We meet Pearl Lam, one of the world’s leading experts on Asian art. Over the past two decades, her eponymous galleries in Hong Kong and Shanghai have become top destinations for collectors drawn in by her exquisite taste, international outlook and commitment to rewriting narratives about Eastern art. Lam joins Robert Bound at Midori House to discuss her journey into the art world, how her gallery plans to support up-and-coming African artists and her new podcast. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Hello and welcome to Monocle on Culture.
I'm Robert Bound.
On today's show, we are stepping into the world of Pearl Lam.
The doyen of the Hong Kong art scene, Pearl is one of the leading experts on Asian art and she's been credited with bridging the cultural gap between between east and West.
But a career in art wasn't always on the cards for Pearl.
The daughter of a Hong Kong real estate tycoon, she was educated in the US and the UK with the expectation of following in her family's brick building footsteps.
Pearl, however, had other ideas and began to dabble in the burgeoning East Asian art scene in the 1990s.
She organized pop up exhibitions in Hong Kong before her first permanent gallery space opened in Shanghai in the early 2000s.
Over the past two decades, her eponymous galleries in Hong Kong and Shanghai have become top destinations for collectors.
Drawn in by her exquisite taste, international outlook and fierce commitment to rewriting narratives about Eastern art, Pearl has championed artists as diverse as the Firecracker, painter and sculptor, and memorable former Monocle on Culture guest Maggie Hambling to Sam Cox, better known as the marker pen wielding Mr.
Doodle.
Other artists Pearl represents include those pioneering NFT projects.
Clearly this, this is a woman firmly at the forefront of any cultural movement.
And the latest string added to a very stylish bow is the Pearl Lamb podcast featuring conversations with prominent figures from around the world, which are imbued with Pearl's trademark wit and warmth.
I was delighted to be joined by Pearl at Midori House to hear about her not always so smooth journey into the art world.
The future, plans for how her gallery will support up and coming African artists and how figurative painting finally won her over.
And we're joined by no less a guest than art world luminary, Pearl Lamb.
Pearl, lovely to have you on this program.
Thank you for inviting me.
Luminaries.