Between Worlds: the power of connection

Some collections capture the taste of an era, while others reflect a collector’s way of seeing the world.

Built over decades through thoughtful acquisition and sustained engagement with art, Between Worlds: Property from a Distinguished Private Collection brings together important works by leading contemporary artists across diverse geographies, cultural backgrounds, and artistic traditions. While varied in style and medium, these works converge around a central theme of contemporary life: in an ever-changing world, how we come to understand ourselves and find our place between the individual experience and the broader currents shaping our time.

The works gathered here do not offer fixed answers. Instead, they dwell within states of transition and ambiguity, examining figures inhabiting liminal spaces (as described in cultural theory) between personal experience and collective history, visibility and anonymity, belonging and displacement. It is within these zones of blurred boundaries and tension that people continually negotiate who they are and redefine their relationship with the world around them. This theme resonates throughout numerous artistic practices within the collection, creating connections between creations from distinct cultural contexts.

How does one preserve individual identity in the face of overwhelming social force?

Appearing at auction this autumn, Showtime! by Derek Fordjour is the largest work by the artist ever to be offered at auction. Executed in Fordjour’s signature collage-based visual language, the work offers an incisive analysis of contemporary American society. Layers of cardboard, newspaper, and richly saturated colour build a vibrant surface to explore pivotal issues of race, violence, and social inequality. Through depictions of Black figures in scenes of sporting contests, carnivals, and games, Fordjour reveals physical vulnerability and the plight of the individual within broader social systems. First exhibited in the artist’s debut solo exhibition at Petzel Gallery, New York, in 2020, Showtime! makes its auction debut this season at Christie’s in Hong Kong.

Showtime! depicts an ostensibly boisterous celebration that serves as a microcosm of the interplay between social structure and individual spirit, while Wang Guangyi approaches similar questions by employing widely recognized forms and symbols. Through grids, repetition, and strategies of visual alienation, Wang prompts viewers to re-examine from a rational distance the relationship between historical memory, collective experience, and personal identity.

For the collector behind Between Worlds, Wang’s work represents a particularly significant chapter in their collecting journey: ‘Several of Wang Guangyi’s works were acquired through auctions. At a time when Chinese contemporary art was attracting growing international attention, we purchased our first work by the artist and began studying his practice in greater depth. Through a systematic approach to collecting, we hope to trace and present the full trajectory of his artistic development.’

Mao Yan turns his attention inward, to an even more spiritual realm. His figures gaze back at the viewer as if through a hazy mist, exuding an indescribable psychological tension. Hovering between clarity and obscurity, certainty and uncertainty, these portraits seem to resist interpretation, becoming meditations on existence itself.

Born in Belgium and based in New York, Harold Ancart unites European artistic traditions with the expressive freedom of post-war American abstraction to forge a distinct visual language. Continually navigating between abstraction and figuration, Ancart does not depict specific landscapes, but rather transforms remembered scenes into vivid imagery saturated with psychological tension. His practice has left a lasting impression on the collector. ‘Harold Ancart’s work has always been a style I particularly admire. He excels at creating striking visual power through bold, rich color. Although this work is modest in scale, it carries intense emotional resonance. Each view brings a fresh and captivating experience.’

Questions of identity construction are also central to the practices of Nathaniel Mary Quinn and Tschabalala Self. Through techniques of collage and reconstruction, both artists create figures that seem to reweave disparate fragments of memory and experience. These figures, at once familiar and elusive, challenge viewers’ established assumptions regarding identity, race, and personal narrative. They remind us that the self is not fixed but continually shaped through layered experiences.

Despite their distinct artistic vocabularies, these artists are united by one of the most defining questions of our time: how individuals understand themselves and relate to others within a constantly changing world. It is this inquiry that underpins the collection. Rather than being guided solely by market trends or art-historical narratives, it reflects a collecting philosophy informed by a global vision. Over the years, the collector has championed diverse cultures and communities, fostering cross-geographic, intergenerational, and cross-cultural dialogue through sustained support of cultural, educational, and public initiatives. For them, collecting is not merely the acquisition of artwork, but a way of engaging with the world and connecting with different perspectives.

A compelling expression of this vision, Between Worlds reveals not only the richness of contemporary art, but also a tapestry woven from diverse cultures, histories and lived experiences. From Asia to Africa, from North America to Europe; from personal memory to public history; from self-identity to collective experience, these works together demonstrate how art transcends language, culture, and geography, creating connection across diverse experiences and perspectives.

Today, as these works enter a new chapter of stewardship, their significance extends far beyond the works themselves. They carry decades of curiosity and reflection on the world, while mirroring the complex and multifaceted nature of contemporary society. The greatest power of art lies perhaps in its ability to transcend differences and build understanding, bringing together those who were once separated.

Between worlds, within moments of encounter, new connections begin to unfold.