May Exhibition Review

日期：2014年6月2日
時間：19:00 – 21:30
地點：富德樓9樓
與會者：梁展峰、梁寶山、丁穎恩、阿三、楊陽、郭瑛、楊雪盈
筆錄：徐思玥

ART BASEL HONG KONG 2014
15-5-2014至18-5-2014
香港會議展覽中心
香港灣仔博覽館道1號

https://www.artbasel.com/zh-HK/Hong-Kong
  • 今年的場地空間安排較上年舒服，可以看作品
  • 場內太多射燈，太光，令人眼花，看作品得不舒服
  • 可能因為是買賣場合, 故大會和booth自己皆準備了燈光，導致太光的情況出現
  • 尚能分別出不同的場區，但實際行走時不太明顯
  • 今年的作品多了變化，上年的作品較相似
  • 東南亞地區的新藝術家令人有驚喜
  • 由Art Basel與畫廊洽商，畫廊會自己選擇放什麼作品
  • Encounter和Publication應是由主辦方邀請畫廊作為博覽會的亮點
  • 以主辦方請策展人負責一系列的活動，邀請畫廊做一個主題展覽，再舉辦一系列論壇活動
  • 它沒有責任幫任何一個所在的城市去闡述(articulate)當地的文化，但它嘗試去做，卻選擇以淺白的方式去表達
  • 入場費不貴，普通觀眾視去ART BASEL為一種娛樂
  • ART BASEL是否給藝術圈內及圈外製造一種幻想

會場以外的Nadin Party酒會

  • 主題略嫌老土、不太明確 (僵屍?)
  • 嘗試做一個Art-Related Night
  • 裝置藝術& 酒水 & 侍應 回應同一主題，但音樂方面並沒有回應主題
  • 今年的酒水贊助 Absolute較孤寒，上年fringe 較專業
  • 入場形式類似入club，要排隊，故雖有表演但較難看到
  • 有bar installation，可以看得出酒水是作品材料的一部分
  • 整體來說做得不太好，因為沒有反映出藝術與音樂的回應和關係

Encounter

  • 大會有請策展人（長谷川祐子）來策展這個區域
  • 感覺像是特意設計出來招呼普通觀眾，吸引人流
  • 大部分都是參與性的藝術品，但太理所當然，令人反感討厭
  • 感覺像為工人階級而設的藝術品，並不是給文化觀眾（cultural audience）看的
  • 參與性藝術品本身未必不是問題所在，而是主辦方或策展人patronizing 的問題
  • 不知道橙色膠版迷宮的作品意義何在
  • 林明弘的作品較遜色，不知道作品的意義
  • 李文的作品的出現是意料之外

Morgan Wong’s Work (The Remnant of My Volition )

  • 雖然不知道畫廊和藝術家的分工，但是一個勇敢的嘗試
  • 藝術家嘗試呈現一張床，但表達得不明顯
  • 床的用料不太好可能是作品的用意之一
  • 作品以被木包圍，不可接近及近看
  • 床後的白板貼有很多旗的印，只剩下negative一張，但較難看到，不知道是作品的一部分
  • Video做得好，但放置的位置相對隱蔽，故很少被人留意和觀看
  • 偶爾有live performance，會吸引到人看video
  • 作品尺寸和用料應再作調節
  • 作品尺寸過大，是否與場地大小有關？是大會的意思還是藝術家的選擇？
  • 如果是藝術家的選擇，是因為場地帶來的壓力？還是藝術家的勇氣？

NGO

  • 今年NGO皆在場外設攤位
  • 1A負責接待學校導賞
  • 通過ART BASEL去做市場行銷（marketing）和定位

Screening

  • 今年不在展場內或展場附近舉辦
  • 有觀眾中途離場，普遍沉靜

C&G

  • 好玩，參賽者都放低包袱去玩
  • 參賽隊伍有置裝的預算

《走出視藝室》楊秀卓學生作品展
16-5-2014至 13-6-2014
牛棚1A空間
香港九龍土瓜灣馬頭角道63號牛棚藝術村14號

www.oneaspace.com
  • 名字起得準確
  • 以「看中學生的展覽」的心態去看是好看的
  • 所有作品都是列印出來，在泡沫板（foam board）上展示，像是文學展的手法
  • 拼貼、裝置和立體的作品受視覺表達（visual presentation）所限
  • 作品分類是否按照課程來分類？如：雕塑、素描等
  • 感覺展覽的重點是在展示其課程的理念、設計和實踐，不是學生的作品
  • 完成的作品不應是展覽重點，如何啟發學生與教學的過程才應是重點
  • 學生的作品很有楊秀卓本人的風格，可以看出他怎樣引導學生
  • 中學生的作品不耐看，需要文字輔助，故明報連載做得更好
  • 作品缺少文字介紹，失去語境去理解和閱讀
  • 某些作品很相似，但以中學生的水平，模仿是難免的
  • 很多作品都有種融融爛爛的感覺，是否要培養一種貧窮藝術？

