New Horizons: Ways of Seeing Hong Kong Art in the 80s and 90s
Until April 24, 2022
Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA)
10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Mon – Wed, Fri 10am – 6pm
Sat, Sun, Public holidays 10am – 7pm
The development of Hong Kong art reached a critical juncture in the 1980s and 1990s. Numerous young artists, having graduated in Hong Kong or returned to the city after studying aboard, dedicated themselves to exploring new artistic forms and expressions through their creations. This enabled the rise of installation art, new media, contemporary photography, etc., and brought vibrancy to art creation in Hong Kong. The New Horizons: Ways of Seeing Hong Kong Art in the 80s and 90s exhibition being held at the Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA) examines the new trends and breakthroughs in contemporary art in Hong Kong during the era.
With a two-year project of interviews, research and consolidation, the HKMoA worked closely with guest curator Janet Fong and her team, and invites visitors to look at the breakthroughs and accomplishments of Hong Kong artists in a new light. This was achieved through showcasing artworks by seven representative artists and artist collectives, restaging iconic art spaces of the time, and presenting archives and documents.
The exhibits include a new edition of Chan Yuk-keung’s mixed media installation Vertical Rye Field; May Fung’s video installation work She Said Why Me; Joseph Fung’s photographic works Shenzhen Series, East/West Diptychs and a series of 3D digital images, Butterfly Dream Series; Ellen Pau’s iconic work Recycling Cinema; and Choi Yan-chi’s reinterpretation of her installation Butterfly Dream as Smoke and of her video As Slow as Possible.
In addition to innovative creations by the artists, the exhibition has rebuilt the site-specific project Coffee Shop, created in 1998 by the founding members of Para Site (formerly Para/Site), including Tsang Tak-ping, Leung Chi-wo, Sara Wong, Patrick Lee, Phoebe Man, Leung Mee-ping and the second-generation member Anthony Leung. By turning the art space into a makeshift café, the artists display their experimental works in the venue to invite viewers to interact with the work and the site. The exhibition also has reconstructed the art space of the NuNaHeDuo Centre of Photography in the 1990s and showcases the photographic works by the five co-founders members Lee Ka-sing, Holly Lee, Patrick Lee, Lau Ching-ping and Blues Wong.
