As Art Basel Hong Kong returns, the city once again becomes a global meeting point for artists, galleries, and collectors whose perspectives shape the trajectory of contemporary art. Beyond the fair’s booths and institutional programming, it is the Hong Kong collectors—those building focused, deeply personal collections—that define the cultural pulse of the week.
From championing queer Asian narratives to bridging Eastern and Western aesthetics, and fostering cross-regional dialogues between the city and beyond, today’s Hong Kong collectors are as much storytellers as they are stewards. Their acquisitions reflect not only market movements, but evolving values—identity, material experimentation, and global exchange.
Here, Whitewall highlights three Hong Kong collectors to know now, each offering a distinct lens on collecting—and what they’re most excited to see during the week ahead.
Patrick Sun
Founder of Sunpride Foundation
Patrick Sun, courtesy of Patrick Sun.
With a collection centered on queer Asian art, Patrick Sun has spent over a decade building a body of work that amplifies LGBTQ+ narratives through both collecting and institutional engagement. As the founder of the Sunpride Foundation, his mission extends beyond acquisition—supporting exhibitions that increase visibility and respect for queer communities across Asia and globally.
WHITEWALL: Can you share a recent acquisition you’re excited about?
PATRICK SUN: Dispersion (2025) by Indonesian artist Aditya Novali. It’s an oil and ink work on two panels—one featuring different gender identity flags, and the other depicting scenes of demonstrations fighting for equal rights. The panels can be rotated to create different compositions, presenting opposing yet complementary narratives, and beautifully illustrating that no single truth is absolute.
WW: What is your advice for aspiring collectors, just getting started?
PS: Collect with a focus. It can be anything—women artists, works from South Asia, digital art, or figurative paintings—just find a particular group you are drawn to. Having a focus makes the hunt more fun and helps you discover what you truly love.
WW: What are you looking forward to most at Art Basel Hong Kong?
PS: The Encounters sector. It showcases large-scale, museum-quality installations that I would normally travel to see. It’s incredible to have them brought right to our doorstep.
WW: What are the exhibitions in Hong Kong you won’t miss?
PS: I’m excited to check out GOLD, a new art space on the South Side run by Tobias Berger and Seraki Studio. I also won’t miss Antenna Space’s new gallery, which just opened in Wong Chuk Hang.
WW: Who is the artist you’re most excited about right now?
PS: Ayoung Kim, who has become the coveted star of every museum. Her work, which explores realities from a futuristic perspective, opens up a horizon of new possibilities in life.
Chloe Chiu
Founder of Onfinitive Art
Courtesy of Chloe Chiu.
Chloe Chiu’s collecting journey reflects a dynamic evolution—from an early focus on Japanese artists to a broader embrace of female artists across Asia and the West. With a background spanning finance, auctions, and institutional engagement, her collection is shaped by both market insight and personal resonance, often centering on works that speak to a millennial sensibility.
WHITEWALL: Can you share a recent acquisition you’re excited about?
CHLOE CHIU: I’ve always admired the large dog sculpture by Yoshitomo Nara at the Aomori Museum of Art, especially when it’s covered in snow—it gives off this serene, powerful vibe. I recently acquired a Yoshitomo Nara sculpture at a London auction; it’s a dog that looks incredibly calm and relaxed, and I think it’ll be a perfect fit for our holiday house in Hokkaido.
WW: What is your advice for aspiring collectors, just getting started?
CC: Before making any decisions, visit as many quality exhibitions as you can and listen to your inner voice—don’t blindly follow so-called experts, as everyone in the market has their own agenda. Ultimately, you have to take responsibility for your own choices.
WW: What are you looking forward to most at Art Basel Hong Kong?
CC: When I first got into art, I used to travel abroad frequently for art fairs and exhibitions. After the pandemic, I’ve grown accustomed to viewing artworks via PDFs. Now, with kids and pets at home, plus the ongoing conflicts, Art Basel Hong Kong has become one of the few opportunities each year to connect with Western galleries. I’m excited to see more of the trends and aesthetics coming from the West.
WW: What are the exhibitions in Hong Kong you won’t miss?
CC: Art House Tai Hang, located in the unique local neighborhood of Tai Hang in Hong Kong. This group exhibition brings together works from over 50 artists across 10 participating houses, showcasing different facets of Tai Hang. Each house feels like a chapter, inviting visitors to stroll through, explore, and discover, connecting the pieces into a natural and immersive journey.
WW: Who is the artist you’re most excited about right now?