《玩物》林東鵬個展@廣東道LV旗艦店
9-5-2014至30-9-2014
路易威登旗艦店藝術廊
香港九龍尖沙咀廣東道5號

食物

  • 開幕酒會的食物模仿藝術家的作品，予人一種消化藝術品的感覺
  • 不需要將作品變成「這麼容易入口」的東西，過火了
  • 是否問過藝術家的意思？
  • LV想藉這個藝術來表達其品牌理念：高級、好玩、易入口
  • 是否會造成一種風氣？

策展論述

  • 力度很弱
  • 無法從他與玩物的關係理解到成人、成長與作品的關係

作品

  • 今次的作品驚喜不大
  • 中間的作品是一系列物件，是在美國時做的
  • 技術性問題不是一個關鍵原因，他之前也有做過物件
  • 藝術家在運用符號上有變化
  • 為何近來不同人皆以日常生活的小物件變成作品的一部分？
  • 他用物件和用顏料是一樣的，背後沒有太多內容
  • 是否只是因為藝術家的直覺判斷和興趣而使用物件？
  • 藝術家可能處於創作的過渡期
  • 他的作品比以前更具裝飾性，太淺白，過了位
  • 他的作品畫得很平，只是以線和一點的淡彩滲入木內為主要技巧
  • 今次作品的人物形狀畫得不好看，從前鈍的比較好看，較有力量
  • Simple mind是他的作品的吸引之處，也是藝術家的類型
  • 看不到他的靈感來源，只是覺得他很沉醉於玩物入面
  • 全球暖化、北極熊的作品的靈感和理念很好，也比較鈍

Ten Million Rooms of Yearning. Sex in Hong Kong
9-5-2014至8-10-2014
Para Site藝術空間
上環普仁街4號地下

http://www.para-site.org.hk/en/exhibitions/2014/ten-million-rooms-yearning-sex-in-hong-kong
  • 感覺策展人不太理會場地
  • 場地運用會否過度擴張（overstretch）？
  • 作品的擺放方法結構鬆散，但又不是完全沒有組織
  • 這種方法高度地讓觀眾自已去理解展覽的理念，讓作品自己說話，但會否太自由？
  • 是否只要有好的作品，隨便堆砌都能令觀眾有所得著？
  • 密集的擺放方法能與主題配合
  • 以視覺文化式（visual culture）的類比來安排展品，令人覺得大膽和新鮮
    • 如：張愛玲的時裝設計稿與一系列黃色刊物放在一起
  • 上環文娛中心的展場做得較好
  • 這樣的擺放方法很好，將不同的含義撞在一起，但又捉不住，引人思考
  • 作品撞得好是因為本身夠多元化嗎？
  • 整個展覽令人不斷思考哪一個部分才是色情
  • 很用力地做以研究為基礎（research-based）的展覽
  • 展覽的類型介乎於historical和counter-historical之間
  • 韓志芬的作品特別強調是在1989年前一年畫的，但為什麼要有關聯？有沒有文化上的意思？與藝術家的創作有關係嗎？
  • 將歷史大事和藝術家的個人傳記的拉扯想達到什麼目的？會否太過
  • Angela的作品很好，擺法也讓人覺得好玩
  • 嘗試將流行文化和混入藝術中，但沒有貶低作品自身的意思
  • 為何總是用王家衛作為作品的一部分？因為外國人會明白？
  • 展覽帶來的刺激是否只是來自於題材本身？
  • 是否想告訴觀眾香港是有性的？還是挑戰ways of seeing?

