Seen&Scene: A SPRING Evening With Qiu Zhijie

Last Saturday brought a balmy and drizzly Spring evening to Hong Kong, but at the Wong Chuk Hang Industrial District, it was all smiles and pleasant conversations as the arts community rallied around Spring Workshop’s latest artist-in-residence, Qiu Zhijie, one of the mainland’s most celebrated artist and thinkers of his generation.

Inspired by Spring Workshops’ delightfully expansive and flexible space, Qiu began making full use of the large areas of of wall and floor for a very specific mapping exercise which only can be accomplished in such a site.

The neutralness of the walls and the beige floors allowed Qiu to think of them as a blank canvas, a datum in which ready-made objects, “found, made, free, and confined”, can be categorized and mapped, with a help of students from all of Hong Kong’s schools and universities, namely the University of Hong Kong, City University, Baptist University, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Arts School, HKICC/Jockey Club Ti-ICollege, Diocesan Girls’ School, Hong Kong Academy and Po Leung Kuk Laws Foundation College.

And when we went there last Saturday… he was close to completion…

But more was left to do. The exhibit officially starts on May 23rd.

Also a work in progress, but in a completely different scale, is the work of Eric Shuldenfrei and Marisa Yiu of Eskyiu in the back garden area, titled, Industrial Forest. 

Below, Marisa sits within her work as she takes photos of me taking photos of the landscape. Behind her stands Laurent Gutierrez of map office, another celebrated mult-disciplinary architectural studio doing great work in / for the city.

The Industrial Forest is a forest composed of metal “bamboo” rods securely placed on artificial topography. This synthetic nature comes alive, the rods swaying back and forth, with the affect of use and natural weather conditions. Imagine a typhoon!

You can find the scale model of the project in the office.

… As well as the architectural drawings.

So many friends and supporters were there that night to rally around the artists as well as founder, Mimi Brown’s non-profit arts initiative. Also spotted were Art Basel Hong Kong’s Director Asia, Magnus Renfrew (Check out our interview with him last year), art patron and writer Alex Seno, restauranteur and creative Alan Lo, art muse Xue Tan, Art Basel Hong Kong’s VIP coordinator Deborah Erlich, creative consultant Louise Wong, write and curator Christina Li, artist/educator Leung Chi Wo, and my pals Katrina, Jason S, Jason R, and Susan.

Dinner was served on the beautiful lawn and deck area outside.

There’s a map on the table…

Balls on the floor can be kicked around to create new word structures, concepts, ideas… the purpose of which to create a more dynamic version of mapping which involves the user and the space, via the propositions of the artist.

Can’t wait to see more from Spring Workshop? Go take a look for yourself. The doors are now open.

VISIT Qiu Zhijie and Eskiyiu’s Industrial Forest @ Spring Workshop, 3F Remix Centre, 42 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Aberdeen, HK

JJ.

#ARTBASELHK13: Art Fair Month Kicks Off With JMR at JOYCE Gallery

JOYCE Gallery, located inside JOYCE, one of Hong Kong’s premier fashion boutiques, kicked-off the Art Basel fair season with their in-store exhibition of JM Rizzi (JMR), a highly celebrated Brooklyn-based street artist whose unique works reflect a neo-abstract expressionist influence but with a twist of pop art.

While a selection of JMR’s works are available at the gallery for sale, the artist was also able to collaborate with the shop to create unique site-specific works which are based on the theme of “escape”. 

According to the gallery, “JMR views painting as a medium through which he can escape the frustrations and the monotony of daily life”… and for most of us city dwellers, these black and white graphic lines may reflect exactly that kind of urban angst.

Other works on display plus a mural specifically for the On Pedder bags and accessories shop upstairs utilize bold colors as an added layer to the “scribbles”. The whole expression feels musical.

A little color IS fun… and a little fun doesn’t hurt anyone. The crowd was sold on Thursday night, with a few pieces already purchased by opening day.

