HONG KONG.- A creative form of expression ever growing in popularity, street art has evolved from an underground movement rooted in graffiti and hip hop to a highly regarded genre on the global art stage. Following the tremendous success of the 2014 Banksy selling exhibition in London, Sotheby’s partnered once again with Steve Lazarides, the legendary London-based dealer of street art, for a second exhibition, in Hong Kong. On view at Sotheby’s Hong Kong Gallery from 17 to 26 March as part of the city’s vibrant spring art season, They Would Be Kings - Sotheby’s first street art exhibition in Asia - charts the trends and progression of the dynamic art form, from the pioneering works of Basquiat and Haring to today’s contemporary creations.

To mark the arrival of Hong Kong art week at Sotheby's Hong Kong Gallery, a pop-up bar sponsored by BiBO will concoct complimentary art-inspired cocktails for gallery visitors, available during daily happy hour from 22 – 25 March. Exhibition goers may sample such inventive tipples as BiBO’s Haring-inspired ‘Flower Carrier’ and Invader-esque ‘Water lilies’, conceived by cocktail maestros at the art-centric fine dining outpost – itself home to several works of street art.

Often called ‘kings’ since the early days of the movement, many street artists have embraced the term. Basquiat famously references the king and crown emblems as a signature of his work. Bearing in mind the longstanding use of the term within the graffiti community, Sotheby’s exhibition, They Would Be Kings, also nods to the ‘king-makers’, or the taste-making gallerists that have supported the street art empire in recent years.

As Steve Lazarides defines it: ‘I view what is now dubbed “street art” as a philosophy rather than a specific style of art. It is about a sense of freedom from the frankly boring and blinkered confines of the traditional art world. These artists forged their own path; they bludgeoned their way into the public consciousness, and then were finally noticed by the art world’.

Artists featured in the show include Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Tsang Tsou Choi (King of Kowloon), Invader, Banksy, Futura, KAWS, Ramelzee, JR, Vhils and Zevs.

In 2006, at the age of 37, Bristol born Steve Lazarides launched his gallery empire with his first space in London’s Soho. Exhibiting artwork primarily inspired by graffiti and the urban environment, including the work of the anonymous street painter Banksy, he has endorsed a group of artists who collectively, defy categorisation. He has since expanded with three additional spaces, a flagship four story Georgian townhouse gallery on Rathbone Place, newly equipped print studios on Greenwich Peninsula and a dedicated platform for fine art print editions with a revolving curation of notable works at Sea Containers on London’s Southbank.

A self-made man, Lazarides has both organised and curated numerous shows in addition to the gallery’s permanent exhibition programme. Taking over temporary locations in London, Los Angeles and New York, he has generated an interest in ‘street art’ that others have capitalised on, thus giving birth to the current movement.

The epic ‘Hell’s Half Acre’ (2010), ‘The Minotaur’ (2011) and ‘Bedlam’ (2012) exhibitions which ran over Frieze week in The Old Vic Tunnels with Kevin Spacey were a huge success and met with critical acclaim. In 2013, Lazarides teamed up with The Vinyl Factory to present ‘Brutal’ at 180 The Strand during London Frieze Week.

In 2014, Steve Lazarides curated, Banksy: The Unauthorised Retrospective at Sotheby’s S|2 Gallery, an exhibition consisting of key pieces that mark the prolific street artist’s colourful climb to fame. The unorthodox exhibition of unique artwork illustrated various poignant periods of the artist’s career, drawing together privately owned pieces never displayed publicly as well as Lazarides’ own collection.

Lazarides represents some of the most innovative artists working today, including the renowned portrait painter Jonathan Yeo and the increasingly popular Parisian artist JR as well as the widely acclaimed Antony Micallef and the infamous David Choe.