Photo by Ruth Chan
We had a ball of a time at last year’s Art Garden, and were keeping an eye out for the reappearance of the (big) white rabbit. We were previously somewhat disappointed by the highlighted display of Walter over the CNY period and were hoping that this year’s Children’s Season would prove to be more than that.
This year’s Hong Kong Art Fair had all and more of my favourite Beijing galleries exhibiting alongside international galleries representing big name artists from Damien Hirst to Tracy Emin, Barnaby Furnas, Yayoi Kusuma, Maurizio Cattelan, Rudolf Stingel, Piotr Uklanski and Chinese artists heavyweights Zeng Fanzhi, Cao GuoQiang as well as a fitting marble arm by Ai Wei Wei. The stellar list goes on. I also checked out the Singaporean artist Heman Chong’s works, represented by the Singapore Tyler Print Institute . Chong’s works at the fair featured pop art covers of classic fiction: Albert Camus’ The Stranger and Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe–his key objectives to investigate philosophies, reasons and methods of individuals/communities in the future. Recreating the covers of literary classics, he aims to “communicate the titles and the authors stories of selfhood” through the “neoconstructivist” shards of colours, where one is invited to experience the solitude in the referential object (in this case the classic fiction covers).
Exhibiting alongside Chong was Korean artist Do Ho Suh featuring ephermeral pieces of hand drawn concentric circles of a dizzying effect, whose “mirrored symmetry is Suh’s prevailing theme of Karma” and thread drawings that looked like a child’s doodle charting her personal journey.
One of Beijing’s oldest galleries Red Gate showcased Island 6’s LED installation pieces while Pekin Fine Arts featured one of my favourite artist Liu Bolin who camoflages in his surroundings.
Other amazing works include the Indonesian Collective Tromarama’s “More We, Less Me” and Indonesian artist Heri Dono’s “Pinocchio Syndrome. Morimura Yasumasa’s Mona Lisa’s pregnancy series.
Artist Atsushi Kaga represented by Irish gallery Mothers Tank Station created a series of cats installations. Too cute.
And a giant wall of “stuff” by Jacob Hashimoto was reminiscent of a giant dream weaver to me.
This year’s fair like those of the years before showcased an impressive and extensive collection of art, best of all it was nice seeing Singaporean artists exhibiting alongside international big names.
Photos by Lilian Yeung and Juliana Loh. See the full album here.
I’m surprised how little coverage there is for one of my favourite Chinese artists, Zhang Huan @ MGM’s One Central Mall in Macau at the Louis Vuitton store. It’s silly getting in the queue just to enter the store to see the exhibition, but seems like LV won’t have it otherway. So, get in line with the wealthy Mainland tourists buying excessively, which inevitably makes wait much longer than usual.
The exhibition Zhang Huan: East Wind/West Wind features his signature ash statues works, this time of Jesus and Buddha in seeming dialogue and a lovely collection of scenes silkscreened and then carved onto antique wooden doors—to the finest detail.
Buddha’s face made of cow hide, reminiscent of what he did at the UCCA Dior Exhibits.
Although the technique and medium of his works don’t change much, I still prefer his statues and cow hide works to the train wreck piece. I appreciate the thought and ideology, but I didn’t have a reaction to it, nor felt remotely connected to the art.
A pity the LV exhibition doesn’t get enough credit nor coverage. The exhibit is through July 3, so do catch it if you’re in the area! LV is moving up the ranks in my brand ranking, even though I’m not a fan of the excessive in your face monogram-ing. Apart from the recent Angelina Jolie campaign and their CSR association, I think they have a great space and well curated exhibits—a surprise in a place like Macau.
About Zhang Huan
Born in 1965 in Henan, China, Zhang divides his time between China and New York. Zhang is known for his public theatrical performances and a variety of other mediums. In 2005, Zhang opened a studio in Shanghai. At the same time, he also set up Gao An Foundation to help in the poor areas in Western China
Exhibition Venue
Louis Vuitton L3One Central Mall (MGM)MGM MACAU Avenida Dr. Sun Yat Sen, NAPEMacauShop G27-29, 121-123, 229-231,Tel: +853 2822 8800
View more photos at our China/Hong Kong correspondent’s Flickr album.