Asia Week Hong Kong

The second edition will take place from 17 to 27 May 2014 across various locations around the city. Please visit www.asiaweekhk.com

[asiaweekhk]

Opening Ceremony of "Art@Government Buildings 2013-14"

Bringing works of art into government offices, Art@Government Buildings is a large-scale public art project that aims to create a fresh artistic environment for the buildings and offer visitors and users a new experience in Hong Kong.

Having its opening ceremony launched on 11 March, 2014 at Queen Elizabeth, the project was introduced by the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Mrs Betty Fung. Since 2010, artworks were introduced to nine government buildings. This year, four artists were featured in the project: “The Letters” for the General Post Office by Sze Wing-yee; “Let the Kites Back into the Sky”, which Sim Chan created for the Queen Elizabeth Stadium; Wu Wai-chung for Sha Tin Town Hall is named “Double Happiness Point”; and   “Our Little Corner of the World” features paintings that Wong Wai-yin created for Hung Hom Community Hall.

The artwork we find most aesthetically creative and attractive is Wu Wai-chung’s “Double Happiness Point” at Sha Tin Town Hall. Apart from suggesting good things come in pairs in traditional Chinese marriage ceremonies, the title of this art piece in Cantonese shares the same meaning as “starting point”, a metaphor for marriage as a new starting point in life. The deconstructed '囍' in 3-D perspectives can now be found along the corridor leading to the entrance to the Sha Tin Marriage Registry in the town hall.

These tailor-made public artworks will be put on display from March 11, 2014 till March 31, 2015 with reference to the uniqueness of the buildings and the character of the districts and community in which they are located at four government buildings, namely the General Post Office, the Queen Elizabeth Stadium, Hung Hom Community Hall and Sha Tin Town Hall, which are located on Hong Kong Island, in Kowloon and in the New Territories.

Time: 11 March 2014 (Tuesday) at 3:00 - 4:00pm

Venue: 2/F Lobby Area of Queen Elizabeth

Address: 18 Oi Kwan Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong

[asiaweekhk]

‘The Mystics’ by Marc Standing

Exploring the themes of identity, displacement and morality within a heightened age of globalisation and multiculturalism, Marc Standing debuts ‘The Mystics’ - his first solo exhibition in Hong Kong.

Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Standing currently divides his time between Hong Kong and Sydney. The British-colonial pasts of these three cities have largely influenced his career and his artwork. In The Mystics, Standing’s paintings and sculptures are inspired by a personal search for identity and embodied by complexities felt by a mass consciousness - one which has been left with toxic traces of colonialism.

Although Standing chiefly produces oil paintings on canvas, the 21 showpieces in this exhibition also consists of some rare collage works and sculptures. The exhibit features skulls and masks alongside nature and birds, the contrast between the eerie and the peaceful are evident. He explores the tensions between light and dark; comfort and discomfort; a sense of belonging and a sense of void.

Regardless of where you are from, his unique pieces will undoubtedly strike a chord with most people. From identity to a sense of belonging, his artwork will relate to most, especially those who find them in this post-colonial, multinational city that is Hong Kong. If you look close enough, you might even find hints of Hong Kong’s famous cityscape in the shards of geometric structures amongst the organic subject matters.

Exhibition Details:

Gallery: The Cat Street Gallery

Venue: 222 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

Date: 13 February - 8 March, 2014

Time: Monday - Friday :  11 am - 7 pm, Saturday :  11am - 5pm

Entry: Free of charge

For more information on the exhibit, visit the gallery’s website:

http://www.thecatstreetgallery.com/home/current/eng/

The Fractured Colony, Oil on canvas

Duchess of Avon

[asiaweekhk]

Artify Gallery - “The Presence” by Bence Bakonyi

Bence Bakonyi, a photographer from Hungary, unveils his first solo show titled “The Presence” in Artify Gallery. Being Hong Kong’s premier gallery, Artify Gallery is dedicated to the art of contemporary print and paper works. Against plastered white walls and diffused lighting in the refined exhibition space, Bakonyi showcases two series of artwork, namely “Cognition” and “Dignity”. Through the series, the artist reveals his personal struggles and experiences through his striking photographs taken in Dunhuang, Zhangye Danxia, and in his own hometown.

It may be appropriate to describe his “Cognition” collection as visually captivating. As we are observing Bakonyi’s take of an alien landscape of a complex culture in China, it feels like we are on the outside looking in his world of tourist spectators. Portraying a community of tourists as a tiny, single entity in a vast desert, the artist focuses on how the entity as a whole blends into a natural landscape.

