Founder


Alice King Biography

Founder Alice King is a true patron of the arts. Born in Shanghai and raised in Hong Kong, she received a BA in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania and MSc in Library Science from the University of Michigan. After graduation, she worked at the Rockefeller Foundation in New York for a year before returning to Hong Kong in the 1970s with her husband and children. 

Mrs King is the Honorary Chairman of the Ink Society, prior to serving as its Chairman (2007-2018), Trustee of the Friends of Hong Kong Museum of Art (2009-2013), Director, Association Culturelle France, Hong Kong Limited (2004-2016), and Honorary Governor of the Hong Kong Sinfonietta (1999-present). In the past she served as Art Adviser to the Arts Development Council (2003-2004), Founding Member of The Opera Hong Kong (2003), Member of Museum sub-committee of the Culture and Heritage Commission of Hong Kong (2001-2002), Chairman of the Board of the Hong Kong Sinfonietta (1997-99), Vice-Chairman of Friends’ Committee of Asian Cultural Council Hong Kong (1987-88), Steering Committee of Asian Cultural Council Hong Kong (1998), Executive Committee of the Hong Kong Arts Centre Gallery Committee (1985-86), Chairman of the Ladies Committee of The Hong Kong Arts Festival (1982-83), and Chairman of the Ladies Committee of the Hong Kong Philharmonic (1979-80).

For her tireless contribution to the arts, Mrs King was awarded by the French government the prestigious Chevalier des Arts et Lettres in 1995, Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in 2000 and Officier de l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur in 2013, Gold Dragon Award (as an outstanding overseas Chinese) by Literature & Artists Association of Hong Kong in 1999, and Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award in 2004. 

Over the years, Mrs. King has been involved in many professional projects including:

  • 2008 — Curator, New Ink Art: Innovation and Beyond (The Hong Kong Museum of Art)
  • 2007 — Curator, A Lyrical Journey: Chinyee’s 50-Year Retrospective (The Shanghai Art Museum)
  • 2007 — Co-organizer, Floating Reeds- An Installation by Ming Fay (The Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai)
  • 2007 — Curator, Exploration: New Ink Art Shanghai (The Zhu Qizhan Art Museum, Shanghai)
  • 2007 — Moderator of symposium, The New Face of Ink Painting – Modern Ink Painting Group Exhibition and Symposium (Central Plaza Lobby & Olympic City 1, Hong Kong)
  • 2004 — Curator/co-presenter, Love of the Cosmos: The Art of Chao Chung-hsiang (The National Art Museum of China, Beijing; The Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai; Galerie Adler, Paris & The Hong Kong Arts Centre)
  • 2004 — Co-presenter, Chao Chung-hsiang: An Eternal Searcher (The National Museum of History, Taipei)
  • 2001 — Co-presenter, John Way: A Retrospective at 80 (The Shanghai Art Museum)
  • 2001 — Curator, Enlightened Blackness: Ink Paintings by Yang Jiechang – Le French May, University Museum and Art Gallery (The University of Hong Kong)
  • 2000 — Organizing committee － Shanghai Biennale (he Shanghai Art Museum)
  • 2000 — Coordinating committee, Chu Teh-chun (The Shanghai Museum)
  • 2000 — Curator, Oriental Plaza: Selected Contemporary Sculpture from China (Oriental Plaza, Beijing)
  • Nov 1999-Jan 2000 — Curator, Chao Chung-hsiang: His Singular Legacy (The Zhejiang West Lake Art Museum, Hangzhou)
  • 1999 — Coordinating committee, The Centenary of Lin Fengmian: Exhibition of Lin Feng Mian & Chao Chung-hsiang and symposium (The Shanghai Chinese Painting Institute)
  • 1999 — Organizing committee, The Second Annual China Contemporary Sculpture (The He Xiangning Art Gallery, Shenzhen)
  • 1998 — Honorary Committee, A Century in Crisis, Modernity and Tradition in the Art of Twentieth-Century China (The Guggenheim Museum, USA)
  • 1998 — Organizing committee (Shanghai International Sculpture Symposium)
  • 1998 — Coordinating committee, Exposition Zao Wou-ki En Chine (The Shanghai Museum)
  • 1997 — Co-curator, Chinese Roots: Works from Mainland and Oversea Chinese Artists (The Shanghai Art Museum)
  • 1995 — Coordinator, Bernar Venet: Indeterminate Lines (The Shanghai Museum)

 

Director


Daphne King Biography

Born in America, Daphne has lived in Hong Kong since the age of five. She graduated from Philips Academy, Andover and the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in History. After graduation she worked in the advertising industry in New York and Hong Kong. In 1996, she joined Alisan Fine Arts and was promoted to Director in 2005; in 2011 she formally took over operations at the gallery. She has since curated several landmark exhibitions, the most recent being the celebration of Alisan Fine Arts 35th Anniversary at the Central Public Library in 2016, accompanied by the launch of a 300-page monologue highlighting the gallery’s history. Other exhibitions include Fang Zhaoling, Vigorous and Fresh Chinese Ink Painting held at Fine Art Asia and Alisan Fine Arts in 2012; Yang Jiechang: Good Morning Hong Kong at the Hong Kong Central Library and Alisan Fine Arts in 2015; A Legacy of Ink: Lui Shou-kwan 40 Years On at the Hong Kong Arts Centre and Alisan Fine Arts in 2015; and Lui Shou-kwan, Pioneer of New Ink: A Centenary Celebration at Alisan Fine Arts in 2019.

