Fair Director’s Picks: Hong Kong
Discover highlights from Affordable Art Fair Hong Kong (18 – 21 May 2023) as chosen by our in-house expert Regina Zhang, Hong Kong Fair Director.
Affordable Art Fair
Tuesday 2 May, 2023
To celebrate Hong Kong’s 10th Anniversary, we are bringing you a range of local colours and international exposure from 93 galleries around the world.
This year, we are highlighting abstract works by our young and emerging artists. Visitors will also have the chance to view their works in person in our #Spotlight selection at the Fair.
Hong Kong Artist’s Spotlight
Loktung Wong – HKI Gallery
You can find simplicity in the chaos in Loktung’s work; the freckled moulds in a wall, the subtle curling of a leaf, there is so much distortion and brokenness, but at the same time grace, stillness, and raw emotions, forming the basis of Wong’s creation.
Through only using an ink pen and her fingers, Wong encourages her audience to discover unspoken emotions, reach out to those who feels disconnected, find beauty in hidden textures, and re-engage with the endless possibilities of nature.
Darius Ma – Galerie Koo
Contemporary Chinese art can sometimes be perceived as traditional, conventional, and only for the older generation. However, young artists lately have been proving otherwise. With their utilization of new techniques, experiments, and contemporary variations, we are constantly in awe of the new perspectives Chinese ink calligraphy can bring to us.
Take Darius Ma’s work as an example. Ma’s Ode to Soul Mountains series combines the use of Chinese ink and acrylic to create stunning, dynamic paintings. Through his fluid and gestural brushstrokes, Ma explores the interplay between these two mediums and their effects on rice paper, acrylic and aluminium panels, resulting in compositions that are both bold and nuanced. By emphasising the concept of time and space, Ma creates works that are not only visually striking but also invite contemplation and reflection, showcasing an exciting evolution in contemporary Chinese art, and a promising glimpse into the future of the medium.
Larry Leung Lop Yan – daap3 toi4
Be it ceramics, ink paintings, wood works, or antique jade carvings – Chinese art is always part of Larry’s artistic expression. In his ink paintings, Larry masters the technique of centralizing the tip of the brush “zong fong”, to create brush strokes that are full of strength and vigor, yet with self-control and a sense of tranquillity – epitomising Larry’s unique art form of architectural discipline and visual human expression.
Little Cloud (Siuwan) & Fabio Tang – Art Current Gallery
A brother and sister duo, Siuwan & Fabio Tang’s works are often inspired by their travels around the world. With the blend of various pigments, additives, and exploration of resin art, I can often find depth in the simplicity of their works, creating endless possibilities through their versatile use of materials and distinctive way of colour combinations.
International Artist’s Spotlight
Christian Abusaid – Wolf & Nomad
Christian Abusaid is a transformative artist whose work revolves around art as a new consciousness, using textile pigments and voluminous textures to create a tactile experience.
His use of eye-catching colours creates pieces that move us through a diverse colour gradient, prompting us to reflect on where beauty truly comes from and whether it exists by itself. He believes that beauty is undeniably organic, elemental, and fundamental to survival, one might find it hard to disagree!
Through his art, we are re-discovering relationships between beauty, life, and art, embodying the language of love and light and emphasizing on the importance of living.
Tessa Houghton – Linda Blackstone Gallery
Tessa Houghton’s artistic creations are an embodiment of mystery, symbolism, and emotional depth, blending nature-inspired themes with a touch of surrealism. Inspired by the mystery of nature, Houghton delves into the strong emotional attachments that we have with specific places and the memories that are associated with them.
Focusing on the enigmatic places where water meets land or land meets sky, Houghton’s paintings hover between abstraction and figuration, with ambiguous yet recognisable images. She believes in the power of suggestion, and her intent is for the paintings to evoke a memory or sensation in viewers, while interpretation is left open. The creative process is both intuitive and observational, with Houghton layering paint and scraping them away, creating surfaces that are simultaneously concealed and revealed.
Maiko Akase – Glycine
Maiko Akase used to be an actress in Japan, so her art is always a reflection of human emotions and experiences. With her layering acrylics, use of primary colours, and intricate brushworks, Akase delves into emotional states and conflicts, encouraging us to tune in with our inner self, and channel our internal energy.
“If each person who sees my work enjoyed changes in their emotions at different times, that would make me very happy.” – Maiko Akase.
Michelle Y Williams and Nicolas Dubreuille – Envie d’Art Gallery
Both artists from Envie d’Art Gallery utilize mixed media and a board range of mediums in their abstract works. Michelle Y Williams’s abstract works are heavily influenced by the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi that embraces the transient self. Williams uses multiple materials such as canvas, wood, metal, plexiglas, and clay to create her intricate pieces, offering the concerted outlook we must bring into others, and into our own lives.
Nicolas Dubreuille, having discovered the use of clay in New-Caledonia, delves into a creative exploration of this medium in his artwork. His abstract pieces draw upon a multitude of artistic influences, including minimalism, pop art and free figuration, and are characterized by their skilful blending of abstraction and figuration, concept and expression.
Quim Bové – Studio ID
Quim Bové is known for his symbolic abstract painting executed through his dynamic brushstrokes. He expresses the constantly moving and powerful universal forces of energy, motion, and gravity through his art. Using his unique approach and diverse techniques,Quim Bové produces artworks that he refers to as ‘My own calligraphy’.
‘The Inspiration comes from the close relationship of Aritst one’s inner self and the universal energy.’ –Quim Bové.
Young Ho Seock – Gallery With
There are two things to consider while looking at the paintings of Young Ho Seock: one, they inform the eye through colour and light; and two, they inform the mind through tactile sensation and feeling.
As a painter, Young Ho Seock uses colours to produce his own form of light, and in producing light, he provides viewers with a sense of form. Through inventing and re-arranging the surface, applying and re-applying layers of colour, Seock’s painting comes alive, embedding light into the surface that provides an aura of illumination. I love how Seock is less interested in creating illusion, than in giving viewers the actual feeling of the earth through the sensation of light and touch.
The earthlight paintings of Young Ho Seock have much to say, providing viewers with the opportunity to focus on being in a world connected to nature, rather than insisting on positioning ourselves apart from it.
Gallery With, Young Ho Seock, Conversation, HK$30,000
A huge thank you to Regina for running us through her highlights – not an easy task to pick between the 1,000s of artworks we’ll be showcasing this May 18 – 21 at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. We hope this selection of artworks has inspired you to hit the link below to buy tickets if you haven’t already!
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