I met up with a few pals in the crowd including, Marika of Lane Crawford, stylist Laura Li, bag designer Michelle Lai of MISCHA, W Hong Kong’s DJ Angus Wong, DJ Miss Yellow, The Armoury’s Alan See, Fashion Blogger Cindy Ko of Cindiddy, Artist Simon Birch, Disney’s Katrina Tran, and bag designer, Grace Chan editor of LUSHGAZINE.

Also met up for the first time with artist, DJ, and director, Mischa Hollenbach, the creator of Perks and Mini, an iconic Australian street fashion label.

One champagne is not enough.

Hood Rats.

AND also met up with street artist and graphic designer, Mark Goss from the UK. Like all things in my life these days, Mark and I met on Twitter/Tumblr/Instagram. And now we collaborate via his blog Curious Fiend, part of Fiend Projects. You’ll see some of my posts on there, and his posts will pop up on my website as well. Together we’ll do our best to cover the region’s art + design shows and exhibits. 

We’ll both try to keep it fun and non-pretentious. Exactly like these crazy glasses we’re trying on at On Pedder.

On the way out I saw that JMR painted on these iconic bags, one from Proenza Schouler and the other from Pucci. 

Prices upon request.

Of Coz.

VISIT JMR at JOYCE Gallery, G/F New World Tower, Central HK, Opens Daily 10:30am - 7:30pm, +852-28101120, Until 13 JUN 06

JJ.

Technology and Visual History Combine For Divine Effect, Works by Wim Delvoye and Ronald Ventura in Hong Kong

If a gallery was a pop-indie-R&B-electronic music promoter whose sole purpose was to import the best in edgy yet mature acts in the world to Hong Kong today, then one can single out Paris/Hong Kong based Galerie Perrotin as that kind of gallery. 

I say this not as a critique but an observation based on the current and last few exhibits since the gallery opened in its beautiful 50 Connaught Road space. Exhibitions that aren’t necessarily ”POP” as much as they are “Populist” are extracted from graphic and illustrative cultures of our time, magnified, amplified, choreographed, and exhibited in a nice neat package in the gallery’s light filled space. They’re edgy, but consumable, presented in a nice package like a new CD by the XX or M.I.A. for example. Exhibitions in 2012 by Peter Zimmermann, JR, KAWS, Aya Takano, Bharti Kher, and Farhad Moshiri would fall into these categories.  There have been more open ended shows, however, like works in progress or studies by Lionel Esteve and Jin Meyerson. The exhibitions have been fun, bold, and perfect for an Asian audience (maybe the young ones) still focused on refining their curatorial palette. 

However as Pop-indie acts go, part of what always makes them relevant is their ability to use digital information and technology to extract visual resources (ever available with google search and a click of the mouse) from the past to the present, then remixed, packaged, and then presented. This remix of visual culture via the technological filter is what the latest solo exhibitions at Galerie Perrotin Hong Kong are all about with two shows by the Philippine’s Ronald Ventura (pictured below) and Belgium’s Wim Delvoye (pictured above). 

Exhibited separately in one big space with no curatorial connection between the two, Ventura and Delvoye exhibit works fit for a religious spaces but with a twist. Ventura’s paintings reflect Baroque formal compositions and dutch techniques (playing on light), while Delvoye’s silver sculptures are indeed Baroque-esque in the layers of information, detail, and the way all these are flattened with a play on perspective and drama. Overall the works presented here are grand in gesture, and exaggerated in motion and drama, everything that the Roman Catholic Church just loves. In the 1600s Baroque works aimed to communicate the divinity on speed, but in today’s digital age, is the excess of information a divine gift of which to create?

Ronald Ventura’s fantastical paintings of smoking skulls, sea creatures, monsters, amid Angry Birds (an iOS game app) and BEATS by Dr. Dre Headphones, within bird cages (a thematic trope to put it all together), for Ventura, an aim to materialize his fantasies. His paintings are way for us to see what he sees. Ventura’s work begins with several sketches, then scanned, and remixed on photoshop (with presumably some other visual references from online), and then painted. Compared to Ventura’s other works in the past, the exhibition, titled Voids and Cages, is some of his most mature work yet, and thematically more global than it is regional.