A patron of the arts, Daphne was named the Chair of the Asian Cultural Council (HK) Foundation Limited in April, 2023, after having been a patron since 2015 and a co-chair of their fundraising gala. She was also a Friend of the Hong Kong Museum of Art from 1997-2000 and is currently a Trustee of the Friends. In 2011 she was appointed Director of The Ink Society and now serves as Vice-Chairman. She has been a keen supporter of the Hong Kong Ballet since 2002, serving as co-chair of the Ballet Guild from 2011-2015, and was a board member from 2012-2017. In 2016 she was appointed Director of the Association Culturelle France Hong Kong Ltd. Daphne founded the University of Pennsylvania Scholarship Fund in Hong Kong, serving as President from 2002-2014. In recognition of her success as an art visionary, she received the 2018 Women of Hope award in the category of Art and Culture, and in the same year was invited by Net-a-Porter as a guest speaker for their "Incredible Women Talks." In 2019 Daphne was selected by the World Women Leadership Congress for the Hong Kong Women Leadership Award. In 2023 she served as a judge for American Chamber of Commerce’s Women of Influence awards.

Daphne has curated several landmark exhibitions, including:

  • 2023 — Ink Alchemy: Beyond Tradition (Alisan Fine Arts)
  • 2023 — Ming Fay : Journey into Nature (Alisan Fine Arts)
  • 2022 — Zao Wou-Ki (Alisan Fine Arts)
  • 2022 — Rediscovering Chao Chung-Hsiang (Alisan Fine Arts)
  • 2021 — Lui Shou-kwan: Hong Kong Landscapes (Alisan Fine Arts)
  • 2021 — Chu Teh-Chun's Symphony (Alisan Fine Arts)
  • 2021 — Celebrating a Friendship: Walasse Ting and Sam Francis (Alisan Fine Arts)
  • 2020 — Asian Cultural Council Fellows: Second Annual Exhibition 2020 (Alisan Fine Arts)
  • 2019 — Pierre Soulages: Beyond Black (Alisan Fine Arts)
  • 2019 — Lui Shou-kwan Pioneer of New Ink: Centenary Celebration (Alisan Fine Arts)
  • 2018 — Asian Cultural Council (ACC) First Annual Alumni Showcase (Alisan Fine Arts)
  • 2017 — Desiring: Post '97 Hong Kong Ink Art (Alisan Fine Arts)
  • 2015 — Ink Asia – Tracing the Brush, Transformed Text (Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre)
  • 2015 — A Legacy of Ink: Lui Shou-kwan 40 Years On: An exhibition of Lui Shou-kwan, his students’, and a new generation of artists (Hong Kong Arts Centre)
  • 2015 — Yang Jiechang: Good Morning Hong Kong－Le French May (Hong Kong Central Library and Alisan Fine Arts)
  • 2014 — Mountainscapes, New Ink Art by Wang Tiande (Alisan Fine Arts)
  • 2014 — The Ink Discipline: A series of rare original prints by Fabienne Verdier－Le French May (Alisan Fine Arts)
  • 2014 — Beyond the Jade Terrace, works by Chu Chu, Wang Mengsha, Yao Yuan, Zhang Yirong (Curated by Tiffany Beres) (Alisan Fine Arts)
  • 2013 — Rhythms of Creation – Paintings by Chinyee (Hong Kong Arts Centre and Alisan Fine Arts)
  • 2013 — Lui Shou-kwan – Zen Ink Art, Fine Art Asia (Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre)
  • 2012 — Fang Zhaoling, Vigorous and Fresh Chinese Ink Painting, Fine Art Asia (Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre)
  • 2011 — Selected Asian Cultural Council Fellows: Then and Now, Works by Wei Ligang, Wei Qingji, Zhang Jianqun (Asian Cultural Council Hong Kong and Alisan Fine Arts)

 

Director


Daniel Chen Biography

Daniel Chen was born and raised in Toronto and currently resides in New York where he is the inaugural gallery director of Alisan Fine Arts' New York gallery, which opened in November 2023. Having opened its first location outside of Hong Kong, where it has been established since 1981, Chen is thrilled to usher in a new chapter for the gallery.

Chen graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2002 and moved to New York City where he worked as a songwriter, music producer and musician. His music has been featured on television and radio, and Chen has recorded and performed throughout the US and Europe with singers Mike Doughty and Nicole Atkins.

In 2011, Chen transitioned to the art world, curating an exhibition for artist Zheng Chongbin at Baangh Gallery in New York. In 2012 he directed and co-founded an art consultancy called D3E Art with several partners in Hong Kong. As D3E’s director, Chen oversaw several large-scale public art commissions for the Lingnan Tiandi arts district in China and placed significant artworks into the collections of the Hong Kong Museum of Art and M+ in Hong Kong.

Establishing himself as a leader in his field, Chen returned to New York in 2016 to become the director of Chambers Fine Art, an established art gallery focused on Contemporary Chinese Art. While at Chambers, he curated exhibitions for artists including Wang Dongling (together with Brice Marden), Wu Jian’an, Zhao Zhao, Fu Xiaotong and Pixy Liao. He also oversaw several projects for Ai Weiwei including a solo exhibition at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown in 2018, a public installation at Taipei Dangdai in 2020, and the book project Ai Weiwei: Beijing Photographs, published by MIT Press in 2019.