by Art Appraisal Club

April Exhibition Review

Art Appraisal Club Meeting
April Exhibition Review
05/05/2014

1. Ju Ming — Sculpting the Living World
28/02/2014 – 15/06/2014
Hong Kong Museum of Art

  • Overall, the installation, display and the works as a combination is not appealing... in particular the spatial arrangements are a bit too messy to comprehend, apparently the volume and circulation of the visitors as well as the quality control of the art works together with their display are not being well considered in the process of making of the exhibition. There may be a lack of curatorial direction or that the curator was being put in a difficult situation to make effort, it could be a result of moving the collection into the museum from its origin in Taiwan that constrained the essence of the works to transcend.
  • Medium and material are the key for sculptures, yet the focus of the exhibition showing works of Ju Ming confused us as spectator with the application of a cage. The confusion of making such exhibition a showcase of sculptural works or that of installations, and that of a blur of making this an exhibition of modern art or contemporary art is a disappointment. Was such curatorial decision made as a bold move to unveil the Ju Ming that has never been known before? Or it was made as a pilgrimage of the masterpieces? This series of works being shown as such in the museum in Hong Kong lack a consistent and clear curatorial direction, nor it has a narrative to illustrate on the ways to understand the works respectively and as a whole; there is also no imagination at all, leading audiences to think that the works made in the 80's were reaching the peak of the artist's career... while the poorly-made video included in the show was sidetracking from the focus of the exhibition...
  • To be more constructive, we would ask ourselves as art administrators, art critic and art curator the question of how and what would we plan for the exhibition, if it was in our hands? The first thing comes to our minds is to reserve as much space as possible for reasonable distance and room for people to realistically appreciate the art works, selection of works to be shown is a must being put on top of the to-do list, the worst decision ever been made is to showcase all the pieces of Ju's works like sellers in the wet market would do.
  • It is of utmost importance to comprehend the initiatives and philosophy of the artist, never make wild guess or superficial ways to understand his art - the making of the art all through the years is not as easy and simple as how it seems, like how the docent said in the guided tour... Docent tour is significance to an exhibition as well as the institution that launches it, it should be inspiring , appealing and interactive, never should it be a very uninteresting quiz or fill-in-the-blank. The content of the tours should be very critical and not to be just informative. Feedback is well gained when the docents learnt to examine spectators' responses, and then these very important observations would build and develop the institution well.

2. Samson Young - Sound is a fluid, flowing medium akin to liquid
04/04/2014 – 18/05/2014
AM Space

  • It quite difficult to understand the exhibition, quite abstract and estranged, for there are 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional works that are very visual - though, having these said the 'readability' is quite high, the room for interpreting and imagining the works is very big, because the sound art and paintings are very well interacted to present a very pleasing effect.
  • It is quite disturbing to use headphones to listen to the art works in such a small space, the display should worked better technically. Though the experience is not an'easy' one, there is a good balance between the spatial arrangements and the number of works being shown, which introduce well the audiences to enter their imaginations. For the details, the map that lead the way for people to comprehend the show could have done better, referencing the map is being restrained - limited space and complication of collecting the information made it hard to get hold of the works that should originally been very articulate.
  • An exceptional context was being applied in framing this series of works, which is well done to distinct it from the former works and shows, the concept used served as a retrospective that the artist proactively made a humble study of himself is very moving and creative. New attempt of presenting his old works is to made clear of the approaches and ways of how the artist think and comprehend his own art, while such work could derived other versions and editions, which is one of its kind.
  • A heated debate in the meeting was the complications and interwoven relationships of sound and visual images that composed the artworks, which was of great fun and highly critical, for these explorations could illustrate how interpretation (or interpretative curating) matters in the process of making of the exhibition and the aftermath of its appreciation and critiques. Stand alone in telling from which comes first - the audio (collected on spot at the site or postproductions?) or the visual elements - had made art works very rich. The aesthetic values come from the imaginations that it induced, and to think of the politics about sound as inspired by it. While such exhibition led us to think about why data and information collection are needed... But why are these days we are having so many archival exhibitions.

3. So I don't really know sometimes if it's because of culture: Mixed Media Exhibition by Leung Chi Wo
25/04/2014 – 17/05/2014
CMC Gallery, Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre, City University of Hong Kong

  • The exhibition connects with those art works made by Leung before, all the things arranged and showcased are very consistent, there were much layers with sophistications in the presentation of information, sound, text and dialogues, hence to lead audiences well to enter the artist's imaginations. It may seem boring at the beginning, yet if one concentrates on his video, the translations and interpretations made were very delicate and mind-opening, which guide us to ask many questions on issues universal to people around the world, hence showing concern of people who live around us. Yet on the technical side of the presentation, it took too long to demand spectators to finish viewing of the video work, which the screen is too close to the audience, who may feel annoyed by having needed to wear headphones.
  • It is a tricky and somehow contradicting topic to discuss on the showcasing of creative works, it is a lifelong subject to learn and to explore on how to frame and represent the relationship between artists and their works. It is fair to say that artist took up the role as a researcher to examine on artistic directions when producing an archival show - it is never a concern on history but concerns on political stance, materials, contexts, society and the cultures.
  • Regardless of the spectators' expectations from the exhibition, for both insiders in the field or public in general, the exhibition should gain credit for working on a clear and firm curatorial direction, and it is unfair to compare this show to the others with similar motif/theme. The works showcased keep a good distance with the viewers, meanwhile connect with people of different background. The viewing experience is unique for it carries the genuineness of Hong Kong as well estranges people to engage on issues that we usually omit in the everyday life.
  • Leung was not well presented by local press and media on his local qualities , however the coverage of him is quite well on international level, even though they did not address his 'Hongkongness' too.

