Month: January 2024

Kings’ Inscriptions · Contemporary Interpretations

Kwok Mang Ho, Lee Wing Ki, Prof. Lee Yun Woon, Prof. Leong Lampo, Dr Leung Kwan Kiu, Tso Cheuk Yim, Yeung Yuk Kan / University Museum and Art Gallery (UMAG), The University of Hong Kong / Sep 23 – Dec 30, 2023 / Ilaria Maria Sala As ink has become more popular, and more gallery and museum space is being dedicated to the medium, there can be a slight confusion as to what it exactly is – and isn’t. A small but very diverse show at the University Museum Art Gallery at Hong Kong University, Kings’ Inscriptions · Contemporary Interpretations, provides a suitably wide panorama of what ink can be – starting from one of its first uses: ink rubbings of engraved steles. As the show’s title suggests, the inscriptions, especially the most ancient ones, often retell the stories of kings, expanding on their moral qualities. Travelling literati would stop and copy the engravings by covering them with ink and pasting rice paper sheets on the stones, which would then be “rubbed” by tapping a …

Mathew Brandt at Rossi & Rossi

Published by Artomity Magazine

Mathew Brandt /Learning to SurfJan 27 – Mar 9, 2024 / Opening: Saturday, Jan 27, 2pm – 6pm / Rossi & Rossi 11F, 54 Wong Chuk Hang RoadWong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong+852 2116 5282Tuesday – Saturday, 11am – 6pm rossirossi.com The outcome of Matthew Brandt’s (b. 1982) images are often transformed or distorted during each photo’s development process, expanding upon the limits of the medium. His oeuvre of photo-based and process-heavy works will be on view at Learning to Surf at Rossi & Rossi. Learning to Surf is Brandt’s first show with the gallery and it marks his first ever solo exhibition in Asia. The exhibition includes a new series of prints on glass titled Swell, substantiated after his last visit to Hong Kong back in September. Subject and material entwine in the practice of Brandt, and his fixation on the methods of developing and printing images equates his photography to the process of object making. Subject makes both the pictorial element and the photographic process, clustering tactile layers of reality that was seen and experienced.

ARTS • TECH Exhibition 2.0 – Make & Believe

Published by Artomity Magazine

Tung Wing-hong, Ng Tsz-kwan, Ho Sin-tung, Human Wu, Lam Lai, Lau Ming-hang Make & BelieveJan 23 – 28, 2024 Curator & Producer: Orlean Lai F Hall Studio, Tai Kwun10 Hollywood RoadCentral, Hong Kong Tuesday – Sunday, 11am – 7.30pm arts-tech.hk/en/ Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC) proudly presents Make & Believe, the second exhibition of ARTS • TECH Exhibition 2.0. Curated and produced by Orlean Lai, Make & Believe is a performative exhibition that examines the notions of illusion and reality through theatrical display, encompassing a spectrum of sounds, performances and scenography. Developed from the theatrical-installation performance We are for real in 2023, Make & Believe transposes the narrative into an exhibition space, inviting audiences to roam free amidst theatrical components to create a personal and intimate experience. The exhibition offers a multi- sensory encounter, embodying the concept of Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art) which seamlessly integrates objects, scenography, lighting and soundscapes to foster the active observation of audiences. Unlike the conventional story-driven theatre space, audiences are liberated from the unidirectional visual perspective of the spectator seats and are subsumed into an all-around narrative spectacle, eradicating the distinctions between fiction …

Whitestone Gallery’s Asia Voyage: An Ongoing Journey

Published by Artomity Magazine

whitestone–gallery.com After starting its artistic journey in 1967, Whitestone Gallery has steadily grown to become a renowned name in the art world. With a rich history of promoting contemporary art, Whitestone has never slowed the pace at which it grows and explores, driven by a passion for introducing exceptional art to global audiences. In 2017, the gallery expanded its footprint when Whitestone Gallery Taipei and Whitestone Ginza New Gallery opened their doors. Further strengthening its presence in Asia and providing exposure to artists from the region, Whitestone grew further in 2018 with the opening of Whitestone Gallery H Queen’s in Hong Kong, situated at one of the city’s most prestigious art addresses. During the Covid-19 pandemic, recognising the shift towards online platforms, Whitestone opened an online gallery, allowing art enthusiasts to access and purchase works remotely. Continuing its growth, Whitestone opened three additional spaces in 2023, in Beijing, Seoul and Singapore, representing yet another exciting chapter in its ongoing mission to connect artists, collectors and art enthusiasts worldwide. Whitestone Gallery Beijing is nestled within the vibrant …

Pixy Liao at Blindspot Gallery

Published by Artomity Magazine

Pixy Liao /Comfort ZoneJan 23 – Mar 9, 2024 /Opening: Saturday, Jan 20, 4pm – 6.30pm /Artist talk: Saturday, Jan 20, 5pm – 6pm (conducted in English)Artist will be present. Blindspot Gallery 15/F Po Chai Industrial Building 28 Wong Chuk Hang Road Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong +852 2517 6238 Tuesday – Saturday, 10.30am – 6.30pm blindspotgallery.com Comfort Zone is Pixy Liao’s first solo exhibition at Blindspot Gallery. The exhibition features selected works recently created by Liao, encompassing photography, video, and ready-made sculpture. Liao is known for carefully staged portraits of her and partner-collaborator Moro. Her works upend traditional representations of heterosexual relationships by inverting gender roles, often placing Moro as the subservient male muse and herself as the domineering artist-orchestrator. Tongue-in-cheek and imbued with a sense of humor, Liao’s work straddles between the performative and the autobiographical, unfurling her and Moro’s growing relationship. During the opening reception on January 20, there will be an artist talk at 5pm – 6pm, conducted in English.

