We have a secret but it cannot be hidden any longer: we are a nosy (we prefer the term ‘curious’)  bunch and we love it when our interviewees spill secrets that we can churn into entertaining articles. Our friends at Art Republik are as curious as we are. As part of the art magazine’s quarterly edition of asking slightly awkward and invasive questions, we learn a little bit more about Anthony Phuang who is the co-founder of A2Z Art Gallery.

Who would you have at your ideal dinner party?

My wife, artists of every kind, curators and friends to share new experiences with.

Which is your favourite city to see art?

Paris. That said, we can travel all around the world to see art but there are always beautiful things to discover around us.

If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be?

Einstein – a genius but so crazy. It’s important to be serious and laugh at the same time.

Art fairs are not fair to art – true or false?

False. The art market is essentially a salon where trade of different skillsets is conducted, and it is to the onus of the public who have to make the effort and form their own opinions.

What three items would you take to a desert island other than food and water?

A Swiss knife, a book on how to survive on a desert island, and a helicopter to go back home if I don’t manage!

Co-founder of A2Z Art Gallery, Anthony Phuang

What is your guilty pleasure?

I like to see the smiles on people’s faces when they discover the artworks of artists I work with.

If you won $20 million in the lottery, what is the first thing you would do with the money?

I was born in Vietnam, and the first thing I would do is create a foundation for support and a school to teach children in a developing country what they need to survive in this world.

What do you love most about the art world?

It offers another point of view about life, it’s a universal language, and you don’t need to translate the emotion and the beauty.

What useless talent do you have?

My humour.

If you were Thomas Crown, what three art works in the world would you steal?

The first drawings made by human which are found in The Lascaux cave at Grotte de Lascaux; the self-portrait of Van Gogh that he offered his dream lover after he cut his ear; and any sculpture by Jeff Koons, just so I can destroy it!

Would you rather fight 1 horse-sized duck, or 100 duck-sized horses?

100 duck-sized horses.

Which super power would you like to have?

A simple one: To bring out the humanity in people, so there would be more good in this world.

If you married 3 times, are you an optimist or an idiot?

It depends… why am I married 3 times?

This article was published in Art Republik.