4. Meditations in Mature: New Ink
27/03/2014 – 07/05/2014
Ben Brown Fine Arts

  • Everyone wondered why galleries chose to do ink painting exhibition, for such medium is never a common practice being shown? Or internationally the selling of ink art is not good. We wondered if the trend was being started by the feature made by Sotheby's the auction house? Or the very well received show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art? Nontheless, those works are conceptual ink and not genuine (traditional?) ink art --- this led us to another important question: What is ink art/ ink painting?
  • Did this exhibition promotes Hong Kong local ink art in its development?

5. Bonds of Memory: Wan Qingli's Collection of Chinese Art Given by His Teachers and Friends Exhibition
13/12/2013 – 23/04/2014
Hong Kong Museum of Art

  • Is a wonderful show! Although the research and study done beforehand were not in good depth when compared to that done by the Academy (China Central Academy of Fine Arts), there should be more illustrations and discussions done on the narratives. It is better to do sectioning for the exhibition differentiating the various social circles in relation to the artist himself, so not to make the show fall into the 'boring archival exhibition' category.
  • The narrative of the show should not be made like a chronologic biography, the easiest way to display the works and to make sense of them is to understand well about the various social circles, and to do the arrangements accordingly. When the connections and networks are well illustrated, and with the good appropriation made of interpreting each significance piece and the exhibition as a whole, one would understand how the generation of artists at the time is so influential.

by Art Appraisal Club

March Exhibition Review

Art Appraisal Club Meeting Note

March

 

Date: 30th March 2014
Time: 1830 – 21:30
Venue: Hong Kong House of Literature

《Light and Shadow Caravaggio The Italian Baroque Master》@ Asia Society Gallery

  • Italy may just wish to make a fortune by displaying its national treasures in Hong Kong.
  • The addition of local artists makes the already superficial event (with justasingle piece exhibited) even worse.
  • The short film on the small exhibition venue at Pacific Place were mediocre and were hard-selling Asia Society. The Public Relations strategies employed did not bring to the exhibition the attention it deserves.
  • What’s pushing in the first place is its sponsorship by Hong Kong Jockey Club. Next comes the host of Asia Society (which actually initiated the exhibition); The choice of venue – one which does not suit the display of ancient paintings – has made the event a strange one.
  • The once locally displayed The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli was sold at a later time, after gaining recognition by displaying it overseas when it is no longer regarded as a public asset. Taking it as reference, it is not impossible the same would happen to this piece. It is worth exploring why all cultural institutions in Hong Kong reject the invitation of hosting such exhibitions.
  • The marketing strategy of “Once for a life time – a world renowned painting one must see in his lifetime” simply contradicts with the target of audiences’ appreciation of artistic value of the painting. With such financial input for curation of the exhibition, it does nothing more than discouraging public interest in the work.
  • When the audience target was not met, the tagline for promotion becomes “Help us to meet the target 400 000 audiences” –that is simply embarrassing themselves.
  • It didn’t take viewers into consideration. One viewer even commented, “It’s a painting to be seen in one’s lifetime. I bet we need to be educated on it.”, obviously echoing the tagline of the Public Relations Company.
  • “I really couldn’t understand it. I love viewing artworks, but I shouldn’t have come.” This comment clearly demonstrates the absence of education value in the exhibition despite the 5 million dollars investment.
  • The geographical location of and Public Relations strategies employed by Asia Society diminishes the value of the exhibition, wasting the good work.
  • Caravaggio, who is elevated in his artistic position in this exhibition, should be easily categorized as a “grass-root artist”.
  • The word “grass-root” employed in So Hing-keung’s description contradictorily makes the work even more sacred.
  • Sentences like “Tiring yet solemn”, “Tension of violence and sexual violence” render the description confusing.
  • Wrong information is on display: “chiaroscuro”, Caravaggio’s signature contrast of light and shades, should be termed “technique” instead of “style”.
  • The Chinese and English descriptions of the exhibition do not match each other.
  • The response to artists’ comments, focusing on the introduction of Caravaggio, in fact aims at elevating the work’s monetary value.
  • The forced categorization of the responding artists makes the curation awkward. In fact, Vigneron Frank Joseph Emmannel was invited curate the exhibition after both the exhibit and one responding artist, among others, are finalized.
  • The piece displayed in an already seen and unattractive way could not draw viewers to detailed appreciation.
  • The packed and weird display failed to fully utilize the relatively spacious venue which in fact could help exhibiting the work nicely.
  • The categorizing curation and choice of artists into “mystery”, “lights and shades”, “reality depiction”, etc was incomprehensible. Chow Chun-fai’s and So Hing-keung’s input were more relevant, while Tsang Kin-wa’s was an easy match in this case. Wong Mo-chei’s on the mystery of Daoism differed from that of Catholicism as depicted by Caravaggio, making it unconvincing.
  • The curation work is not demonstrated with preset artists and work. Labeling responding artists as admirers of Caravaggio is in itself problematic.
  • The curation and design of display shared the same goal: Creating a “worshipping” atmosphere.
  • Post-event note: An LCSD staff (who supposedly is a professional art administrator) commented the curation a “good interpretation”!
  • How should the next classical painting be exhibited in Hong Kong?
    1. Local artists should only organize workshops
    2. The classical painting should not be exhibited with works by local artists.
    3. If it is really to be done, it should be done on a “one-on-one” format
    4. Another option is to pick one single artist to respond to and explain on the work exhibited
  • The utter failure for exhibitions in Hong Kong lies in the irrational simplification of their content for the sake of popularity. It would be much better If the exhibits are presented the way they should be.
  • The Public Relations firm thought the general public could only understand “simplified” art. However, the real problem surfaced through this exhibition – art couldn’t gain popularity even it was simplified!
  • The Public Relations firm sees a presentation similar to that in art museums a failure.
  • The organizer should bear the responsibility of declaring its position / stance.