Meanwhile works here by Wim Delvoye is an extension of his show from The Louvre in 2012 which took two years to produce. Unlike Ventura who works alone, Delvoye employes a studio to help him craft together his intricate sculptures, like the “Twisted Dump Truck” pictured above, modeled in a 3D computer program, then laser-cut piece by piece and assembled in Stainless Steel. This and the mirrored bronze sculptures which reflect Rorschach plates, give a sense of work truly in motion. Whats more, the sculptures look like they were gestured by a paint brush, as if Baroque works were actually transitioning from one kind of composition to another one. It is… pretty cool.

These shows will be on exhibit at Galerie Perrotin Hong Kong until 11 May 2013. Click below to see more from the show and details on where to see it.

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theW+ x CuriousFiend: ‘Hooligan’ Simon Birch at Ben Brown Fine Arts

Part of a collaborative series of art, design, and exhibition posts in Asia of note via our friends at Curious Fiend and Fiend Projects

curiousfiend:

Over the weekend we went to Ben Brown Fine Arts to check out the new solo exhibition of British artist Simon Birch, one of Hong Kong’s best known and most celebrated contemporary artists.

The fantastic works in this show are testament to why Birch is so acclaimed, this new exhibition, ‘Hooligan’ features a series of figurative paintings in the dramatic, movement filled style that he is best known for, characterized by a distinctive use of textured oil on canvas.

Taken from the Ben Brown website the following paragraphs explain the concept behind this new series of paintings.

‘Birch is interested in universal ideas of transition, the ambiguous moment between an initiation and a conclusion, the unobtainable now and the future, inevitably crashing towards us. For Birch these ideas translate easily from oil paint, to film, to installations, which engage with myth, history, circus and science fiction, connection and disconnect. He chooses to explore these themes in an enveloping environment of theater and spectacle, where the process of viewing becomes experiential: overwhelming and complex, yet as spectacle and adventure, also approachable’.

‘The striking female forms in Hooligan bear the imprint of an invisible force, as though someone hurled them through space and punched them into the frame. The belligerent title of the show is the only hint about the identity of the aggressor, underscoring the eruptive violence that pervades Birch’s work. We’re in a story that’s been freeze-framed, but not for long: there is a before to this moment, just as there will be a hereafter’.

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So This Happened. Inflatables Attacked Hong Kong.

The last time images of giant inflatables moved in into a large metropolitan area, everyone was sprayed with toxic laughing gas… then died. 

Above. Batman, 1989.

While Mobile M+ may have mirroring motives (ie. to make you happy), death by laughter is certainly not one of them. Warning, a big smile on the face may be a side effect.

How about an air-filled roast pork by China’s Cao Fei in House of Treasures, 2013.

Or perhaps South Korea’s Choi Jeong Hwa’s black lotus flower in Emptiness is Form. Form is Emptiness, 2013?

Floating higher above, a great work by Jiakun Architects of China with With The Wind, 2009 which debuted at the Shenzhen Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale for Architecture and Urbanism.

Here’s a pile of poo. Thanks to Paul McCarthy from the US with his work titled, Complex Pile, an “inflatable sculpture of a twisted pile of excrement”.

Here’s a roach from Tam Wai Ping, a Hong Kong artist, with his work, Falling into the Mundane World, 2013.

As an architect i’m drawn to this almost 1:1 scale inflatable model of Stonehenge in Jeremy Deller’s Sacrilege, 2012.

Now I have no idea if the following work is part of the Mobile M+: Inflation! Exhibition above in the West Kowloon Cultural District Promenade (WKCD), but this thing happened today at Harbour City in Hong Kong.

Titled Rubber Duck, this 16.5 high floating wonder is conceived by Dutch conceptual artist, Florentijn Hofman. The duck represents a work “with no frontiers, discrimination, or political connotation.” According to Hofman, “the friendly Rubber Duck has healing properties: it an relive tensions as well as define them. The Rubber Duck is soft, friendly, and suitable for all ages.” Harbour City always gets it right. Rubber Duck leaves June 9th, just after Art Basel Hong Kong is over.

