âInteresting timingâ: Ray Hughesâ Chinese art lands amid political storm
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The late Sydney art dealer Ray Hughes was ahead of a cultural curve, introducing Australians to contemporary Chinese art in the late 1990s. Among those who discovered contemporary Chinese art at Hughesâ Surry Hills studio was no less than Judith Nielson, whose interest was piqued to such an extent that she would go on to establish the now celebrated White Rabbit gallery in Chippendale.
Ray Hughes and son Evan photographed in The Ray Hughes Gallery in Surry Hills. Â
Andrew Quilty
But before Nielson, there was Hughes, a larger-than-life, old-school art dealer, a big-bellied wearer of loud ties and colourful braces, a well-travelled bon vivant who was the subject of many Archibald portraits. He first visited Taiwan in 1996 and travelled to mainland China the following year, connecting with artists there. In 2000, Hughes presented his first exhibition of contemporary Chinese