Pushing Art Boundaries

At Affordable Art Fair Hong Kong, we pride ourselves on creating a fair with a wide range of exhibiting artists, perfect whether you are a new or seasoned collector. With only two months until the fair (17 – 19 May, Private View 16 May), I am excited to share a selection of FRESH artists, who have never exhibited at the Hong Kong fair before.

I’ve hand-picked this collection of artists, as through their various subjects, styles and mediums, they all push against traditional creative boundaries in innovative ways and provide the modern collector with exciting new options! Ranging from a lifelike sensual sculpture, to a video installation perfect for your home, read on to learn more:

Qiurui Du (China), A Bizarre Dream

Hailing from Beijing, but currently living in New York – Qiurui’s combines saturated colours with his dark sense of humor, to create works which deconstruct his inner fears. With subjects ranging from love, daily experiences within his social framework, through to Chinese pop culture; viewers are taken into an illusionary dimension, where reality and imagination have been combined.

See Qiurui’s detailed work on the Able Fine Art NY Gallery stand and discover countless quirks and details with each minute that passes.

Marck (Switzerland), On the beach No.7

I have long appreciated video installation art, but it can be hard to find works that can feasibly be brought into the home. So, I was delighted when Bluerider ART wanted to bring Marck’s innovative video-sculptures to the Hong Kong fair. His unique multi-media pieces make his work highly desirable among collectors and curators – including those at the Boston Museum in the US, ArtCenter/Istanbul in Turkey, Doosan Art Center and private museum KOO HOUSE in Korea. Thematically, Marck leaves interpretation solely up to the viewer, stating “My work has no message, they are open for any interpretation whatsoever” he aims to raise questions which are for your interpretation. 

Ung Pil, BYEN (South Korea), Two people – couple

Having been educated in South Korea and Germany, Byen has widely exhibited in his South-Korean origin, Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Turkey, Germany and China. His works are found in the collections of National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul Museum of Art, Incheon Foundation for Arts and Culture in Korea and Museum MARTA and even the Supreme Court of NRW in Germany! We love the critical gaze of the figures in this piece, not quite looking at the viewer, but gazing out at the world in general, which seems to be left seriously wanting. Byens work will be exhibited on the Chung Art Gallery stand.

Andy Burgess (UK), Blue Retreat

London-born artist, Andy Burgess, is fascinated with modernist, mid-century architecture and panoramic cityscapes, which he uses as the inspiration for his paintings and elaborate mosaic-like collages. Andy’s preoccupation with the “golden age” has led him to reimagine and recreate its architecture and iconography. He breathes new life into the nostalgic imagery through his use of bright colours and mixed-media, his collages being composed using vintage papers and American ephemera collected over many years. I would gladly step into this piece, called Blue Retreat, to sit beside the pool in the sunshine. See Andy’s work on the Fabrik Projects stand.

Frédéric de Bonnechose (France), Brand Babies castrol 12 B

Frédéric de Bonnechose studied at the famous Ecole Supérieure des Arts appliqués Duperré in Paris. He began his career working as Art Director in advertising agencies, so it is no surprise that when free from any constraints, his personal work features known and loved logos and icons, which he hijacks to create colourful pop-art-esque paintings and collages. Visit Galerie Artima to see Frédéric’s work up close.

César Orrico (Spain), Icaro

César Orrico’s sensual sculptures are beautiful. The young Spanish sculptor, born 1984, works in wood, bronze and marble powder, to create a personal interpretation of anatomy. Inspired by medical and artistic masterpieces of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, his sculptures are ones you must see in real life to appreciate César’s masterful sculptural skills (so don’t forget to visit the Galerie Calderone stand).

Kim Kwang-ho (South Korea), Moon and Mums

At first glance, Kim Kwang-ho’s artworks look like simple line art, but on closer inspection you will be delighted to discover that they are actually three-dimensional sculptures! Kim transforms hard raw materials, such as steel and stone, into light-hearted still life’s which are seemingly delicate. Intricate detail and gestural lines are combined in his work, with carefully worked flowers combined with one strip of steel to symbolise the frame and vase.I think his work is really elegant – see it for yourself on the Jeeum Gallery stand.

Victor Wong (Hong Kong), Folding From A Piece – Cockroach

Looking at Victor Wong’s work, it should be no surprise that he is inspired by finding the path to peace of mind within today’s society of thoughts and emotions. In this piece, he has used jewelry crafting techniques to cut a single piece of brass so that the shape of a cockroach can be folded out, while still remaining attached to the base material. The relationship between the 2D plane and 3D insect is fascinating, I found it lured me into a meditative state while working out where one ended and the other began. Graduated from AVA Department of HK Baptist University in 2011, Victor Wong studied multimedia design and visual art – visit the Karin Weber Gallery to contemplate this piece in person.

Noelle Hamlyn (Canada), Literature of Art

Noelle Hamlyn is a fibre artist who works primarily with paper and discarded books, transforming and elevating unwanted materials into intricate, sculptural works of art. Noelle’s intricately skilled work uses embroidery and hand spinning techniques to embody the accumulated stitches, labour and hours invested in traditional women’s hand work. While some of her pieces reference lace and hand spun yarn as symbols of disappearing skills others use salt crystals on traditional ‘tools of the trade’ (scissors, irons, bobbins), paying reverence to the sweat, labour and salty tears of the seamstress. Find Noelle’s work on the Lustre Contemporary stand.

Davy and Kristin McGuire, Vintage Fairy

Bold and innovative, combining mesmerising theatricality with technical wizardry and skilled craftsmanship, I just love Davy and Kristin McGuire’s work. Orchestrating exquisite scenes out of anything from paper and wood to glass and fabric and even video, the breadth of their work is limited only by their imaginations. Who else could possibly catch a fairy inside a jar?

I hope you’ve enjoyed getting a sneak peek at some of the FRESH artists and artworks at this year’s Hong Kong fair. Don’t forget to snap up a ticket in advance and keep an eye out for these pieces amongst the 1000s at the fair!

Main image:
Andy Burgess, Blue Retreat, 2018, Acrylic on canvas, 114.3 x 152.4cm, Fabrik Projects.

Featured art from first to last:
Qiurui Du, A Bizarre Dream, 2018, silkscreen print, 27 x 22 in, Able Fine Art.
Marck, On the beach No.7, 2015, mixed media, series of 10, 25 x 25 cm, Bluerider ART.
Ung Pil, BYEN, Two People – Couple, 2018, oil on canvas, 90 x 75 cm, HK$42,000, Chung Art Gallery.
Andy Burgess, Blue Retreat, 2018, Acrylic on canvas,114.3 x 152.4cm, Fabrik Projects.
Frédéric de Bonnechose, Brand Babies Castrol 12 B, 2018, mixed media on oil cans, 85 x 85 cm, HK$45,000, Galerie Artima.
César Orrico , Icaro, 2018, Bronze, 30 x 20 x 10cm, Galerie Calderone.
Kim Kwang-ho, Moon and Mums, 2018, steel and black stone, 62 x 37 x 144 cm, HK$40,000, Gallery Jeeum.
Victor Wong, Folding From A Piece – Cockroach, 2018, brass, 13.5 cm diameter, HK$8,000, Karin Weber Gallery.
Noelle Hamlyn, Literature of Art, 2018, hand spun book pages, 76 x 76, HK$22,000, Lustre Contemporary.
Davy and Kristin Mc Guire, Vintage Fairy, 2016, video sculpture, edition of 25, 25 x 25 x 35 cm, HK$55,000, Muriel Guepin Gallery.