Osage Gallery
Osage have continued to pioneer contemporary art in Hong Kong in 2008. Since they appeared in a mammoth industrial space in Kwun Tong in 2004 following with a satellite gallery in Soho, Osage have played a pivotal role in setting new standards for exhibitions citywide. What makes them so good? Their excellent curatorial edge: with a dedicated team of curators, they build new walls for shows, pay immense attention to every detail and offer high-quality catalogues that help document our collective art history. Highlight exhibitions of the year include Shen Shaoming’s awesome solo show Unassailable in May while the gallery’s sweeping review of emerging Filipino art Futuramanila brought a fresh take on the contemporary Manila art scene. But it wasn’t just the exhibitions that impressed: Osage have broken ground with performance art with their Osage Flash events which have helped to uncover and promote the city’s performing art scene –as well as bringing in unusual overseas talents such as the 18-piece avant-garde Grenzenlos ensemble in July. Let’s hope other galleries – and museums for that matter – follow their lead in 2009. Osage Soho, 45 Caine Rd, Lower Ground Shop 1, Central, 2537 0688; Osage Kwun Tong, 5/F, Kian Dai Industrial Bldg, 73-75 Hung To Rd, Kwun Tong, 2793 4817; www.osagegallery.com.

Runner-up: 10 Chancery Lane Gallery
10 Chancery Lane have been consistently delivering high quality shows, and promoting Hong Kong artists with as much zeal and professionalism as they promote the art stars on their rosta. This year, the gallery’s owner Katie de Tilly was racing ahead at her normal swift pace. There were consistently interesting shows at the Central gallery, such as Second Sex which profiled emerging female talents from India, and Shi Guori’s otherworldly pin-hole photography in Camera Obscura. But it was when they opened their second satellite space in Chai Wan, titled 10 Chancery Lane Art Projects– that they secured our renewed respect, by dedicating a much-needed, large space to profile local talents. Their first show New Horizons: Hong Kong Artists and Their Mentors – was an out of the ordinary review of talented, young artists.
 

Second Runner-up: Tang Contemporary Art
As soon as we saw the opening show of this art space in April, we knew that Tang Contemporary Art were a force to be reckoned with. The gallery was born in 2006 in Beijing’s 798 and has played a strong regional role in finding and supporting exciting new artists. Like Osage, it is the curatorial edge that has impressed us the most. They opened with Shanghai sculptress Xiang Jing’s Naked Beyond Skin, a hypnotic and disturbing assembly of life-sized naked, hairless women standing in a sparse, industrial looking space. Their shows are not just here to sell art works; they impart a message and challenge audiences. Basement, Hollywood Centre, 233 Hollywood Rd, Sheung Wan, 2544 9918; www.tangcontemporary.com.

Reader’s Pick: Schoeni Art Gallery
Nicole Schoeni appeared to be coming into her own this year, with a string of younger, hipper shows held in the gallery that was one of the first to showcase contemporary Chinese art in the early 1990s. Highlights of the year include the second half of the Banksy show in May, the Niubi Newbie Art Kids in September and the Adapta urban art project in November. 21-31 Old Bailey St, Central, 2869 8802; www.schoeni.com.hk.

Honourable Mention: Jockey Club Creative Art Centre
Ok, it’s not a gallery; it’s more like 120 galleries that simultaneously appeared on the same day. When this converted Shek Kip Mei factory opened in the autumn, it signified a momentous new era for the city. For once, miraculously, the government actually got it right. Instead of converting a historic space and controlling it with an overbearing force (a la Cattle Depot) the JCCAC instead got a visionary artist to lead the project (Eddie Lui) and have thus beautifully converted a nine-storey factory into a thriving hub of arts. There are more than 100 artist studios, galleries and tea shops. Admittedly the initial exhibitions were a little weak – but this is a long-term project and you can bet that it will be make a profound impact in the coming year. 30 Pak Tin St, Shek Kip Mei, 2353 1311; www.hkbu.edu.hk/jccac.