Pearl River Delta Series I: Made in Hong Kong Leung Mee-ping’s solo exhibition  @ Osage

  • The curator seems to be absent in the exhibition of Leung’s works, which need much curation.
  • The way works were displayed was like a salon exhibition. The chaotic presentation undermined the meaningful elements, while placing importance on the short film.
  • The interesting works presented her unique perspective towards the city.
  • The curator should have delivered the underlying meaningful elements, failing which means an vague stance for the exhibition.
  • She has multiple goals in mind to be achieved through her utterly sensitive and disorganized exhibition.
  • She offered diverse perspectives on China-Hong Kong relation – production and process, with the inclusion of figurative elements.
  • The series was rather clean when it was exhibited back in 2007. It has evolved into a large-scale installation art over the years.

It All Begins In The Sea Ling Pui Sze Solo Exhibition @ Gallery Exit

  • It was printing collage but not modern ink painting as expected. No information was available on its nature in the exhibition.
  • The content of the exhibition was too weak to give further explanation.
  • More observation is needed before further comments can be offered.

Once A Day Chris Huen Sin Kan Solo Exhibition @ Gallery Exit

  • The application of lines and inclusion of abstract elements bought an atmosphere of abstraction and Chinese painting. The ideas and presentation deployed to display underlying messages are similar to those for Chinese paintings.
  • Dense application of lines builds curiosity.
  • He successfully delivered his ideas on painting --- Painting as happening, capturing emotions from visual and sensual experience. His ideas are exciting and presentation full of surprises.
  • He was endeavoring to display consecutive motions onto a still dimension.
  • His ideas and artistic techniques did not verse well in this exhibition
  • Really appreciate the lines applied at the background, which delivered his feelings to the full.
  • His manners and ways of thinking are too much influenced by Lam Tung Pang.
  • He owns the potential of exploration towards his inner self.
  • His colour application is similar to Stephen Wong’s. The way they filtered colours like David Hockney did makes it a trend.

Step Back to Nature Stephen Wong Solo Exhibition @ Ora-Ora

  • The artist’s position remains Stagnant – the exhibition showcased works of various styles over the years, yet it failed to provide explanation for such changes.
  • Virtual reality is a common theme for artists of the current generation.
  • The artist’s confidence in breaking away from the virtual reality perspective is shown through the artworks on display.
  • The artist has yet to reflect on the goal he wishes to achieve as a painter
  • He was making up a purpose for his works – he has a message to deliver, though unclear.
  • Was his goal confined if he possibly avoided encountering contemporary painting discourse? He has theoretical input but ignored traditional and historical issues.
  • Chris Huen dealt with those issues, while Stephen is halfway in between (handling and ignoring).

Perhaps Love Alex Heung Kin Fung Solo Exhibition @ Gorthe Institute 

  • A really bad visual experience for viewers.
  • Works are rendered weak with neither underlying reasons nor creative concepts. The single element of sensibility could not support the pieces.
  • Comparing with the previous decorative, boring exhibitions, this one marked improvements of the artist.
  • The exhibition is more relaxed – as demonstrated in his trial interaction with different materials through the application of painting techniques.
  • The way he handles materials has remained graphical – “a designer’s painting”
  • He has a strong desire to control the drawing plane as a sensitive designer
  • He had better adopt another approach in painting given the fact that he is no longer a new artist.
  • He offered more surprises through his works created from a designer’s perspective, after giving up his desire to be a painter. A good example is the earlier “flowers in porcelain” series.
  • His struggle lies between his desire and his identity/ability.