Meanwhile the inflation on the WKCD Promenade is part of the Mobile M+ series which began last year. Via their PR Sheet:

“Mobile M+: Inflation!” aims to pose questions about the nature of public art and the ways in which audiences might engage with it. Several of these are derived from everyday objects that have been inflated to outsized proportions as a way of rendering the familiar unfamiliar, more tangible, and uncannily touchable than ever before. Other works in the exhibition question the nature and potential of art and architecture in public space through installations that evoke ephemerality and reflect on human relationships to built environment and to the natural world.

VISIT Mobile M+: Inflation!, West Kowloon Cultural District Promenade, Open all days and Public Holidays except Mondays from 11am to 8pm, Free of Charge / VISIT 16.5-meter-high Gigantic Inflatable Rubber Duck Exhibition, Ocean Terminal Harbour City, Victoria Harbour 

JJ.

NOTE: Thank you so much M+, West Kowloon Cultural District Authority for the Photos by Nicholas Tse and Thank you Harbour City for the photo of the Rubber Duck courtesy of Florentijn Hofman.

More Than One Note, Jim Lambie Brings Music To Space

Last week we recently checked out the lastest showing from Pearl Lam Galleries’ newest exhibition, a work by Scottish artist and DJ, Jim Lambie. Newly appointed International gallery director, Althea Viafora-Kress, walked us through the gallery’s roomy 6th floor space at the Pedder Building to see a bold exhibition of bright colors and blue and white stripes that make up an impressive body of work that is obviously prolific as it is “popularist”, a term Althea describes for the artist, Lambie.

Born in the the late 60’s, Lambie graduated from the Glasgow School of Art when he was 30 in 1994. Now almost 50 years yeas old, Lambie is a “visual” artist who creates colorful sculptural installations pieced together from everyday objects, inspired by his everyday life. At Pearl Lamb the most notable piece, titled I Remember (Square Dance), 2009, is a play on the cube formed via an additive process. Vintage chairs sawed in half, painted in poppy hues and stacked together with mirrored handbags, reflecting the moments in Lambie’s life where he sat in bars starring at chairs with women’s handbags. Simple as that.

A classically trained artist, who was nominated for a Turner Prize, Lambie likes to play with structure as a baseline, like the chair’s cube, or covering the gallery floors with blue and white swirls via a work titled The Strokes (like the band) where then each piece from the collection can have equal “weight” no matter how small or large the size. As a whole the show literally reflects a song where each work becomes an important note of which to play of itself or via the floor. It’s a show that exists within its own space, time, and framework.

It’s hard NOT to hear music when the same colors are on repeat frequently from one work to another. Like when colors reveal themselves via each metallic fold as in Metal Box (Instanbul), 2013 or when paint rips through plastic bags like in Plaza, 1999/2013. And as a DJ, one can say that he really is influenced with rythm and repetition. But I did ask Althea if Lambie ever tried to interpet his works back to music… she wasn’t so sure. But that would be really interesting if it ever did happen.

Althea Viafora-Kress, below, in front of Metal Box (Instanbul), 2013.

Records encased in Concrete boxes, in works from the Sonic Reducer 2008 series. Are they floating or sinking. Depends on where you’re coming from.

Colors rip through in Plaza, 1999/2013, inspired by a woman Lambie saw on the bus with milk seeping through her shopping bag.

A belt floats in Venom Wild Pitch, 2002.

England’s Dreaming, 2011 collage.

A special Psychedelic Soul Stick made for each show.

Too hot. Lets cool off. White Belt, 2012 below. Made of Steel.

One can easily get sucked in. Vortex (Into the Void), 2013.

Althea and I spoke briefly about different issues, from moving to Hong Kong, the Chinese art market, and art appreciation in general. She was excited to find out I practice architecture full time, so we started our chat on the subject of how architects see art (via a historical/spatial framework) versus how artists work with art and see art as well (a creative expression from Blankness within its own context). I was obviously drawn to the exhibit because it was so spatial, but interesting to note that Lambie starts each work via just tinkering with materials or being inspired by the everyday experience. The thing itself then gets magnified and constructed in super bold ways which exists in their own vortex.

