Cassio Hong Kong art is on view in a six-work pop-up arranged by Christie’s Hong Kong during its spring sales, bringing contemporary works into the bar run by dragon-i group founder Gilbert Yeung.
Christie’s Asia Pacific deputy chairman and head of evening auctions for 20th and 21st century art, Jacky Ho, selected six highlights from the house’s two day sales for a special “Mini Pop-up Gallery” at Cassio, the Central bar and lounge created by Gilbert Yeung. The selection includes works by Jonathan Chapline, Avery Singer, Javier Calleja, Nicolas Party, Yayoi Kusama, and Hajime Sorayama.
This episode of our series follows Gilbert and Jacky through the elegantly staged Cassio, tracing the design details and art choices that turn a drinking lounge into a compact exhibition space. Along the way, Gilbert explains how his collecting impulse expanded from furniture to contemporary art, and Jacky describes what the selected works add to the room’s visual language.
“Design, furniture, and art are the same language”
Born in the 1960s and 1970s, Gilbert says he and many Hong Kong people absorbed much of their visual culture from television. He described an era that prized craftsmanship in furniture, interiors, and everyday objects, and said that nostalgia for those tactile qualities inspired his collecting of antique furniture.
“When I travel I always visit flea markets and antique shops,” Gilbert said. He recalled finding a floor lamp in a Paris secondhand market that matched one from his grandfather’s home and buying it on the spot. For him, recovering design from the past reconnects him to childhood memories and personal history.
Gilbert said he treats furniture, interior design, and art as variations of the same aesthetic language. “Some pieces stay at home or in the office, and others I bring into new venues when we open a project, to see what works with the space,” he said. The process of matching pieces to rooms, he added, is always rewarding.
Cassio Hong Kong art and the bar s design
Outside seating at Cassio features vintage rattan furniture sourced from Japan and a small antique French dining table bought in Paris. Gilbert said the juxtaposition of contemporary interior design with nostalgic furniture produces layered textures that feel both fresh and familiar.
Gilbert described his brief to designers as deliberately open. He first engaged Italian designer Fabrizio Casiraghi to set a neoclassical touch, and later asked the French studio HERVET Manufacturier to refine the interiors. “I never give strict rules,” he said. “I offer a concept and let the designers iterate from there.”
Two designers from HERVET, Nicolas and Cédric, brought craft and a sense of retro futurism to the project. Gilbert said Cédric previously worked as a creative director for the French electronic duo Daft Punk, whose visual aesthetic he described as a major influence on the bar s lighting and DJ booth design.
The interior avoids a cramped feeling by spacing diamond shaped tables apart, pairing them with streamlined seating and walnut screens. Gilbert emphasized lighting as a primary design element, adding colorful ceiling lights and warm toned fixtures to create an atmosphere he calls both elegant and lively.
Among the bespoke elements are custom furniture pieces, lighted mirrors, and a central DJ booth that anchor the space in a retro futurist mood. “I want guests to feel like they are at a party or a live show,” Gilbert said, noting that family members joke he is “a little obsessive” about details.
Artists, collaborations, and the pop-up
Gilbert filled Cassio with works by artists he admires. Near the entrance are graffiti styled pieces by Japanese illustrator Naijel Graph, whose casual, humorous street sensibility Gilbert first noticed on clothing in Tokyo. After meeting in person they developed a personal and creative rapport, and Naijel later designed the Cassio logo.
Video works displayed on televisions at the bar are new pieces by Italian video artist Marco Brambilla. Gilbert said he first saw Brambilla s work in a New York hotel, then learned the artist had produced digital visuals for Kanye West. A later meeting in Hong Kong led to the collaboration.
Gilbert said he collects to enhance space rather than solely as financial investment. “For me collecting is an investment in atmosphere,” he said. “The right artwork can lift the room and change how people experience a place.”
Gilbert said he has recently been drawn to the photographer Greg Girard s series documenting 1960s and 1970s Hong Kong. “Those neon signs, the crowded streets, and the decadent night life captured in those frames really speak to me,” he said. “I spent my early years moving around Central, Yau Ma Tei, Mong Kok, and Wan Chai. I like the rough edges of the city as much as its polished face.”
How Christie s selection works in the space
Christie s Hong Kong staged spring sales May 21 to 30, and Jacky Ho said he wanted to bring a selection of works into Cassio to show how auction pieces can sit comfortably in a livable environment. “We chose six works that reflect both contemporary trends and the space s personality,” Jacky said.
The works on display include Jonathan Chapline s Image Gallery, Avery Singer s Untitled, Javier Calleja s Somebody, Nicolas Party s Still life, Yayoi Kusama s A Flower, and a sculpture by Hajime Sorayama. Jacky said the color palette in several works unexpectedly echoes Cassio s primary color lighting, creating a visual bridge between canvas and room.
Calleja s child like face in Somebody greets visitors at the entrance and pairs well with Naijel Graph s murals. Sorayama s robotic sculpture, titled Sexy Robot, Walking in the Space, reinforces the bar s sci fi mood and resonates with Gilbert s affinity for Daft Punk inspired visuals.
Jacky singled out Avery Singer s Untitled as especially apt for Cassio because her contrast of light and shadow captures a convivial party mood. “It feels like the room s energy translated into paint,” he said.
Gilbert said lighting was the design detail he pays most attention to. He noted that the bronze spiral chandeliers were inspired by fixtures seen in Italian ballrooms and that Nicolas Party s color fields matched Cassio s lighting in an unexpected way. “It s like the artwork expands into the room,” he said.
The Cassio project demonstrates how collectors and auction houses can collaborate to bring contemporary art into everyday life. Jacky said the pop-up aims to encourage people to think of art as part of a shared cultural setting rather than a distant investment.
Credits:
Executive Producer: Angus Mok
Producer: Vicky Wai
Editor: Ruby Yiu
Videography: Andy Lee, Angus Chau
Photography: Andy Lee, Angus Chau
Makeup: Yvonne.A Makeup
Video Editor: Andy Lee
Designer: Edwina Chan
Location: Cassio
Artworks: CHRISTIE’S HONG KONG LIMITED
Special Thanks: Gilbert Yeung, Jacky Ho at Christie s Hong Kong
