Story of Simon Birch
People often ask about my inspirations and how I developed @the14thfactory. This is my story...
21
I made a deal to be represented by high profile London/HK gallery Ben Brown Fine Arts and our first 2 shows went great at the Hong Kong gallery, close to sold out and I was optimistic this would boost my profile and lead to new gallery relations overseas.
I still was really trying to find a way to get my work outside of Hong Kong. I did years of networking and hustling ahead of this new relationship and had a strong group of collectors on my side, I met every super famous artist and gallerist, from Kate Moss to Murakami, got myself invited to openings and dinners, did my best to be respectful and grateful, listen and learn, trying to get any gallery anywhere in the world to give me an opportunity.... but it never happened.
I sold very well and my prices were strong but no one internationally showed any interest in showing my work even after showing a few times at Art Basel HK and selling really well.
This new relationship with Ben Brown Gallery included a London show which I really was so excited about, my first non-HK solo show, and I worked tirelessly on new work in preparation, flew to London to see the gallery, took measurements, planned what would go where, told all my mates' dreams can come true, but they kept delaying and, well, end of the story, it sadly never happened. And that was the end of any relationship with the gallery world. I still believe if I had that show in London I would have had an impact. Especially considering the gallery represented Candida Hoffer, Vik Moniz, and hero Frank Aurbach, with who I shared the gallery in HK.
I'm sad to say I have still yet to have a solo show outside of Hong Kong, like most artists I'm still waiting to be discovered. But in the meantime, I figured I may as well go ahead and do something without waiting for an opportunity.
