Author: Artomity Magazine

Backstage

Presented by JOCKEY CLUB New Arts Power and performed by Spring Glory Cantonese Opera Workshop, Backstage is a theatrical play that takes place backstage with an opera troupe. The two protagonists, a veteran Cantonese opera producer and a young journalist, represent two generations of people who differ in age and cultural background. Backstage strengthens the audience’s understanding of the vibrant, diverse elements of the art in an easy-to-understand way, combined with the format of a modern play. Viewers will be introduced to exquisite costumes, colourful make-up, elegant body movements, spectacular martial-arts routines, one-of-a-kind Chinese musical performances and peerless singing skills. (Check out the interview with Barbara Tang, executive director of Spring Glory Cantonese Opera Workshop, by Ernest Wan.) Dates October 24, 7.30 pm October 25, 3 pm Tickets $200 / $160 (Enjoy up to 30% exclusive discount, apply code NAPJENG30 at URBTIX) . Venue Ko Shan Theatre New Wing, Auditorium 77 Ko Shan Road, Hung Hom, Kowloon Web

Backstage

Published by Artomity Magazine

By Ernest Wan All eyes in Hong Kong’s performing-arts world are currently on the Xiqu Centre in the West Kowloon Cultural District, which is slated to open at the end of this year. The building is officially described as “a centre for the production, education and research” of xiqu, the Mandarin word for what has conventionally and conveniently been known as “Chinese opera”. Accordingly, since last year West Kowloon has been presenting a number of talks that seek to increase people’s understanding of this art form. However, every year since 2014 a local performing group has been educating the public on Cantonese opera — the genre of xiqu found in Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China’s Guangdong and Guangxi provinces — in a much more adventurous fashion: in the form of contemporary drama, in English, and mostly in other parts of the world. According to Barbara Tang, executive director of Spring Glory Cantonese Opera Workshop, the idea of the theatrical work came from the inadequacy of talks on the subject. “For many years I have …

Art for the People

Published by Artomity Magazine

The value of art beyond the market What Hong Kong’s private sector should learn from their counterparts in Chengdu By Vivienne Chow In the countryside about an hour’s drive from the centre of Chengdu in southwest China lies a hidden gem. Behind the greenery lies a pathway around a still pond, which reflects an obscurely shaped building. It appears to be comprised of two blocks piled up, covered with chains of tiles draped on the facades, gently reflecting sunlight under the blue sky, and forming a tranquil picture of nature and modernity. This is Zhi Art Museum, designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, one of the latest additions to China’s booming private museum scene. Zhi means “knowledge” in Putonghua, and reflects the institution’s ambition to become a cultural landmark in Sichuan province. The museum’s inaugural exhibition Open bringstogether nine international artists including Chico MacMurtrie, Mariko Mori, Carsten Nicolai and Zhang Peili, whose conceptual works challenge perceptions of contemporary life. The entire project is a statement on the value of art beyond the much-hyped art market. Cities around the world …

Oscar Murillo at David Zwirner Hong Kong

Published by Artomity Magazine

19 September – 3 November 2018 Opening reception: Wednesday, 19 September, 6 – 8pm David Zwirner is pleased to present an exhibition of paintings and works on paper by Oscar Murillo at the gallery’s Hong Kong location, marking the artist’s first solo presentation in Asia. Born in Colombia and based in various locations, Murillo is known for an inventive and itinerant practice that encompasses paintings, works on paper, sculptures, installations, actions, live events, collaborative projects, and videos. Taken as a whole, his body of work demonstrates a sustained emphasis on the notion of cultural exchange and the multiple ways in which ideas, languages, and even everyday items are displaced, circulated, and increasingly intermingled. Through his command of gesture, form, and spatial organization, Murillo is able to convey a complex and nuanced understanding of the specific conditions of globalization and its attendant state of flux, while nevertheless maintaining the universality of human experience within this milieu. In recent years, Murillo has traveled extensively throughout the world to research and prepare exhibitions and other projects, making works …

Mark Bradford

Published by Artomity Magazine

Hauser & Wirth Hong Kong Mar 27 – May 12, 2018 Valencia Tong Spanning the 15th and 16th floors of H Queen’s, the newly built luxury art and cultural hub, Hauser & Wirth’s brand new Hong Kong space was inaugurated by an exhibition by US artist Mark Bradford. The US representative at the 2017 Venice Biennale, the Los Angeles-based abstract artist brought to the Hong Kong show some of his newest works, which feature a map motif. At first glance, the viewer is greeted with a scene of overwhelming tranquility, surrounded by turquoise-blue paintings against the stark white walls of the spacious gallery. The bright blue colour of the majority of the paintings evokes the feeling of being immersed in a vast ocean. However, on closer examination, the images provoke anxiety; they do not depict nature and freedom, but aerial views of a claustrophobic, restrictive urban reality. It is as if the viewer assumes the perspective of an overhead surveillance camera that sees where all the boundaries and borders of urban geographies lie, and these separations divide populations into communities according to …

Don’t miss the 11th South Island Art Day on Saturday, September 22

Published by Artomity Magazine

Following highly successful South Island Art Days over the past five years, this year the South Island Cultural District (SICD) is teaming up with the Hong Kong Art Gallery Association (HKAGA) to host an even more exciting event. SICD and the HKAGA promise an exciting, varied programme including exhibitions in 13 art spaces, giving visitors the opportunity to attend openings, interact with local and international artists, join guided tours and further experience the diversity of contemporary art through performances and outdoor installations. Admission to the Art Day is free and each participating gallery is offering complimentary food and drinks from our local partners. We look forward to welcoming you together with more than 5,000 other art lovers to Hong Kong’s New Destination for Contemporary Art on September 22. For more information visit sicd.com.hk or contact us on T +852 2696 2300 E contact@sicd.com.hk. Image: Courtesy SICD.

