Alisan Fine Arts, founded in 1981, is one of the first professionally run gallery in Hong Kong. The gallery focuses on promoting Chinese artists living overseas and in the mainland. During the past 30 years, it has organized over 100 exhibitions in Hong Kong and abroad, making it a pioneer in introducing Chinese contemporary art to collectors at large.
Gallery director Alice King was born in Shanghai, raised in Hong Kong and educated in the United States. She has been a pioneer in the field of contemporary Chinese painting and was awarded the "Chevalier des Arts et Lettres" in 1995, Gold Dragon Award from the Literature & Artists Association of Hong Kong in 1999, followed by the "Chevalier Legion d'Honeur" in 2000 by the French government. Among her many activities, she has served on the advisory committee for the Guggenheim Museum's 1999 exhibition entitled "China 2000 Years." Most recently, she was awarded the Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award in 2004, and the "Officier de l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur" in 2013.
In 1987, the gallery organized the landmark exhibition "A State of Transition, Contemporary Paintings from Shanghai", which included fourteen artists such as Chen Jialing, Li Shan, Zhang Guiming and Zhang Jianjun at the Hong Kong Arts Centre. The gallery was also the first to organize a solo exhibition of Zao Wou-ki's works in Hong Kong in 1993, and since then has held five more solo exhibitions for well-known artists Chu Teh-chun,
Walasse Ting, and manages the estate of Chao Chung-hsiang.
While introducing contemporary Chinese painters to the West, Alisan Fine Arts has also staged exhibitions for Western artists: the gallery collaborated with galleries in Europe and the United States. Among them the gallery has worked with Galerie Jan Krugier of Switzerland, Galerie Enrico Navarra of Paris and E. V. Thaw and Artemis of New York. In 1995, Mrs. King was instrumental in bringing the French sculptor
Bernar Venet’s exhibition to The Shanghai Museum. Alisan Fine Arts acted as Art Consultant to the Hong Kong MTR, Beijing’s Oriental Plaza, Hong Kong’s Peninsula Hotel, J P Morgan.
A continued effort has been made for gallery artists to be included in museum collections. The gallery has worked with The Hong Kong Museum of Art; The Shanghai Art Museum; The China National Academy of Art, Hangzhou; The Taiwan Provincial Fine Art Museum, Taichung; The Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei; The Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena; The Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco, San Francisco, The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Museum of Rutgers University, New Jersey; The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, The Peabody Essex Museum; The British Museum, London; The Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Aarhus,
Denmark; The Malmo Konsthall, Sweden; and, The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Shanghai.
Alisan Fine Arts participated in many Art Fairs such as Tresors, Singapore 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997; Art Taipei, 1994; the International Asian Art Fair, New York, 1996; FINE ART ASIA 2009, 2012, 2013; Art HK 10 and 12; Art Basel in Hong Kong 2013; and Masterpiece London 2013.
The following museums have acquired and/or shown works of the gallery's major artists: The Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong; The Shanghai Museum, Shanghai; The China National Academy of Art, Hangzhou; The West Lake Art Museum, Hangzhou; Taiwan Provincial Fine Art Museum, Taichung; Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei; the Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena; The Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco; The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Museum, Rutgers University, New Jersey; The British Museum, London; The Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Aarhus,
Denmark; The Guggenheim Museum, New York, The Chicago Institute, The Malmo Konsthall, Sweden.
In 2009, AFA moved from Prince's Building in Central to its current location in Aberdeen, providing a larger gallery space for display, office, and library.
Selected Gallery Artists:
Chang Chieh
Chao Chung Hsiang
Chinyee
Chu Ko
Chu Teh Chun
Cui Zifan
Fang Zhaoling
Gao Xingjian
Fay Ming
Hsiao Chin
Leng Hong
Li Huasheng
Li Shan
Liu Jian
Lu Fusheng
Lui Shou Kwan
Luo Qi
Man Fung-yi
Peng Xiancheng
T'ang Haywen
Walasse Ting
John Way
Wang Chuan
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Wei Ligang
Xu Lei
Yang Jie Chang
Zao Wouki
Zeng Mi
Zhang Gui Ming
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