The history of Kiang Malingue is that of an encounter. When Edouard Malingue arrived in Hong Kong in 2010, he crossed paths with a great many people. Amongst them all Lorraine Kiang stood out. The young Frenchman had moved to the city to open his gallery, while Lorraine, who had returned from the United States, had been working at Christie’s for the past four years. They shared many affinities – in particular a love of art history, which Lorraine had studied at New York University. Edouard’s passion for art is a ‘long family history’ – his grandmother Thessa Herold was an art dealer and collector; his grandfather wrote on Monet and Gauguin; and his father Daniel Malingue is a respected gallerist on the Avenue Matignon in Paris.
Edouard and Lorraine both know how to speak about the works they love and how to convince others of their value. Edouard began his professional life selling masterpieces to the top Impressionist museums in the world and Lorraine was in charge of the Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Department at Christie’s. But above all else, they share a passion for contemporary art. Lorraine introduced Edouard to her city and the local scene with its vibrant artistic community. ‘We quickly became inseparable, in work and in life,’ he says.
Opening a gallery on the other side of the world may seem a surprising move for someone from a family so well-established in France and Europe. But since childhood, Edouard has been possessed of a single desire: to discover the world. That is what first interested him about his father’s occupation. ‘He was always coming back from some far-flung country,’ Edouard says with a smile. Having first settled in London, where his brother Olivier lives and also works as a gallerist, Edouard was always intrigued by Hong Kong, or the ‘fragrant harbor’ as it is called in Cantonese. He recalls first visiting in 2008, and ‘the impression of getting lost in a labyrinth as inextricable as it is fascinating, where everything is in the making.’
In the early 2010s, Hong Kong was emerging as the global city of Southeast Asia – as the hub of international trade in the region. Creativity, opportunity, and entrepreneurship were all converging on the island. From Taiwan to Singapore, Seoul to Chongqing, Edouard and Lorraine tirelessly visited studio after studio to discover young talents who have since become some of the biggest names in contemporary art in Asia. These include Tao Hui and Samson Young, as well as artists who came to Europe from Asia, such as Phillip Lai, now based in London, and Yuan Yuan, who lives in Berlin. The two French artists Eric Baudart and Fabien Mérelle are the exception in the group of some 30 artists who otherwise all have links to Asia. ‘The region is in the process of writing its own art history,’ Edouard says enthusiastically. ‘It has a glorious past, but its contemporary expression is in full swing. It is extremely exciting – sometimes even dizzying – to watch the speed and the way in which it is developing.’
Their adventure has not always been easy. The gallery was forced to move on two occasions, faced with rents that doubled overnight due to Hong Kong’s real estate boom. Lorraine underscores the ‘very different mentality’ in Asia: ‘In New York or Paris, if you show great work, there are people you don’t know who begin to compete for it because they want it for their collection. Here, you have to build up a relationship over time.’ She is alluding to those collectors who, until recently, preferred to seek advice from auction houses when acquiring contemporary art. To ensure that their artists are understood and appreciated, the gallery has developed an editorial activity worthy of a museum, going beyond catalogue publications to also produce an e-journal, online resources, interviews, and archives. ‘We have excellent relationships with museums thanks to this,’ Edouard says.
The gallery has made a name for itself over the years with bold, radical programming, such as the 2013 exhibition ‘Sneakerotics: Further Materials for a Theory of the Young-Girl’, which was dedicated to the Los Angeles feminist punk scene and revealed striking parallels with certain Hong Kong artists. They also made the courageous decision to represent several Asian artists who work primarily in video and had never before been represented by a gallery, so had limited markets.
In addition to filmmaker-artists like Ho Tzu Nyen and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, the gallery has enabled the emergence of one of the most highly respected Asian artists today: Wong Ping. In 2016, at Art Basel Miami Beach, Edouard and Lorraine devoted their entire booth to his videos – an audacious decision at a fair of this magnitude. Word spread quickly, and soon everybody was flocking to discover the sugary, disturbing, funny videos that so perfectly embody the mindset of a Chinese society torn between tradition and hypermodernity, isolation and the desire for independence. ‘We didn’t sell anything, but we were the surprise sensation of that year’s fair,’ recalls Edouard. Curators from prestigious institutions such as the Guggenheim and the New Museum may have passed by the booth without notice, but the artist would go on to show at both museums just two years later, including a solo exhibition in 2021 at the New Museum in New York entitled ‘Your Silent Neighbor’.
In 2022, the gallery changed its name from ‘Edouard Malingue Gallery’ to ‘Kiang Malingue’. ‘Lorraine taught me so much here, and I wanted that to be the story our gallery tells.’ With a team of 14, the gallery continues to grow. ‘Our program is consistent and well-supported by a group of young collectors who follow us because we are not chasing after the latest market trend,’ says Edouard.
Kiang Malingue has staged over 100 exhibitions over the past 13 years, in Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai, where it opened a branch in 2016. It now has two spaces on the island – one in the industrial district of Tin Wan, to which they have just added a second floor, and the other in Wan Chai, a stone’s throw from the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The latter site offers what Edouard describes as a ‘more intimate experience, like walking into a house. We have a kitchen and a terrace where we invite you to drink tea and discuss art. What we value most is spending time with people.’
Kiang Malingue will participate in the Galleries sector of Art Basel Hong Kong, from March 23 to 25, 2023.
Yann Perreau is an author based in Los Angeles.
English translation: Jacob Bromberg.
Published on March 9, 2023.
Caption for full-bleed images, from top to bottom: 1. Kiang Malingue gallery in Wanchai, designed by BEAU. Courtesy of BEAU. 2. Installation view of group show ‘Sneakerotics: Further Materials for a Theory of the Young-Girl’ at Kiang Malingue, Hong Kong, 2013. Courtesy of Kiang Malingue. 3. Installation view of Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s exhibition ‘A Planet of Silence’ at Kiang Malingue, Hong Kong, 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Kiang Malingue. 4. Installation view of Wong Ping’s exhibition ‘Your Silent Neighbor’ at the New Museum, New York, 2021. Courtesy of the artist and Kiang Malingue.
See also Lorraine Kiang's participation in 'Offsite/Online: How are Galleries Redefining the Marketplace?', as part of the Conversations program at Art Basel Hong Kong 2022.