All posts tagged: Christine Chan Chiu

Lin Guocheng

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 …

Postmodern Tales

Published by Christine Chan Chiu

HART / Hong Kong / Mar 20 – Apr 29, 2023 / Showcasing the latest works from HART’s artists-in-residence, Postmodern Tales was a multimedia group show featuring eight different artists whose practices are as thought-provoking as they are diverse. From various cultural backgrounds, they are connected via their unique contemporary sensibilities, as well as their willingness to approach art using novel ideas – or to present novel ideas using art. As HART’s second off-site exhibition, curated by HART director Vera Lam, the presentation not only captured what it means to be postmodern, but also served to cement the non-profit organisation’s commitment to nurturing Hong Kong talent. Visitors were greeted with Body as Lifeguard Tower I (2022), a hanging, life-sized cyanotype fabric work by Michele Chu. Imprinted with silhouettes of her own body, the work is a metaphor for emotional barriers, and aims to break down invisible walls by acknowledging their existence. In Replica of Ruins: Anonymous Road (2023), Natalie Chu Lok Ting invites visitors to step back in time. Her recreation of a pathway in …

Chu Chu

Published by Christine Chan Chiu

Awakening / Alisan Fine Arts, Central / Feb 1 – Mar 16, 2023 / Chu Chu’s second solo exhibition at Alisan Fine Arts in Hong Kong was an overview of the emerging artist’s works from 2007 to the present. It was curated mainly to provide viewers with background knowledge of her practice, featuring some of her best-known earlier works, as well as showcasing her latest multimedia experiments. Highlighting her roots in photography and Chinese calligraphy, Awakening not only traces Chu’s development over the past decade and a half, but also serves as an affirmation of her talent at reinterpreting and reconciling vastly different genres. The presentation started with her iconic Material Immaterial series from over a decade ago, featuring five monochromatic works depicting dried fruits, gardenias and twigs. You could easily be forgiven for dismissing the photographic renderings of such objects as banal or commonplace. However, understatement is the key here. Embedded in the photographs among the nuanced shadows are calligraphic scrolls so subtle and delicate that they could easily be mistaken for shadows themselves. …

Various artists 群展

Published by Christine Chan Chiu

Up Close – Hollywood Road II / Oct 11 – Nov 14, 2021 / The second road in Hong Kong to be built under colonial rule, Hollywood Road earned its reputation as an antiques market after merchants and sailors travelling from China back to Europe would put their wares up for sale here. In Up Close – Hollywood Road II, works from six contemporary artists and artist groups were shown alongside rare objects across five different Hollywood Road locations, sparking a conversation between the traditional and the modern. Curated by Hilda Chan and Iven Cheung, the artists worked with the respective galleries to develop pieces that not only complemented but also respected the antique collections. The presentation also encouraged new ways of looking at antiques, generating a novel appreciation for these objects within a contemporary context. At Nan Fung Place, Lau Hok Shing’s installation gave audiences a glimpse into the history and development of the Hollywood Road neighbourhood. Abnormal Institute of History and Culture of Hollywood Road (2021) was made using documents, books and various …

Bosco Sodi 博斯克•索迪

Published by Artomity Magazine

A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains / Axel Vervoordt Gallery / Hong Kong / Feb 13 – Sep 5, 2020 / Christine Chan Chiu / The colour turquoise holds great significance for Bosco Sodi, so much so that the artist’s first solo show at Axel Vervoordt Gallery Hong Kong was devoted to exploring the nuances and subtleties of this pigment.Created during his two-week residency in Hong Kong last December, the works in it are made with sawdust and inspired by the artist’s experiences in the city. Completing the multi-dimensional exhibition was a selection of the artist’s large clay sculptures, presented on the floor. The title of the exhibition references the famous 12-metre-long shanshui landscape painting of turquoise-tipped peaks by Chinese painter Wang Ximeng (1113 AD). Focusing on the colour turquoise was cathartic for the artist; not only has the mineral turquoise long been seen as a good-luck talisman in many cultures, but its unique, stunning colour also recalls precious memories from the artist’s childhood. It conjures images of cool waters amid lush landscapes, scenery found both …

Tseng Kwong Chi

Published by Artomity Magazine

East Meets West / Ben Brown Fine Arts / Hong Kong / Jan 10 – Mar 9 / Christine Chan Chiu In 1979, Tseng Kwong Chi was meeting his family for dinner at the upscale Windows on the World restaurant in New York’s World Trade Center. Jackets were required for men, and Tseng decided to wear the Chinese-style Mao suit he had bought at a thrift store. Mistaken for a Chinese dignitary, he was treated as a VIP at the restaurant, and from that moment the artist, then 29 years old, would don the sartorial attire of the “ambiguous ambassador” for his self-portraits over the next decade. Presented by Ben Brown Fine Arts, East Meets West is arguably the late artist’s best-known series of photographic works, in which he poses with famous landmarks around the world in the signature Mao suit and reflective sunglasses. Tseng realised his outfit not only offered him the anonymity of taking on another persona but also a semblance of power when he was mistaken for an important Chinese government official. Back then, …