In Baknyi’s “Dignity” collection, the artist’s photographic work conveys deep layers of interpretations beneath the untouchable in all of us. He told us he took four months of preparation work at the site of the only-one-day shooting. Bakonyi demonstrates with a graceful presence in his own works - the magnificence of floating with a majestic black canvas in a deserted landscape with only pearly-white sand.

We were truly inspired by the art work that the talented photographer, Bakonyi, presented. We thought the ethereal photo where the artist himself was captured floating in the air is especially thought provoking. It was almost as if the artist was in a surreal freedom of his own making. Representing symbols of freedom, liberation and transubstantiation, the artist tries to take his viewers into the exploration of themes such as human existence, reality and fantasy through the fascinating photographs.  

The exhibition will run from 13 February through 20 March 2014.

The Presence

Address: Unit 7, 10/F, Block A,

CMing Pao Industrial Centre, 18 Ka Yip Street,

Chai Wan, Hong Kong

Tel: [phone]

Website: www.artifygallery.com

[asiaweekhk]

Shi Jindian - Contemporary by Angela Li

Recognised by his unique, ethereal work consisting of twisting thin stainless steel wire into innovative pieces, Shi Jindian’s captivating installation art works are currently being showcased as part of a group exhibit at Contemporary by Angela Li.

Driven by his desire to challenge artistic norms, Shi destructs and reconstructs everyday objects using unconventional materials. HIs work generates a sense of fascination and awareness of one’s surroundings. He intends on using his art pieces to encourage reflection on the social, political and cultural aspects of life.

By recreating objects that are stripped down to their cores, allows his audience to reflect on familiarity in an environment out of the ordinary. His paintings are also equally created with such depth and evoke a similar sense of interest and resonance.

Details of the exhibition: Gallery: Contemporary by Angela Li Venue: G/F, 248 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Time: Monday - Saturday 10am to 6:30pm

Entry: Free of charge For more information on the exhibit, visit the gallery’s website:

http://www.cbal.com.hk/

White Forest, Coloured Stainless Steel Wire

Orchestration, Coloured Stainless Steel Wire and Paper, 70 x 210 x 95 cm, Unique

Three Steps No.2, Coloured Stainles Steel Wire, 170 x 58 x 35 cm, 2010

[asiaweekhk]

I Didn't Come Here And I Ain't Leaving - Christopher Doyle

Christopher Doyle (otherwise known as Du Ke Feng), the world-renowned Australian cinematographer’s “I Didn’t Come Here And I Ain’t Leaving” installation is presented at agnès b.’s LIBRAIRIE GALERIE in celebration of the debut of movie BENDS in Hong Kong.

Set in the Hong Kong-­-Shenzhen border, BENDS depicts the unexpected friendship of a well-heeled housewife, Anna and her chauffeur, Fai as they negotiate pressures of Hong Kong life and its complex relationship with mainland China. Anna’s precariousness emerges from the sudden disappearance of her husband, hopelessly canceling her credit cards for her affluent spendings; whereas Fai faces the dilemma of his pregnant wife giving birth to their second child in violation of China’s One-Child Policy. Under Doyle’s luminous and fluid lenses, he delicately offers audience visions of spacious rooms and vacant highways, portraying a rarely seen aspect of Hong Kong in reinforcement of the characters’ isolation and loneliness.

Through the display of central visual elements of BENDS, Doyle flexes his conceptual art muscles and provides observers an active engagement of collaborative process between Du Ke Feng and Christopher Doyle from both Eastern and Western perspectives in the “I Didn’t Come Here And I Ain’t Leaving” installation.

The exhibition consists of a mixture of Doyle’s works presenting 6 groups of installations which include movie clips, photo collages and an interactive app named “Away with Words”. The works are presented in the form of a “scrapbook” where the elements made from fragments of other projects and prints blatantly attached to the wall. Oil-treated photomontages hang in layers from the ceiling creating a cloud of colorful overlays. There is also a series of skillfully put together split screen “Self Interview” videos where the Chinese Du converses with the (slightly) Western Doyle in regard of the issue on how culture and language influence the  process of theatre-making.