《Affordable Art Fair》@ Exhibition and Convention Centre

  • The Public Relations strategies successfully delivered the message of “bringing art home” – a direct and honest target to meet.
  • It is more like red light district in Amsterdam – you get whatever you want.

Chow Kai Chin (2) @ Junction Road to Tak Ku Ling Road, Carpenter Road to Prince Edward

  • Their efforts in these “unconventional” approach to art is valued, though there might be better ways in displaying works.
  • For an exhibition which relies greatly on routing, accuracy of the maps is the first priority.
  • Works can be sensibly placed rather than just on the streets.
  • It would be great if they could negotiate with shop owners on the possibility of displaying some works in the shops
  • The choice of alleys as a display venue is a good one.
  • How can Chow Kai Chin improve itself?
  • Avoid copying the format of Woofer Ten and Blue House, keep the scale small and profile low to make it sustainable.
  • The organizer should communicate more with shop owners in the area.
  • It is better to scale it down to an exhibition involving one to two streets
  • The large area covered makes it a tiring visit, while the short exhibition period makes it less appealing to audience.

by Art Appraisal Club

February Exhibition Review

Art Appraisal Club Meeting Note

February

Date: 22nd February 2014

Time: 18:30 – 20:30

Venue:

“Splendorous World” Solo Exhibition of Fiona Wong Lai Ching

16th January 2014 – 15th February 2014
Grotto Fine Arts
2/F, Unit C&D, 31 Wyndham Street, Central
http://www.grottofineart.com/WEB%20ARCHIVE/GrottoExhibitions2013-2014.htm
  • The exhibition adopts a gallery display approach, which limited its artistic quality.
  • Years of experience in the creative industry renders mature manipulation of both materials and techniques. Yet she can be more aggressive in her bare-hand-exploration of the pottery craft.
  • There are traces of spiritual ideas expression.
  • There are little surprises when compared to the last one. The artist is like stuck at forms, self-bounded by quality of materials and techniques.

“Time Traveller” Joint exhibition of Au Hoi Lam and Sara Tse

24th January 2014 – 1st April 2014
LVMH Flagship Store Gallery
5 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

Sara Tse:

  • There should be a breakthrough - in the connecting her emotion with an appropriate way of expression.
  • Her ideas in pottery should be intensified and elaborated.
  • Her collection of old items as part of the installation blurred the focus of the work, putting pottery in a supporting role.
  • The occasional presence of items from the organizer inevitably affects the overall impression to the exhibition.
  • The theme has been consistent. She is an emotionally-driven artist.
  • Artists specializing in pottery art are prone to impacts from materials. To free oneself from these confinements one has to deliberate more.

Au Hoi Lam：

  • Conventional codes give way to a series of works easily communicates with audience.
  • In quite a few pieces we see translations into traditional Chinese values. It’s interesting to see links between this exhibition and her former one “My father is over the Ocean” as demonstrated in the tiny details.
  • Innovative use of mirror makes the show smart and appealing, and good spatial treatment

Building M+: The Museum and Architectural Collection

10th January 2014 – 9th February 2014
ArtisTree
1/F, Cornwall Building, Taikoo Place, Island East, Hong Kong
http://www.westkowloon.hk/tc/whats-on/current-forthcoming/building-m-the-museum-and-architecture-collection/
 
  • Workshops in conjunction with the exhibition featuring trials of different materials for the general public make it a highlight of the event.
  • There exists a tendency for architectural exhibitions in Hong Kong to include an amount of written description far beyond audience’s acceptance.
  • The strong constitutional orientations preset the exhibition’s way of operation and presentation

Crossroad . Another Dimension – A Cross-Strait Four Regions Artistic Exchange Project 2013

He Xiangning Art Museum, Macao Museum of Art, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Oil! and Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre
 
18th January 2014 – 13th February 2014
1st venue, Exhibition Hall, Hong Kong City Hall Low Block
5 Edinburgh Square, Central, Hong Kong
 
18th February 2014 – 12th March 2014
Oil! (Hong Kong part only)
12, Oil Street, North Point, Hong Kong
http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/APO/zh_TW/web/apo/va_crossroads.html
  • It is a joint exhibition touring the four participating cities. It has been a trend since 1990s.
  • The exhibition theme should be general enough to allow respective elaboration from each city.
  • The role of curator is crucial in displaying works in exhibition venues of distinct sizes.
  • Works displayed are rather scattered. There is room for improvement in the area of curation.