Léon Wuidar at White Cube Hong Kong

Published by Artomity Magazine

Léon Wuidar / Jan 17 – Mar 16, 2024 / White Cube Hong Kong /50 Connaught Road, Central /Hong Kong /+852 2592 2000 /Tuesday – Saturday, 11am – 7pm / whitecube.com Marking the artist’s inaugural show in Asia, White Cube is pleased to present a solo exhibition of paintings and works on paper by Léon Wuidar (b. 1938). Chronicling the artist’s remarkable six-decade career, the selection of paintings spans from the early 1960s to the present day, uniting Wuidar’s exuberant simplicities of form with his distinctive, exacting technical precision. Further illustrating the artist’s enduring experimentations with colour, line and composition, accompanying the paintings is a series of previously unseen works on paper, created by the artist in the 1990s. Click here for more information on the artist and the exhibition.

Zhang Wenzhi

Published by Caroline Ha Thuc

Tiger in Mountains, Deer at Ocean / Blindspot Gallery / Hong Kong / Nov 28, 2023 – Jan 13, 2024 / Tiger in Mountains, Deer at Ocean, curated by Leo Li Chen at Blindspot Gallery, focuses on Zhang Wenzhi’s latest series of works, primarily consisting of large-format ink-on-paper pieces, accompanied by a video. Zhang’s artistic practice is deeply rooted in the historical context of Dalian, his hometown in northeastern China, now a modern port city. Throughout history, the region has experienced various periods of foreign occupation, with the British, Japanese and Russians all leaving their imprint. Zhang’s practice is embedded in this specific colonial history, as well as in the distinctive system of beliefs that once prevailed in that part of China, a fusion of Manchu shamanism, Japanese Shinto and Han religion. Within his artworks, mythological and hybrid creatures seamlessly intertwine with forest-dwelling animals, against the backdrop of the region’s complex history of rapid industrialisation and modernisation. Bay of the Deer (2023), a large work in ink and colour pigments on paper, welcomes viewers …

Lawrence Carroll

Published by Diana d'Arenberg Parmanand

Whispers of the Soul / Villepin Gallery / Hong Kong / Nov 26, 2023 – Feb, 2024 / In an art market flooded with so much noise, it’s easy to overlook the work of Lawrence Carroll. The Melbourne-born American artist, who died in 2019, created works that fill a room with silence and inspire contemplation. They encourage slowness and consideration in how we approach and understand painting. Whispers of the Soul, Carroll’s first Hong Kong exhibition, at Villepin Gallery, features a selection of the artist’s sculptural canvases, photographs and sculptures. Curated by Olivier Kaeppelin and Arthur de Villepin, in collaboration with Carroll’s wife, Lucy Jones Carroll, the exhibition juxtaposes Carroll’s works with a scattering of others by Cy Twombly, Giorgio Morandi, Giorgio de Chirico and François Halard – artists who inspired Carroll and whom the artist admired. This curation enhances and creates dialogue between Carroll’s own works and the supporting artists. But make no mistake, Carroll’s works are the stars here. Throughout much of his painting career – putting aside his album cover artwork for American …

Green Snake: women-centred ecologies – a new art exhibition exploring ecology, feminism and mythology at Tai Kwun Contemporary

Published by Artomity Magazine

Dec 20, 2023 – Apr 1, 2024 / JC Contemporary /Tai Kwun /10 Hollywood Road /Central, Hong Kong /Tue – Sun, 11am – 7pm / Green Snake: women-centred ecologies focuses on the connections between art and the larger themes of ecology in the context of rising temperatures and extreme weather events. Gathering more than 30 artists and collectives from 20 countries, the exhibition presents over 60 works that draw on mythologies and world views with women at their heart to explore possibilities for other ecological relationships and imagine other futures. Green Snake points to the extractive economies at the root of our ecological crises, economies that treat nature as a reserve of resources for exploitation. The exhibition asks what alternative narratives are activated through artists’ visions which celebrate nature as a generative force, many of them grounded in notions of care and interrelationship that are central to ecofeminism. The labour of care is essential to the reproduction of existence: this has been undervalued in patriarchal and imperial systems across broad geographies. The exhibition title refers both to the celebrated …

Lin Guocheng 林國成

Published by Christine Chan Chiu

A Dance of Landscapes and Civilisation / Alisan Fine Arts (Central) / Hong Kong / Sep 19 – Dec 9, 2023 / The first solo presentation of Lin Guocheng’s work at Alisan Fine Arts showcased two series by the Hong Kong-based, mainland Chinese artist. Having studied at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, the artist merges a foundation in Chinese art with his knowledge of Renaissance art and modern technology, playing with perspectives, proportions and compositional elements. Examining the relationship between nature, humans and the evolving world, the resulting presentation celebrates a shared history and pays homage to cultural heritage. Lin’s first monochromatic Landscape series echoes the spirit of Renaissance etchings and drawings, with volume and depth masterfully captured by his clever application and manipulation of lines. The influences of masters such as Albrecht Dürer and Michelangelo can be seen in the rendering of movement and fluidity, except that Lin’s subject matter of landscapes could not be more different. His portrayals of Chinese shanshui appear to take on lives of their own, flourishing organically and rhizomatically …