The exhibition will be opened to the public until 3rd March, 2014.

agnès b.’s LIBRAIRIE GALERIE,

G/F, 118 Hollywood Road, Central, HK

Tel: [phone]

Opening Hours: 11:30 – 19:30 daily (closed on public holidays)

Admission: Free

The interior of “I Didn’t Come Here and I Ain’t Leaving” installation at agnès b.'s LIBRAIRIE GALERIE

Layered oil-treated photomontages hanging on the wall

Christopher Doyle (Du Ke Fung) conversing with his guests at the Opening Night

The two protagonists in the movie, BENDS

[asiaweekhk]

Stockton’s Surreal Grand Opening

The darkly-lit restaurant and bar bring us back to a members-only private gentlemen’s club in the turn of the 20th century, serving only the most exquisite delicacies from a classic menu of oysters, sea urchin, crab salad and rock cod, just to name a few. Bottoms up with some sparkling wine and their deliciously delightful Ribston Apple Cocktail or Rhum in Fashion, considering it is a London club themed restaurant, rhum, gin and whisky shall always be in fashion. 

With a glass in hand, your eyes wander over the wood-panelled floors and meticulous decor with art and antiques that exerts almost an ominous presence. This seems to reiterate the idea of ‘memento mori’, an artistic and symbolic reminder of death populated in the 17th century when rich businessmen displayed their wealth in still-life paintings, where a sub-genre of ‘vanitas’ led to the presence of skulls in paintings. It is interesting to see Stockton, as a civilized upper-class gentlemen club circa 1900, relishes an air of luxury while reminding of its gentlemen and ladies the irony of it all with scarecrows and skull displays, but most of all the brilliant art works of Dan Hillier.

Just as the prominent clubs in the olden days were characterized by their members’ interest in arts, literature or politics, Stockton is themed with ‘Surrealism’, an idea owners of Maximal Concept found particularly intriguing where they picked Dan Hillier’s art work along with its decor. Acclaimed for the black line engravings, Dan Hillier’s art works embody the ‘Steampunk’ aesthetic with Victorian sensibilities. Depicting fantastical human and animal hybrids from late-1800, the artist seems to be bringing us back in time while revealing a world that doesn’t exist yet.

Stockton, G/F, 32 Wyndham Street, Central; [phone]

To find out more, please visit: http://maximalconcepts.com/

[asiaweekhk]

Mao to Picasso - Brian Brake Photography

Titled “Mao to Picasso - Brian Brake Photography”, Koru Contemporary Art features the remaining portfolio of vintage photographs by New Zealand’s very own internationally acclaimed photographer Brian Brake (1927-1988). Celebrating Brian Brake’s solo exhibition in Hong Kong in decades, it is the first time for these signed or embossed authentic vintage photographs to be showcased outside of public museums and galleries.

  As a member of Magnum Photos, Brake had the opportunity to meet with Picasso in southern France in 1955. He took the chance to this collection of iconic images of Picasso at a bullfight. The series also captured Picasso’s interesting interaction with his wife Jacqueline, his son Claude, and his friends Cocteau and Maia.

  Another series of photography include candid portraits of Mao and Chou En-Lai in 1957, witnessing the 10th Anniversary of the Chinese Revolution and its parade at Tien An Men Square. Photographs from the same year revealed shots of Chairman Mao meeting with Russian President Voroshilov and Polish Premier Cyrankiewicz at a reception.

Brian Brake brings out the essence of monochromatic scale in these black and white photographs, as they bear witness to these historical moments of iconic figures. Opening from Tuesday to Saturday 11am to 6pm, the gallery welcomes public viewing of the collection from 31st October (Thursday) to 21st December (Saturday).

  Address: Unit 1604, 16th Floor, Hing Wai Centre, 7 Tin Wan Praya Road,  Aberdeen, Hong Kong

For more information, head to www.koru-hk.com.

[asiaweekhk]

REVEAL - HKIA at ArtisTree 2013

Through photography, installations, sculptures, paintings and new media art, the Hong Kong Institute of Architects (HKIA) presents ‘REVEAL’. Located in the business area of Quarry Bay, at ArtisTree, the exhibition contains a wide variety of works from HKIA members.

Demonstrating the combination of creativity and energy of local architects, the exhibition encourages the public to enter the realm of design and creation from the architects’ perspective. The pieces put on display illustrate the importance of creativity in architectural design. With inspiration from both East and West, architects are able to produce innovative and aesthetically pleasing designs that are presented as artworks in the exhibition.

Taking the exhibition to another level, experiential showcase of architects real work space exhibits such as building models, drawings, sketches and office photos are presented to deepen the public’s understanding of talented local architects and their contributions to the city. The exhibition will be open to the public until 27th December.

