How social media artists and influencers are making a mark on Hong Kong’s creative scene
In a scene dominated by galleries, online artist influencers like Little Thunder and SurrealHK are making a mark with their social media art
In a world driven by social media, are galleries becoming increasingly obsolete? Some Hong Kong artists are entirely online, evolving into influencers and opinion leaders.
Little Thunder, a Hong Kong-based illustrator, is one of the most celebrated, with one million followers on Instagram.
SurrealHK is another, with 197,000 followers enjoying ice floes, snakes and pandas amid familiar city sights.
There are innumerable others: ArYU, Tonn Hsu and Tse Sai Pei, for example, all of whom inject painterly fantasy into urban life.
Young Hong Kong artist Isaac Spellman recently completed a master’s at the University of the Arts London, and promotes his art on social media. “I’m 50/50,” he says on being represented by a gallery. “I am steering towards traditional media, including ceramics and printmaking, but I want to be multifaceted. I feel under more pressure in a gallery setting because of the commercial angle.”
Stephanie Braun, director at Karin Weber, which last year celebrated 25 years in Hong Kong, agrees on the value of galleries. “Some of our artists have works that are nuanced, layered and hard to get across on a small screen … You need to get up close,” she says. Braun believes artists can promote themselves through social media with the right amount of energy, time and impetus. “Self-promotion comes more naturally to younger artists,” she states. “If an artist is part of our programme, I would hope that says something to the market about their calibre, their practice, their professionalism.”