Marking its 45th anniversary, Alisan Fine Arts returns to Art Basel Hong Kong 2026 with a presentation that traces Chinese contemporary art’s dialogue between tradition and innovation in the global context. The booth brings together diaspora pioneers, leading women artists, and contemporary material innovators, alongside a Kabinett Sector presentation devoted to Chao Chung-hsiang—reflecting the gallery’s long-standing commitment to Chinese ink and its evolving global language.
20th Century Pioneers
Our presentation honours artists who redefined Chinese art on the international stage: US based diaspora artists Walasse Ting’s chromatic verve, Ming Fay’s sculptural ecologies, Fong Chung-ray’s abstract explorations, and Hong Kong-based Fang Zhaoling’s modern literati brushwork. Highlights include Ting’s vivid pink horse painting, Fay’s Money Tree installation and sculptures, Fong’s abstract canvases, and Fang’s Plum Blossoms in full bloom—works that crystallise the dynamic East–West synthesis animating mid-to-late 20th-century practice.
Women Reframing Tradition
Building on Fang Zhaoling’s example—recipient of Hong Kong’s Bronze Bauhinia Star in 2003—the booth features five women artists advancing the language of ink and material practice: Cheuk Ka-wai (Cherie) and Zhang Xiaoli, both recipients of the Liu Kuo-sung Ink Art Awards, breaks new ground for Chinese gongbi painting; Fu Xiaotong, honored by Sovereign Asian Art Prize three times, creates highly dimensional pin-pricked paper “landscapes,” challenging the traditional landscape genre; and ceramic artist Fiona Wong, a grantee of the Asian Cultural Council (2000) and recipient of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council’s Visual Arts Award (2017), weaves histories and memories into her signature ceramic garment. Recent milestones include Cheuk’s commissions for the Hong Kong Museum of Art and Zhang’s year-long residency at the Niagara Falls Exchange Centre, Canada, with a solo at Washington & Lee University (USA) in Fall 2026.
Contemporary Ink and Material Innovators
Extending the lineage into the present, Wang Tiande scorches calligraphic lines into rice paper, while Lee Chin-fai (Danny)’s stainless steel “droplet” sculptures activate reflections and space—contemporary gestures grounded in classical sensibilities.
Kabinett Sector: Chao Chung-hsiang
We spotlight Chao Chung-hsiang, a key figure since the gallery’s early years. Like Zao Wou-ki, Chao studied under the renowned Lin Fengmian and belongs to the first generation of Chinese diaspora artists, later settling in the United States. In both his black-and-white ink abstractions and his celebrated “hybrid paintings” of birds and fish, Chao draws on Abstract Expressionism, Cubism, and Pop Art. He layers vivid acrylic circles, squares, and other geometric forms over traditional ink washes, exploring striking juxtapositions between Western and Chinese artistic languages. Referencing Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian philosophies, his work embraces contrast with daring clarity, sustaining a singular vision at the crossroads of Chinese ink traditions and Euro-American postwar art.