Gert & Uwe Tobias

Published by Artomity Magazine

By Diana d’Arenberg Parmanand During the Ottoman invasion of Wallachia in 1462, Sultan Mehmed II, who had marched into the territory with an army of more than 150,000 troops, entered the small town of Târgoviște in what is today Romania to find a forest of 20,000 Turkish men, women and children, all impaled. The perpetrator: Voivode Vlad III Dracula. The carnage earned the ruler the moniker Vlad “Tepes”, or the Impaler, among the local population. A little further afield in England, his numerous acts of heinous cruelty, and his patronymic, would inspire the creation of Irish writer Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula. They also sowed the seeds of inspiration for the work of identical twin brothers and artistic collaborators Gert and Uwe Tobias. Born in Transylvania, Romania to a Saxon family, the artists explore their cultural identity through mythology in their woodblock print paintings, ceramic sculptures, typewriter drawings and watercolours. Having spent their childhood under Nicolae Ceaușescu’s rule, the myths and misconceptions of Vlad Dracul, as he is known in Romania, did not initially colour their youth. There …

In Search of Southeast Asia through the M+ Collections

Published by Artomity Magazine

In Search of Southeast Asia through the M+ Collections is the first exhibition to present how M+ is addressing the complex region of Southeast Asia in the building of its multidisciplinary collections. Encompassing visual art, design and architecture, and moving image works from, and about, Southeast Asia—including the nations of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam—the exhibition highlights how M+ is developing a unique perspective on the region as a place that is defined by multiple narratives, histories, and identities. Featuring archival materials, architectural models, contemporary art installations, and moving image artworks, the exhibition illuminates the region’s historical and contemporary contexts as well as the flow of ideas across borders. Date: Now until 30 September 2018 Opening Hours: 11am–6pm Wednesday to Sunday and public holidays Venue: M+ Pavilion, West Kowloon Cultural District Free Admission Details: http://www.mplus.org.hk/insearchofsea Conjunction public talk: Powers at Play In conversations with M+ curators Pauline J. Yao (Lead Curator, Visual Art) and Shirley Surya (Associate Curator, Design and Architecture), the invited speakers will present how their practice …

Mak Ying Tung 2

Published by Artomity Magazine

The Anything Machine 26 May – 22 Jul 2018 de Sarthe Gallery, Beijing Nooshfar Afnan Machines and electronic devices are ubiquitous in our daily lives, dominating almost every aspect of them. For The Anything Machine, her first solo show at de Sarthe Gallery in Beijing, Mak Ying Tung 2 investigates through a new body of work two ideas related to machines. While some of the works question whether we exaggerate our veneration of these devices, others query whether these electronics can play an even larger role, such as in the creation of art. The latter theme is addressed in her installation Physicality II (2018), in which two Dyson fans, one blowing hot air and the other cold air onto thermal paper create an array of hues ranging from sand to indigo to green. While the art is properly framed and offers a pleasing visual display of colours, we are left wondering whether fans can replace the mind, heart and hand of an artist. The installation Physicality I (2018) employs another household appliance: a piece of …

A hollow in a world too full—Cao Fei solo at Tai Kwun Contemporary

Published by Artomity Magazine

Cao Fei 曹斐 A hollow in a world too full 在過滿的世界挖一個洞 Tai Kwun Contemporary 大館當代美術館 10 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong 香港中環荷李活道10號 8 Sep – 9 Dec 2018 Presented by UCCA尤倫斯當代藝術中心呈獻 Curated by: Philip Tinari in association with Xue Tan 策展人 : 田霏宇 (譚雪聯同籌劃) Cao Fei is among the most internationally renowned artists of her generation. Her first major solo exhibition in Hong Kong centres around the newly commissioned work Prison Architect. Comprised of a film, installations, and sculptures, the work subtly spreads throughout the three floors of Tai Kwun Contemporary’s exhibition spaces. Inspired by the sombre historical material of Victoria Prison and shot with downtown Central as backdrop, the new work conceives of a scenario where “an architect hesitantly accepts an invitation to design a prison”. In the film, the two protagonists each entertain imaginations and personal experiences of imprisonment in two parallel realities (one of the present day and the other of an ambiguous past). This cross-temporal-spatial dialogue reflects the artist’s contemplations on our relationship with the world. Apart from this ambitious film installation, the exhibition also showcases …