ArtisTree, 1/F Cornwall House, TaiKoo Place, Island East, Quarry Bay

Opening Hours: Mon - Sun 11:00 - 20:00

Admission: Free

Please visit the following website for more information: www.hkia.net/reveal/

[asiaweekhk]

Carne Griffiths' Invisible Lines

After about a month of showcasing his amazing art work, sadly tomorrow (Saturday, 21 Dec) will be the last day of the Carne Griffiths’ Invisible Lines exhibition presented by Above Second and Coates and Scarry. Griffiths’ work is a blend of abstract and figurative styles, consisting of free-flowing lines balanced by geometry. Exploring the balance between male and female, and power and meekness, Griffiths creates a journey of escapism, inviting viewers to share and explore the inner realm of awe and wonder. Perhaps most intriguing is that, apart from using inks and graphites, on top of his impressive embroidery skills, Griffith works with liquids such as tea, brandy and vodka, making each piece unique.

Based in the UK, Griffiths’ work has been exhibited at several notable art fairs there, as well as in Germany, Italy, Ibiza, New Orleans, Singapore and currently Hong Kong.

Try to catch the exhibit on its last day! In case you miss out, fret not! Griffiths is going to exhibit his work at the London Art Fair in the ink_d Gallery stand. He also sells original work on his etsy store (http://etsy.me/1i7NlWt). Not only are they affordable pieces, but they also ship worldwide.

Details for the Invisible Lines exhibition: Gallery: Above Second Venue: 31 Eastern Street, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong TIme: 13:00-19:00

For more information on Carne Griffiths and his work, visit his website: http://www.carnegriffiths.com/

[asiaweekhk]

Hong Kong Art Gallery Week

After months of hype, the Hong Kong Art Gallery Week has finally kicked off. It is the Hong Kong Art Gallery Association's first event week since it was founded in 2012. Sponsored by Bank of China (Hong Kong) Private Banking, the event will last from 20 - 28 November. Art enthusiasts and the public alike can expect to see an array of events, from art lectures and forums to auctions and gallery nights. 

The media launch party took place at Duddell's on 19 November, where Chief Secretary for Administration Mrs. Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, together with Under Secretary for Home Affairs Ms. Florence Hui Hiu-fai and Legislative Councilor Mr. Ma Fung Kwok,  officiated the commencement of the long-awaited Art Gallery Week.

  Here are our picks for the week:

Art After Hours: Art Gallery Night Friday 22 November, 6pm - 10pm

A citywide gallery night showcasing a range of contemporary art in Hong Kong. Hop-on, hop-off buses will be available to the public. It is the perfect opportunity to explore the local art scene. Free of charge.

  Art Gallery Day Saturday 23 November, 11am - 5pm If you missed art gallery night, fret not, the 49 participating galleries will once again be open to the public with special events taking place at individual galleries. Hop-on, hop-off buses will once again be provided. Free of charge.

Chalk Art Painting on Chancery Lane Saturday 23 November, 11am - 7pm

Atdul Dodiya, Eyes 2013  - 10 Chancery Lane

Take this opportunity to discover Chancery Lane in a whole new light - covered in chalk art. Free of charge.

For more information for this week's events, head to www.hk-aga.org.

[asiaweekhk]

LUNCH TALK: Investing in Contemporary Asian Art

Jeannette ten Kate of Sinopia Art Consultancy, based in The Netherlands, will present a talk for Asia Week Hong Kong on how to invest in contemporary Asian Art. Suited for all collectors, this talk explores questions such as: ‘Is the piece worth the price?’, ‘How well-known is the artist?’, and ‘What is the condition of the piece and how does that change the value?’. With her extensive knowledge and experience in the contemporary art market, Jeannette will guide you through the process of responsibly investing in this category. Jeannette ten Kate received her Master’s Degree in art history from the University of Leiden, The Netherlands. She started her professional career at Sotheby’s where she was trained as a general expert. After her career in the auction business, she specialised in modern and contemporary art before starting her own company, Sinopia Art Consultancy, in 1999. She now advises private clients on buying and selling on the national and international art market. She is founder of the Arts Club, a closed society for art collectors, that organises exclusive events for her members from all over the world. In addition she is manager of a fund for Chinese Contemporary Art: The Sinopia East Asia Fine Arts Collection.

[asiaweekhk]

Asia Week Hong Kong 2013 More highlights, please visit: http://asiaweekhk.com