New York’s Public Art Fund has announced that the Hong Kong-based entrepreneur and art collector Adrian Cheng has joined its board of directors.

The 36-year-old scion of one of Hong Kong’s wealthiest families is the executive vice chairman of New World Development, a company started by Cheng’s grandfather which spans property development, infrastructure and services, retail, and hotels.

But besides his high profile as a businessman and entrepreneur, Cheng’s passion for art has seen him gain a huge relevance in the international art landscape in the last few years. His philanthropic mission seeks to bring art to the general Chinese public, as well as promoting Chinese art across the world by collaborating with international institutions such as Paris’ Palais de Tokyo and London’s ICA.

Claude Monet’s “Water Lilies” on display at Shanghai’s K11 Art Mall.
Photo: Shanghai K11 Art Mall.

Cheng is the founder of the K11 Art Foundation and the K11 Art Mall in Hong Kong, a 6-story shopping center—developed by New World Development and launched in 2009—where exhibitions are staged and works by artists including Olafur Eliasson, Damien Hirst, and Yoshitomo Nara showcased. There’s also a K11 Art Mall in Shanghai, unveiled in 2013, and more than 10 additional spaces are currently under development.

But Cheng’s prominence in the Asian art scene isn’t limited to the K11 brand. He is on the board of directors of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority in Hong Kong, and sits on their M+ Museum and Interim Acquisition Committee. He is also a board member of the National Museum of China Foundation, based in Beijing.

Adrian Cheng with the artist Zhang Enli.
Photo: Courtesy K11 Foundation.

In Europe, Cheng is a trustee of London’s Royal Academy of Arts and a member of Tate’s International Council, as well as being a member of the Centre Pompidou’s International Circle in Paris. In New York, Cheng sits on the Visiting Committee for Asian art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

“Public art makes the everyday better,” Cheng said in a statement. “For art to be seen outside the conventional museum environment, in a place that belongs to the people, makes it more accessible and approachable,” he added.

“I share the vision of Public Art Fund and have been bringing contemporary art to a broad audience via my K11 Art Foundation in an effort to let the public live and work surrounded by art. I’ve always said, ‘in art we live’, and I am honored to be part of New York City’s public art scene through my commitment to Public Art Fund,” he stated.