Good to know that even well established commercial galleries can push the button of the spectator experience to create a point of view. While Pearl Lam is in a position to sell, it’s also good to educate perspective… for themselves and the client.

VISIT Jim Lambie: The Flowers of Romance, 17 April - 15 May 2013 at Pearl Lamb Galleries, 6F Pedder Building, 12 Pedder Street, Central, Hong Kong. Closed Sundays.

JJ.

Seen&Scene: At Home at Casa Capriz

It was a tough week overall with terrorist attacks in Boston, my sister’s hometown. The attacks plus tighter than usual deadlines at work almost brought me to the end of my rope. So it was quite refreshing to see a “TGIF”-style invite on Facebook for a little get together at Casa Capriz in Chai Wan, an artist’s haven in the industrial area aka. the last stop of the MTR’s Blue Island Line.

The Capriz part of the name refers to studio owner, Irene Capriz, pictured above, the lovely lady of Italian-Malay descent who came all the way to Hong Kong from Bologna, Italy, her hometown. The traditional lifestyle/retail space in Hong Kong’s more central districts maybe tight and expensive, but Casa Capriz’s roomy 2,600 square-foot showroom showcasing curated vintage furniture from around the world, is a breath of fresh air for those who are in a no-pressure mood to search of something different and with a curatorial eye. (Ie. not cheap metal, plastic, flat packed, and mass produced.)

Irene shares the space with Claudia Albertini, director of Platform China, and Paola Sinisterra (below) and Ignacio Garcia of the Tangram fashion label, to create a haven where one can go from trying out furniture, to perusing edgy art, while walking around in one of many Tangram clothes… again just a try. It’s a new way of experiencing shopping for a variety of things at one go while supporting independent creative initiatives.

This past Friday, the Chai Wan collective of artists and designers, known as Chai Wan Mei, organized a neighborhood shindig which included galleries like A0 Vertical Art Space, Latitude 22N, and YY9 Gallery. At Casa Capriz, a selection of erotic art curated by Platform China was on stage with kinky accessories by Sally Coco, a new line of lingerie from Tangram, and an amazing feast of fresh bread and pate from the bespoke bakers at Bread Elements.

The husband and wife team from Bread Elements, sharing their classic “Campagne” Loaf.

I was there with Time Out HK Editor and RTHK Radio Personality, Arthur Tam. We were fresh off our taping of his weekly show “From Top to Bottom” focused on queer issues locally and globally. 

I met milliner, Jay Cheng, for the first time, whose studio was also in Chai Wan. Cheng’s hats were on sale and on display around the gallery and the space.

The biggest surprise of the evening was meeting theWanderlister+ reader, Norbyah, a cool mother of three, teacher, and an overall stylish lady… who like Irene, is half malay as well. She wore her market finds from Stanley Market. It’s lovely.

I had such a great time that night. For me a trip to Chai Wan is a creative re-charge, but for these artists and designers who work and live here… this is their everyday. And fingers crossed/pray to God, that the Hong Kong government does something to support all their endeavors.

Enjoy the rest of the photos!

Okay, so Chai Wan wasn’t the last stop. Arthur and I met up with DJ Angus Wong in Central to have a bit of classic Cantonese food at Lin Heung. (We were supposed to go to Ngau Kee, my favorite local cantonese dive, but this weekend they were closing shop and there was a line… so Lin Heung it is.)

I really miss Ngau Kee, but eating in Lin Heung is quite nice as well. The decor takes you back to mid-century life in Hong Kong. The food and sea-food is amazing as per usual. I love the Dim Sum here, but I think I prefer dinner where I can really appreciate the atmosphere and the old-style hospitality without the manic crowd.

Thanks to Chai Wan, Casa Capriz, and Lin Heung for being the light at the end of the dreary tunnel that was last week.