Great Crescent: Art and Agitations in the 1960s – Japan, South Korea, Taiwan

22nd November 2013 – 9th February 2014
Para/Site Art Space
G/F, 4 Po Yan Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
http://www.para-site.org.hk/zh-hant/exhibitions/2014/da-xin-yue-liu-shi-nian-dai-de-yi-shu-yu-ji-dang-ri-ben-nan-han-tai-wan
  • Presentation of brilliant ideas is hindered by the size of exhibition venues.
  • More differences than similarities among the three countries emerge in the search of the latter.
  • More explanation should be provided for the choices of participating artists
  • A sole focus on the artistic aspect without due consideration on the ideological differences among the three countries would over-simplify the messages to be brought out by curation.
  • Local art organizations now take their own stance in delivering a discourse on Hong Kong.
  • The absence of locality brings full reflection of globalization.

by Art Appraisal Club

January Exhibition Review

Art Review Group – 1st Meeting  

1 Celebrating 30 Years of Hanart (16 Jan – 15 Feb 2014)

Overall, the exhibition moves people emotionally and sensationally – with some kind of lament and stirred feelings.

Saying that the exhibition impressed us because we can tell the efforts done by the curators, where the exhibits and the venue are well contextualized. The narrative and discourse of the exhibition are very unique, a firm standpoint in telling a story that focused on the nation, to display the artworks with rich national identity and not to adopt the usual way in local exhibitions where narratives are highly westernized.  Among all the works, those played around with texts that done by Qiu Zhijie and Xu Bing are specially arranged to induce feedback and dialogues. Surely everyone would think it is obvious that the exhibition, with such vast amount of great artworks included, could never gone too bad. However, exactly because the exhibition has so much great works to show, it is a very difficult task to curate. Having that said, the exhibition won its recognition and status for it has a clear and direct curatorial concept, good use of space, well-organized team of twenty people in delivering the narrative (using a timeline as backbone of the exhibition) and that the texts in the exhibition respect well about the artist statement  --- these are all highlights of the exhibition that make it distinct from all other shows. If comparison has to be made among exhibitions venues, such as museums, this exhibition succeed for it did not make assumptions on spectators’ interpretation capability nor on their preferences in appreciating artworks, as many of the venues in art tend to do so while lowered the requirements on curating visual arts exhibitions.

What makes the exhibition quite unsettling to us is its content – for it entails the 100 years of the Island’s history, however the information displayed on the timeline were obviously wrong (with the artist’s name written wrong too). While we, as spectators, expect to read more of how the curator interpreted the exhibition. For what it seems, the exhibition being curated by a group of scholars has technical issues, as practical as the ways of how the exhibits were being displayed (i.e. how paintings should be hang) are quite problematic, while the positioning, the focus and the comprehensiveness of the exhibition are all quite paradoxical. The decision of using political events to drive the timeline as to narrate the exhibition is the core of the show, yet we are curious on how this relates to the exhibits being displayed, while we would also like to learn if it is a curatorial concern or a personal decision?

2 Long Time no see, Victoria (10 Jan – 31 Mar 2014)

This exhibition revealed a strange phenomenon of the Hong Kong art scene, of which design elements of a show far ‘exceeded’ the nature of an art exhibition – by exceed, we refer to the vibes and content being presented. Although by nature the illustrations are very sophisticated to comprehend, the texts and designs used hardly have any relevance being drawn making the visual and textual elements not pleasing, and that the artworks are being made ‘secondary’ to the ways of them being displayed – have these said, the exhibition, all in all, succeed to touch people as it rightfully demonstrated Hong Kong history and local identity crisis and issues. The dialogues and scenes of classic Canton films recall a lot memories from the masses, which led spectators to visit their own reminiscences during colonial era. If we are to criticize, we would say the later section of the exhibition having a too exaggerated written text, exposing too much messages to the audiences – in fact the artwork itself could stir much interests, competent in expressing what have to be conveyed. Sometimes a more indirect and even ambiguous approach to do the statements for an exhibition would serve better.

This exhibition concerned about its spectators for the methodology adopted have taken the vision and ambition to educate all visitors – in the tasting and understanding of visual art, inclined to have a more academic approach in framing its content. People with a background to understand well about curating would know that the institution have taken up the responsibility to do proper exhibiting in favour of art works – art works as the nature, the centre of an exhibition, and not to have a wrong focus on making an exhibition to ‘fit’ the theme of a show. The vision and courage of having such decision made and to take these seriously in the implementation made a significant remark in art/curating history in and for Hong Kong, for this is a breakthrough of the common practice of how an exhibition is being carried out by most museums (at least locally), which innovatively re-created the structure of feelings for Hong Kong. The local media narrow-mindedly or being too sensitive politically to interpret the exhibition as ‘yearning for the colonial era’ – can this exhibition be read in such a simple way? Or being over-interpreted? The exhibition basically contributed to be a good show as it confronted the stresses in face of institutional constraints and the judgments made by all external parties –simply and unconventionally, because it has taken clearly a direction on curating, making good use of all the exhibition space and to deal with all the administrative burden practically. Being in the exhibition, you can feel the thoughtfully arranged presentation of all the exhibits that are very logical, fulfilling every senses of cultural traces relating to Hong Kong. It is a sensible and nicely done nostalgic journey for all locals – those being forgotten, remembered, yours, mine, ours – being recalled by the key exhibits, or by all exhibits which equally worked out the empowerment for each and every spectator, no matter they look familiar or alien.