Danh Vō, Isamu Noguchi

Published by Artomity Magazine

Noguchi for Danh Vō: Counterpoint / M+ Pavilion / Hong Kong / Dec 27 – Jan 10 / Christine Chan Chiu / Noguchi for Danh Vō: Counterpoint, the eighth show staged at M+ Pavilion, brought together the diverse works of two artists, Danh Vō and the late Isamu Noguchi. The word “counterpoint” refers to the two artists’ works being independent but possessing the ability to be interdependent, creating a harmonious rapport when juxtaposed. The exhibition lived up to its musical metaphor and more, highlighting the talent and ingenuity of one artist while exploring the imaginative, multi-layered approach of the other. Inspired by a leitmotif in traditional Chinese ink painting, Vō’s Untitled (Structure for Akari PL2) (2018), modelled after a Chinese Dong pavilion, took centre stage in the main gallery. Flanked and illuminated by Noguchi’s famous Akari lamps, visitors were encouraged to sit and rest there. Parallels soon became clear between Vō’s pavilion and Noguchi’s lamps: both are made from wood (cedar and bamboo respectively), are affordable, easily dismantled and rebuilt, and most importantly stand alone as sculptures in their own right, redefining their surrounding spaces. …

Irving Penn

Published by Artomity Magazine

Irving Penn / Pace / Hong Kong / Jan 25 – Mar 7 / Christine Chan Chiu / Irving Penn at Pace not only highlighted the artist’s accomplishments in fashion photography, portraiture and still lifes, thanks to a long, illustrious career at Vogue, but also revealed and celebrated his first love, painting. The first show in Hong Kong dedicated solely to Penn, it was an accurate if concise retrospective of a brilliant artist who sought to find beauty in everything he portrayed, and whose creativity extended beyond the lens. The audience was able to trace Penn’s path as it evolved and to appreciate the many facets of his practice. Works such as Large Sleeve (Sunny Harnett) (1951) and Black and White Fashion with Handbag (Jean Patchett) (1950) attest to his keen eye for fashion styling, zooming in on his talent for capturing sculptural form and detail in fabric, magnified by the stark black-and-white contrast of gelatine silver prints. They were displayed alongside ethnographic portraits from Morocco and nudes that convey softness and suppleness. Past the main salon were individual portraits of …

Ethan Murrow

Published by Artomity Magazine

We Travel in Our Minds / Duddell’s / Hong Kong / Oct 10 – Mar 10 / Christine Chan Chiu We Travel in Our Minds was the latest guest-curated exhibition that Duddell’s presented for its third consecutive autumn programme, with the aim of showcasing unique, rarely seen items from private Hong Kong collections. It highlighted unusual pieces from three collections in the Duddell’s library, replacing the books on its shelves as objects conveying knowledge, culture and history. They were complemented by a series of meticulously executed black-and-white wall drawings by Boston-based artist Ethan Murrow. Depicting imagined worlds of the whimsical and the absurd, they formed a fantastical backdrop for the objects. The result was a melange of contrasting artforms that balanced the classical with the modern, creating an interesting, serendipitous conversation between the two. Most of the antiques were from the Claire & Francis Heritage Lane Collection, with the oldest, a white pottery bird-shaped cup, dating to the Han dynasty (202BC-220AD). There were other animal-themed vessels in the form of a parrot-shaped stoneware cup from the Northernand Southern dynasties (420-589AD) and two small Yue ware …

Sara Tse

Published by Artomity Magazine

Re Visit Tai Kwun Hong Kong Jun 8 – Jul 8 Christine Chan Chiu Touch Ceramics, in Hong Kong’s newest centre for heritage and arts, Tai Kwun, kicked off with an inaugural show of Sara Tse’s newest works. An artist long fascinated by the transience of time and the impermanence of life, Tse is known as much for her tactile abilities in modelling and manipulating clay as for the sentimental content of her pieces. The exhibition was not only a tribute to technique and craftsmanship but also a timely throwback to things past. Tse discovered her signature method by chance, when the cloth used to clean her ceramic work table had hardened along with the clay. Experimenting by heating up the cloth, she discovered that while the cloth itself had been incinerated, what remained after the process was the exact replica of the cloth, but in porcelain, creating something that will last forever. Tse applies this method faithfully to her latest works, where she has turned her attention to cartography to highlight how Hong Kong …