For Angela Li, one of Hong Kong’s busiest gallery directors, the gap between high and low seasons is even more well defined.
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Not only is her gallery, Contemporary by Angela Li, a regular at fairs like Art Central, Li is also on the board of the Hong Kong Art Gallery Association. A mathematician by training, Li ditched her lucrative financial career to become an art consultant in 2000. While she had no formal art training, a passion for the visual arts combined with a keen eye for market trends meant that she was soon acquiring such high-profile clients as Langham Hotel. By 2008, she had set up Contemporary by Angela Li.
Located at the western end of Hollywood Road, the gallery focuses on Hong Kong and mainland Chinese artists, and has staged exhibitions by Li Hongbo, Jacky Tsai and Peter Steinhauer. At the time of writing, the gallery was showing Lv Shanchuan, a Chinese artist who works with thick layers of paint to explore the blurred line between the real and a representation of the real.
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How does Li think Hong Kong’s art scene has grown in the past decade?
“When I first started the gallery, the Hong Kong art market was very small – almost non-existent. Now art is constantly in the spotlight. It [the art market] has come a long way but there’s still a lot further to go.” Her proudest moment as a gallerist? “When strangers give me and my gallery recognition.”
When asked what time is to her, Li gets philosophical: “Time is something one finds most valuable when it runs out, and don’t think much of it when there’s too much.”
As Li gets older and her schedule busier, she has learned to treasure time more.
“When I was young, time was abundant and limitless. I took it for granted. As one gets older, time is rationed. There is never enough. As a perfectionist, I have to learn to give up certain things and prioritise others to save time for those that truly matter,” she says. “During work, I am often racing against time, trying to fit in as much as possible. When I’m on my personal time, it equals pleasure. I can be with family and friends, exercise, eat, pray, sleep and travel. I often want these times to last as long as possible.”
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Powerful art also makes time slow down for Li. “When an art piece moves a viewer, that is when it is most powerful. One is lost in time. I can stare at and ‘soak in’ an amazing piece of art forever, just letting time go by. And as time passes, and as one’s experiences grow, the impact of an art piece changes. Even if you can no longer physically see the art, the feeling and its impact can be ingrained in one’s brain, and as time passes, it can stir up different feelings and emotions.”
Angela Li’s preferred watches

“I change the coloured strap every now and then, according to my mood.”

“An art deco-inspired creation, this watch features a rectangular dial. It is versatile and goes with everything.”
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Mathematician ditched a lucrative financial career to become an art consultant in 2000, and eight years later she had set up Contemporary by Angela Li on the western end of Hollywood Road


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