Glamorous gowns, public bathing, digital art and crypto-collecting—it’s all in a day’s work for cover star Shanyan Koder

There are jetsetters and then there’s Shanyan Koder, who arrived on a flight from London on the eve of our cover shoot—and then headed back to the airport hours after our session ended for the journey home.

In the 24 or so hours the art collector and gallerist was here, she was game for whatever we wanted her to do, or rather whatever we wanted to do to her, which was mostly just her hair and make-up, but also having her don skintight Ralph Lauren for some bath-time fun. Doesn’t sound that tough, but you try taking a bath with 15 people in the room taking photos of you.

Tatler Asia
Above Photo: Ricky Lo for Hong Kong Tatler

Before frolicking in the tub, Shanyan was rather more serious, telling how she intends driving the art world into the digital domain with the launch of two online-only ventures: Hua Gallery and an app called Global Showcases that she’ll be launching soon.

As well as favouring digital showcases and sales of art, she has a keen eye for digital artwork—for example, by artists such as Rob and Nick Carter, a husband-and-wife duo whose work includes installations in which still lifes by old masters undergo slow decomposition. “It’s the cycle of life and death and the beauty of that within a short time frame. I would love to own [such a work] one day soon,” she says.

See our exclusive behind-the-scenes video with Shanyan Koder:

Above Video: Hong Kong Tatler

Shanyan has an open mind when it comes to collecting. “Blockchain is huge but in the art world it’s in its infancy. And it’s a very interesting space which we are still trying to understand. But just as a philosophical question, people are asking how do we feel about owning an artwork digitally? What does that mean?”

It’s certainly something to think about next time you’re in the bath.

Read our cover story with Shanyan Koder

Credits

Location  

St. Regis Hong Kong

Photography  

Ricky Lo

Styling  

Rosana Lai

Hair  

Dickey Blue

Make-Up  

Megumi Sekine

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