DESIGN Casa Capriz / ART Platform China / WEAR Tangram / WEAR Jay Cheng Milliner / PLAY Sally Coco Intimate Lifestyle Store / EAT Bread Elements / EAT Lin Heung Tea House 

JJ.

Bangkok Photobook, April 2013

I’m just so in love with Thailand Style right now, It’s crazy. The country has a good balance of history and culture reflected in its architecture and urbanism, a great amount of personal taste in the way everyday people dress, and a sense of design flare in public gathering areas. Thai people are generally happy with a good disposition about them and are for the most party open for a chat or to offer assistance, despite their limited English speaking skills.

The way Thai people invests in trends quickly, whether it be fashion, architecture, interior design, visual merchandising, or social media, and the way global trends are appropriated then translated within a local context is pretty fascinating to me.

I love places like the Talad Rod Fai (Rot Fai) Railway Station Market or the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) because the organic growth of these new urban gathering places are obvious. In relative terms, the projects seemingly appeared out of nowhere, but are now buzzing with life and activity because there is a certain “want” for them to exist. The stories may be different, for example Rod Fai Market is a community initiative, while the MOCA is a museum of Thai Contemporary works established by one collector, but the commonality lies with the fact that these destinations are new initiatives by local Thais for a local Thai audience. A Tourism draw would just be an added bonus.

When they create things, they create things because they want to, they appreciate the act of creativity, and they do it to please themselves. Nothing is overtly fake about these new places. Even the new Asiatique Complex complete with a now necessary urban Ferris Wheel attached to the master plan make some say that it’s merely Bangkok’s version of “Marina Bay Sands”. But even then, Asiatique has managed to formulate its environment around how Thai people want to spend their leisure hours, designing the “new” around a Thai aesthetic, and keeping things vibrant with that open air market environment. It’s all very interesting.

We thank again Pullman Bangkok Hotel G in Silom and Medium Asia for the hotel stays.

VISIT Talad Rot Fai Weekend Market TRIPADVISOR, Opens Weekends Only after 7PM / VISIT MOCA Bangkok ONLINE / 499 Moo 3 Vibhavadi Rangsit Rd., Ladyao„ Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900, Thailand / +66 2 953 1005 / Open Daily 10AM - 6PM, Closed on Mondays

JJ.

Springtime Distractions via Popstraction Show at Gagosian

2013 is all about balance, which means less events, more time spent at exhibitions when no one is around, and much more energy spent on writing, which is truly the fun part of all this. This is why I opted out of Gagosian Hong Kong’s opening reception last week, and opted in for a Saturday morning private tour with gallerist Whitney Ferrare, and Instagram-Idol, writer Blue Carreon at the new Popstraction show instead.

Thankfully for me, the Gagosian, has the clout, the scale, the space, and the position to bring to Hong Kong the kind of exhibitions actually worth writing about. Popstraction is a curation of 11 pop/abstract artists of note, from masters to young stars. Out of the 11, seven have never exhibited before in Asia, which make it a treat for HK artists and creatives who have never seen any of these works by these artists before. Popstraction makes relevant the concepts that contemporary artists are fixated on now, while placing the pieces in parallel to pop art from the late 70s and 80s.

The oldest works in the show are the two paintings by Andy Warhol (below) from 1979. The Warhol pieces, both titled “Shadow”, open the exhibit in the gallery’s main entrance foyer.

This initial connection with Warhol is very relavant for HK now because a retrospective on his work is currently on exhibit at the Hong Kong Museum of Art. This allows for some to make an immediate visual link between the works that Warhol used to do, and the subject matters developed by other artists in the show; like mass production, consumerism, geometric and formal repetition, color as classification, object reduction, and more… which all lie in the realm Pop Art, Abstraction, or both depending on the attitude of the works. 

For example the pencil shaved pieces which make up Piotr Uklanski’s 2012 floral-looking series is a perfect combination of Abstraction and Pop Art due to its familiarity with current graphic motifs, repeated in wildly eye-catching bold colors on a bright red wall.