CC: Last year at ABHK, I bought a piece by Mary Weatherford, and this year she’s having her first solo exhibition in Asia at Gagosian Gallery. I find her new works even richer in layers and details—they’re truly stunning.
Charlotte Lin
Co-Founder of PODIUM
Portrait of Charlotte Lin, courtesy of Charlotte Lin.
Minouk Lim, “Wistful Star,” 2026, courtesy of the artist and PODIUM, Hong Kong.
Working at the intersection of curatorial practice, gallery strategy, and cross-cultural exchange, Charlotte Lin brings a deeply informed perspective to collecting. Her approach reflects both her professional immersion in the art world and a sensitivity to materiality, relationships, and long-term artistic development—spanning Hong Kong, Australia, and the broader Asia-Pacific region.
WHITEWALL: Can you share a recent acquisition you’re excited about?
CHARLOTTE LIN: One recent acquisition I’m truly excited about is Heavy Metal Heart by Sydney-based artist Taylor Steel. The work is made with enamel, epoxy resin, ply, toner, paper, and aluminium tape on board, finished with an aluminium frame—one of those pieces where the material list alone tells you you’re in for something unexpected. Taylor works within an expanded print and photo-based practice, examining decay and disorder in the marginal, abandoned, and overgrown spaces that exist in the gaps and peripheries of urban landscapes. Drawn to the uncanny, her work gives you these cropped, warped glimpses of residual and ambiguous space—never the full picture, always something just out of reach.
WW: What is your advice for aspiring collectors, just getting started?
CL: My first piece of advice is always: buy what resonates with you. These are the objects you’ll hold across different moments in your life, so trust your gut over your spreadsheet. Go to galleries, talk to the artists if you can, and spend real time with a work, more than one visit. Let it sit with you, and see if it sits with you.
The second thing: collect the artist. Get to know their practice, their development, their arc. The most meaningful collections I’ve seen are built by people who develop relationships with galleries and artists over the years. Start modest, be curious, and don’t be afraid to ask “silly” questions. The art world, especially in Asia right now, genuinely wants to welcome new collectors in.
WW: What are you looking forward to most at Art Basel Hong Kong?
CL: I think it’s the people. I always love seeing our friends and supporters coming from all across the world and reuniting back in Hong Kong. I’m also excited to see how the dialogue shifts between the established blue-chip galleries and the next generation of spaces from Southeast Asia and Greater China. There’s a real energy in the air; you can feel that Hong Kong is reclaiming its role as the art nexus of the region.
And selfishly, I’m looking forward to that moment when a collector brings a friend to our space, and I get to see their face light up when they make a discovery. That never gets old.
WW: What are the exhibitions in Hong Kong you won’t miss?
CL: Two exhibitions come to mind, and I genuinely won’t miss either.”Site-seeing” at Para Site. Para Site has long been the backbone of Hong Kong’s independent art scene, and this exhibition promises to be a characteristically sharp exploration of how we look at and inhabit spaces, both physical and psychological. Curated by Junni Chen and Yuanyu Li, they’ve brought together a compelling mix of artists who challenge the way we navigate urban environments, memory, and institutional structures. I always leave Para Site exhibitions thinking differently, and I expect this one to be no exception.
The second is “Lee Bul: From 1998 to Now” at M+. Lee Bul is a true giant, her practice spans sculpture, installation, performance, and drawing, and she’s been asking urgent questions about utopian ideals, the body, and technological failure for decades. This isn’t a full retrospective, but a focused look at the pivotal moments in her career from 90’s onward, which feels like the perfect entry point for those less familiar with her work and a rewarding deep dive for those who already admire her. M+ is the kind of institution that can do justice to the scale and ambition of her practice. Some of her cyborg sculptures and architectural interventions need that kind of space to breathe. If you care about contemporary art in Asia, this is unmissable.
WW: Who is the artist you’re most excited about right now?
CL: I’m incredibly excited about Dew Kim. Based between Seoul and Berlin, Dew works across sculpture, installation and painting, creating these multi-layered, almost archaeological compositions that feel both deeply personal and universally resonant. His contents are rich with tension; he builds them up and scrapes them back, revealing fragments of imagery that feel like half-remembered dreams or buried memories. There’s a tension in his work between concealment and revelation, between the solidity of material and the fragility of what’s depicted. Right now, he’s showing two exhibitions simultaneously in Seoul: Deepspace Parousia and Spectrosynthesis Seoul at Art Sonje Center. I’m thrilled to be following his journey.