3 “Leung Ping Kwan (1949-2013), A Retrospective” (11 – 30 Jan 2014)

Regarding Leung Ping Kwan’s deep influences on a vast spectrum of cultural and artistic fields, and to consider the exhibition being a retrospection that much being displayed are of various genres – there was no focus at all, not about visual arts nor Hong Kong literature at all. With a good textual illustration on the timeline showing Leung’s biography, the arrangements of the exhibition are not having a strategic selection on works to display, hence limiting the show, resulting a very superficial, self-containing and boring, exhibition.

A case in point would be the presentation of the poems written by Leung, and us being the audiences, we can tell the poems are not being respected. All the texts could be compiled as a book to be presented align with the exhibition, it was a bad idea to present them as fragments stick on the walls. Texts serve an important part of an exhibition, the handling of texts is crucial to the success of an exhibition – even the development of an organisation, like a museum. There is always a fine thin line on drawing whether an exhibition has properly managed literature relating to an art exhibition, the how and the why are significant questions to be answered at the very beginning of preparing a show. In particular, mixed media and cross disciplinary subjects are very tricky, and exactly because of this feature that distinct Leung’s creative works in the telling of the complexity of colonial identification, which stirred a lot of discussions worth bringing forth, one has to be determined in demonstrating (or re-presenting) such feature for this very exhibition.

The use of space and the decision made on the curatorial direction are of high relevance to each other, the selection of exhibits as well as the presentation arrangements are very difficult tasks. Exhibition is actually a discourse, even a language – having the exhibition hall in the Central Library as the venue for such exhibition, linear narrative and comprehension seemed to be the only option for both the curator and the audience, while most of the time, venues are by nature be regarded as simply a platform or a tool for display (i.e. not as a tactical feature in telling a story for and of an exhibition).

When talking about the expectations for an exhibition venue, the positioning, the size of the space and the surrounding cultural vibes are the keys. Most of the time, people made extreme judgments that shows – there is only good or bad – yet, it is fair enough to say that shortcomings of an exhibition venue could turned into its strength: only if there are good strategies being adopted. When proper priorities are being made with a balanced administration, even small exhibition sites could work out the magic to launch highly experimental or theoretical exhibitions. The positioning, division of labour, marketing, cultural conservation and social responsibilities should also be taken into account – this is how a good narrative and positioning should be made for an exhibition. The exhibition paying tributes to Dr. Leung has its own distinct discourse in the presentation of both textual and visual elements, and the most challenging part is to get a focus for the show, while there are tensions between the curator and also the designer…... After all, art exhibition cannot be interpreted in a very superficial way like the consumption we do everyday, one has to learn savouring the exhibition’s aesthetics values, and to gain insights from observing the competitions among various professionals who made the exhibition happened.

4 Fotanian 2014

Young artists who engaged in Fotanian do not know how to introduce audiences about their works and the exhibitions. Having such said, for sure expectations are involved. Attending or participating Fotan Open Studio could make a big difference, and obviously, local art critics and art administrators like us all have different views about this occasion. We wonder how participating artists actually do self-reflexive studies (or not) of their works and about themselves, of which directly affects the image and development of the local art scene – of course one could comment that the scene has not yet even formed…? One would expect artists who are being presented would think critically on how they should develop, or simply to impress spectators and make visitors understand the embodiments in their art. Chow Chun-fai ceased the chance and made a good retrospective – hence we believe such artist would grow and glow. If Fotanian is not an event working against (or competing directly with) the art fair, at least it is a cultural event – as an option or an alternative being offered to make people learn about contemporary Hong Kong art, as to stir more discussions on the subject. (Remarks: we also think it is worthwhile to study about those artists who wish to be ‘promoted’ to auctions through presenting themselves in Fotanian).

The above are tricky questions to raise, just like the thinking of whether the visual art museum going to be launched in the near future would be regarded as a success or failure in the cultural circle.

Further to the discussion, it is also important to talk on the quality control of the exhibitions in Fotanian – is it a social event that run all because it is ‘supposed’ or ‘expected’ to be there? Or, it is simply a self-fulfilling event to be hosted by the organiser? There are in fact three questions that worth in-depth investigation: how to track artists’ developments, of whom participated in Fotanian? Why people in general in the art circle regarded this occasion as not maturely developed? And, how artists view and confront their own art works, their current being and about their confrontation of the self upon facing the public in Fotanian?

by Art Appraisal Club