Yet on the opposite wall, the selection of found objects of “Trash” by a young Dan Colen, makes an edgy Asian debut which critiques the precise determined compositions by Uklanski in the same space, while challenging Hong Kong’s art patrons to an unexpected assemblage of found objects.

This sculptural piece by John Chamberlain below called “CONEYISLANDDORIC 2008” is a miniature version of works in much larger scale than this. The forms vary, but the medium of automobile parts and the tectonic choreography with their bright layer of neon colors grounds the piece, thus making whatever it is hit close to home. From the crash and burn, something brand new blooms.

We all liked this perfectly reductionist work by the late Steven Parrino called “Touch and Go, 1989-1995”.

As well as this great piece by Albert Oehlen from 2012.

However, not all works are as optimistic… 

This particular composition of human like forms trapped in a tar-like texture while reaching out from the canvas is also by Uklanski, the same artist which brought us the beautiful pencil shavings in the same show.

Immediately adjacent are works by Richard Prince which deal with the allure of the luxury jewelry line, “Tiffany’s”, and its brand’s image via print and pattern repetition. 

Other works in the show include, Richard Artschwager’s “Granite Chair, 2010”, another reductionist piece. Artschwager passed away just this year. Shhh… this piece is actually a laminate on wood base…. which I guess is what makes it “pop”. I like it actually.

There is yet another work by Uklanski (again) from 2012, a big pink dye on cotton textile. Between his previous works outside the show, the pencil shavings, the humanoid forms in tar, and this tie-dye number, I’d call Uklanski the James Franco of the Art World. Look him up on Google, and you’ll know why I said that.

My least favorite pieces were these two works Piero Golia, another young gun who works across various mediums. These “Constellation Paintings” from 2010, are his possessions from the damage occurred in his home. They are salvaged debris encased in perpetuity within resin.

As we walked out, M+ Curator, Tobias Berger, walked in to take a looksie himself. (Saturday must be the best time to go to Gagosian for everybody I suppose!)

It’s Springtime so the show was a bit fun, a bit retro, and I have to say a tad of a visual gamble for the Hong Kong crowd. I DO however think these kinds of exhibitions, no matter how tightly or loosely curated, are needed in this city. If only for our own artists and creatives to see more works by artists who have made an impact within their own spheres on the other side of the globe.

You know what I always say, cross pollination brings a better discourse in the end. And I think everyone can agree, cross pollination is necessary for any holistic art community of any merit. Here’s hoping for a reactionist export of ideas and concepts from our own homegrown artists to the world… if only to return the favor.

VISIT POPSTRACTION at Gagosian HK / 7F Pedder Building, 12 Pedder Street, Central, HK

JJ.

Pink Friday, Style Spotting at the Affordable Art Fair… and Then Some

It’s really intense how dense the selection has been for Art Fairs in Hong Kong, especially in the Spring. So far we’ve got Art Basel HK (it used to be Art HK), and now we’ve got Fine Art Asia, Asia Contemporary Art Fair in the Grand Hyatt, and Asia Hotel Art Fair Hong Kong in the Mandarin Oriental. In addition, imported flagship galleries have opened up in the last two years alone, including the Lehmann Maupin which celebrated with a cocktail soiree last Thursday on my Birthday. (I didn’t get to go because I was covering the launch of Thom Browne’s Black Fleece label with Brooks Brothers and a talk on fashion at Marc+Chantal instead…hey you cannot do it all.) 

Even with the glut of art fairs, this weekend saw the arrival of our very own edition of the Affordable Art Fair Hong Kong (AFF). This pink branded fair from London has been successfully hosting art fairs around the world selling contemporary art at “affordable” prices for the last 14 years. In fact, the fair founder and CEO, Will Ramsay, who was in town for the AAF, actually helped establish ArtHK in its infancy. I covered the fair’s Friday night Artylicious Vernissage event for Surface Asia Magazine while simultaneously touring Monocle Magazine’s managing editor, David Michon, through all the exhibiting booths.

