David Clarke Photographed Ka-sing and Holly at The Half King
(PHOTOGRAPH, 5x7.5 inch, c-type photograph by David Clarke, 2002)
It was 2002 in New York. One day, Holly and I were sitting on the upper deck of a bus when it stopped at a station. To our surprise, we spotted our good friend from Hong Kong, David Clarke, waiting for a bus. Overjoyed, we hurried off to greet him. David told us he had come to New York specifically to photograph the aftermath of 9/11. We arranged to meet for lunch the next day at The Half King, where this photograph was taken.
Later, David sent us the photo from Hong Kong—a picture we both cherished. The Half King, located in Chelsea, was a favorite haunt of writers and photographers. I later heard it closed in 2018 after 18 years of operation, coincidentally mirroring our own 18-year journey running a gallery in Toronto.
At the time, Chelsea was an emerging gallery district. We saw galleries of all sizes sprouting like bamboo shoots after the rain, full of vitality. A fleeting thought crossed our minds—what if we sold our house in Toronto and set up in Chelsea instead? After all, we represented some of the best Asian artists, and contemporary Asian art was at the center of the global art scene then.
But we quickly dismissed the idea—it would have been too bold a move. Our gallery in Toronto had only just begun in 2000. More importantly, we didn’t want to abandon the principles that had guided us all along.
David Clarke 拍攝家昇楚喬在The Half King
2002年在紐約。有一回，我和楚喬坐在巴士上層，車子在站停下來的時候，赫然發現香港的好友David Clarke正在車站候車。我們喜出望外，怱忙下車。David 說來紐約特意去拍911的現場。我們約好打後的一天，在The Half King 午飯。這張照片就是在該午飯地點拍攝。David 後來從香港寄來，是一幀我們很喜歡的照片。The Half King 在 Chelsea，是文化人，攝影人的出沒點。聽說在2018年停業了，經過18年的經營。也呼應了我們在多倫多經營畫廊的18個年頭。那時Chelsea還是個新開發的畫廊地，我們看見這地畫廊有大有小，如春筍般生氣勃勃，忽然動了一下懸念，不如賣掉在多倫多的房子，在Chelsea發展。況且我們手中的都是亞洲最好的藝術家，那個時候正是亞洲熱。很快我們便打消了念頭，這個改動太刺激了，我們在多的畫廊剛在2000年開始營運。不過最主要的，還是不想因此而改變了我們的基理。