From Top
Trader
to the Art
Trade
By Beverly Cheng
— At the helm of her
own gallery along
Hollywood Road
and a role as an art
personality on Now TV,
Angela Li talks about
life after banking.
“I have Chinese parents,” explains Angela Li, “and although I
liked art and painting—thinking that I was quite good—I didn’t
take art beyond GCSE and basically never ever expected myself
to do something in art.”
Li went to London School of Economics instead, and was
lost in a sea of students from around the world that all shared
the same aspiration—a career in investment banking. “Ninetyfive percent of my peers wanted to be investment bankers. The
five percent remaining wanted to be lawyers, accountants and
politicians,” Li laughs. Unable to break from the mould, she soon
snagged a job as a trader at the HSBC treasury. The exciting
pulse of the trading floor was electrifying at first, but the allure
quickly faded three years into the job. “Back then, my eye bags
were down to here, not that they’re much better now” Li jokes,
pointing down to her jaw line. “It’s a stressful job, and at the end
of the day, I was doing it for other people.”
Li escaped from daily work stress by immersing herself
in the local art scene, collecting art and gradually befriending
artists and gallery owners along the way. Inspired by the
seemingly fabulous lives of her jetsetting gallery owner friends,
Li eventually left her job in finance. “I didn’t look underneath the
glamorous exterior to see the complicated side. I just saw the
exhibitions, the parties and the traveling.” For the first couple of
years, Li cold-called prospective clients and learned from people
in the business, before opening a showroom in Central near
Lan Kwai Fong.
At the time, appreciation for Chinese art was still in its
infancy and Li toyed with the idea of opening a gallery dedicated
to contemporary art, a platform for artists she admired. But
it was not until 2008 that Contemporary by Angela Li opened
its doors with an inaugural exhibition by photographer Chen
Jiagang. Today, Li still represents a handful of Chinese artists
abroad, many of who are her closest friends.
In a lucrative art market, Li boldly stands by her tastes,
choosing artworks strictly based on her gut feeling rather
than solely on what the market wants. “Art is supposed to be
challenging; you have to take a step further and challenge ideas.
I make choices based on what I like and how it moves me,” says
Li. “If you talk to anyone and they look at my exhibitions and
what the artists represent, they can say: ‘that’s Angela’s.’”
Recent development along Hollywood Road has led to more
business, but Li doesn’t have any plans to expand just yet. “Right
now, I’m happy. It already gives me a decent amount of work,
I don’t want more,” she says.
Check out the latest exhibition at Contemporary by
Angela Li (90-92 Hollywood Rd., Central, 3571-8200,
www.cbal.com.hk).
The interview was excerpted from HK Magazine No. 892, 2011 June, P10
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