As a tiny commercial space in Sai Ying Pun prepares for its first artist-in-residence, Winnie Chau talks to its founder and curator about its outsized ambitions.

On the hillside of Sai Ying Pun, a modest-looking noodle shop is serving a constant flow of customers its signature beef noodles. The space opposite, apparently, has to come up with a more palatable dish for its business to create a similar spectacle. After all, what it’s selling is art.

The space belongs to Pui Pui To, who returned to Hong Kong four years ago after completing a BA in Fine Arts Studies at London’s Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, and a postgraduate degree in Art Business at Sotheby’s Institute of Art. To opened 2P Contemporary Art Gallery back in May 2010, after spending a couple of years running an art consultancy business here. What got her interested in the business side of her trade was a pretty artless ambition, however: she wanted to be “a famous artist”. That thought soon vanished when she was studying at St Martin’s. “You had the most talented artists around you; I realised how many talented artists were out there and I know I was crap.” She then had another thought, this one more inspired: “Why can’t I become commercially successful helping artist [instead]?”

Off the usual track of its counterparts along Hollywood Road, situated on Po Tuck Street instead, 2P favours culturally diverse artists who share an adventurous mindset in their work. In the past it has featured artists including Hiram To, Alessandra Ferrini and Virgile Simon Bertrand. “The more conceptual the art, the more fascinated I am, the more interested I’d become,” says To. Yet, what makes her choice so offbeat is the fact that she is running 2P as a commercial gallery. “Ultimately, we’re not a non-profit gallery, nor are we an alternative art space. We are simply an art gallery focusing on artists who possess a strong conceptual approach to their art practice. The challenges we’re facing are like most other emerging galleries, such as dealing with artists, budget control, timeline management. Everything you see here [is] for sale.”

By “here”, she is referring to the work-in-progress installation by Berlin-based Japanese artist Yotaro Niwa, who is presenting his solo show, Discursive Digression, as the gallery’s first artist-in-residence. “The purpose of 2P artist-in-residence is to invite our overseas artists to Hong Kong to form a site-specific exhibition during their residency,” explains To, who is planning to have two artists-in-residence per year. The 1,400 sq ft gallery space has delineated a 500 sq ft living area fitted with a bathroom and a pantry. Niwa is staying there for two weeks. “It’s very unusual for commercial galleries to do artist-in-residence,” says independent curator Davina Lee, a close collaborators of To’s. “One of its benefits is you have a unique work which is created specifically for this particular space. It’s not going to be shown again anywhere else.”

Niwa has been an artist-in-residence at a gallery in Hamburg and at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, where he received generous monthly artist fees and where, according to the artist, he “could party every night”. While his life in Hong Kong is more hectic than hedonistic, Niwa thinks it’s is an ideal place for his art. He is currently sourcing materials from the city for his maquettes (small-scale prototypes), which might explain the slightly out-of-place bamboo broom that’s been left there on the chic scarlet couch we’re sitting on.

This cosy gallery space is also a venue for regular art events, such as Diorama Projects, the series of video screening and seminars organised by Lee to promote artistic and cultural exchange. “It’s not just a question of selecting the artists and putting on a show,” says Lee. “It’s more about trying to find out what the artist is trying to say and what impact that work has on other people. I really dislike people who say they have a mission to educate people – that’s not what I want to do. It’s much more about trying to get people [to] think about things, but not telling them what they should be thinking.”

So what is To’s strategy to keep her gallery in business? “I maintain the operation costs as low as possible,” she says. “But we also have great patrons and highly intellectual collectors from Europe who have been supporting our artists. And some of our projects we manage to get private funding [for] through corporate companies.” With these kinds of backings, To can concentrate on the artistic side of her work. The noodle shop across the street may soon enough cease to be the only reason people come to this quiet neighbourhood.

Discursive Digression is at 2P Contemporary Art Gallery until May 19.