In exchange for the walk around, David was able to help me out by asking professional questions to exhbiting gallerists, like AO Vertical Art Space’s Sarah Greene, below.

AO Vertical Art space had pretty amazing photographs of vertical Hong Kong on sale. We’re talking limited small sized prints of work by the iconic Michael Wolf and Ho Fan.

As well as cool works by newcomer, Romain Jacquet-Legreze. A young french photographer who recently found inspiration in Hong Kong’s architectural profiles. He was even nice enough to chat with us about his work and his manuscript, also printed by A0. Some compositions look very similar to Wong Kar Wai’s opening sequences for a few of his films. See below.

I really love this piece by Vietnam based Australian artist, Glen Clark. Titled, Cheung EK 2006, the work valued at 68,000HKD, is a reflection on on the mass graves and tunnels that exist in Vietnam’s physical landscape.

The AAF was an opportunity for gallerists like Gaffer’s Jules Lambe, to unload some works by lesser known artists and to have a direct space for people to visit and speak 1-on-1 with her about her collection. Gaffer is one of a handful of galleries in Hong Kong with no shopfront, so the AAF was really useful as a way to get a catchment of audience and attention that is rare for some of these galleries.

David was a pro at asking questions, but he was also great at pointing out what he thought was really cool art. It turned out he and I liked the same pieces, and we realized that the selection of sculptures at the AAF was far better than the paintings, prints, and photography that was on offer. Who knew that the AAF was going to be a sculpture heavy show?

Glazed porcelains by Shin Koyama below at about 13,000HKD for the La Lanta Fine Art in Thailand.

This one is a funny one, titled Happy Mushroom 2012, by Siy Tak Yin for 9,000HKD.

This is Johan Thurell’s Nylen Ceramics at 2,400HKD from Villa del Arte galleries.

It was really great to see this ink work by Peter Yuillvia The Cat Street Gallery for 18,000HKD.

You can read about my general assessment of the AAF via the Surface Asia article which went live yesterday and see more works of art that were available including prints by Damien Hirst and Gilbert & George.

David also helped me pick out Fashyon Fairgoers for some on-the-spot street style shots. I just realized that most of the fair-goers wore pink… I wonder why. Probably because the AAF logo is pink. Who knows?

Style blogger, Cindiemindie

Girl with the Pink Hair.

Artists Charles Munka and Laurent Segretier who participated in a group show called Surface Tension hosted by the Cat Street Gallery this month.

Style editor, Jing Zhang and partner.

Indie concert producers, Mike and Jane of Songs for Children.

Gentleman in Pink and Lime Green Striped tie and Pink blazer.

Style bloger, ElleIconLee in pink and mustard yellow.

Social media guru, Taura.

Style stalking UK Designer, Elizabeth Lau. (We’ve been Twitter friends for a while, and I’ve only now just met her.)

Designer, Thuy-Tien Crampton of the children’s wear label, La Petite Caravane and her partner. Check out her blog here!

Artist, Joe Joe Ngai.

Bag designer, Michelle Lai of MISCHA and partner looking fresh from showing in Paris.

It was like Christmas!

Later that night, David and Elleiconlee, joined me to have dinner and drinks with university pals, Roberto and Narin at Bistecca, one of HK’s best steak houses. But first drinks at this dive called OTTO in LKF.

Where apparently a “DJ TROY” plays.

The dinner at Bistecca turned out to be a pseudo-Birthday dinner for myself. Which is great because everyone else around me was celebrating their birthday too. Narin and his partner Due were visiting from Bangkok that weekend.

They showed up with this!!!!

A NEW BAG FROM CONTAINER for my birthday!!!! (Due is the founder, owner, and designer of the amazing line of men’s bags called CONTAINER, which I wrote about last year.)

Which by the way… David, was coincidentally carrying a CONTAINER bag that night as well. So it was really great to have him over for dinner to meet Due, the designer. What a small world.

Let me rephrase that, what a pink world.

VISIT Affordable Art Fair International / WEAR CONTAINER / EAT Bistecca / READ Surface Asia Magazine / READ Monocle Magazine

JJ.