From brightly coloured manga art to Hong Kong’s best sustainable design projects, the city’s art community wraps up the year with every kind of exhibition imaginable.
Just like that, the holiday season is upon us and 2022 draws to an end. And like every year before this, it doesn’t take a genius to predict how busy this month will be, with all the shopping to do and meals to be had. But here’s my advice: leave some time to take in some art before you head off to your New Year’s party, or whatever. There’s a whole host of exciting exhibitions opening in late November and early December, including “Reality Dropout”, Hong Kong-based manga artist Little Thunder’s first solo show; “always”, a community showcase celebrating Hong Kong’s most sustainable design projects; and “The Frame Digital Art Gala II”, the second edition of SHOUT Gallery and Samsung’s collaborative art presentation.
Hong Kong art exhibitions to see this December 2022
Reality Dropout
When: 4 November to 24 December
Hong Kong-based artist Little Thunder showcases 12 new canvas paintings in her first solo exhibition “Reality Dropout”, a title she explains means to withdraw from reality. “It is about seeking the truth and peeling it back layer by layer and realising the lines between reality and the imagination is only getting blurrier”, she says. Indeed, her works invoke another type of reality where humanity is depicted in a series of magical realist interactions, all in her signature brightly coloured manga aesthetics.
Over the Influence, G/F & 1/F, 159 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong, +852 2617 9829
Alice Neel: Men from the Sixties
When: 17 November to 21 December
The first exhibition of Alice Neel in Greater China showcases the late American artist’s honest, humanist approach to the figure. “Alice Neel: Men from the Sixties” focuses on Neel’s paintings of men from the 1960s, a time when her style evolved into looser, more open compositions and when she began to gain critical acclaim as an artist. Presenting a nuanced examination of masculinity, the depicted men either had personal or intellectual significance to Neel, or were simply anonymous individuals or acquaintances who interested her.
David Zwirner, 5-6/F, H Queen’s, 80 Queen’s Road Central, Central, Hong Kong, +852 2119 5900
always
When: 22 November to 29 January
Hosted by Design Spectrum, “always” is a group exhibition exploring the sustainable development of Hong Kong over the decades, with a focus on how good designs have significantly impacted communities and what they mean to a city. Recognisable city-wide programmes like GREEN@COMMUNITY, The Mills and Tree Bark Bookend are among the 50 design projects showcased and explained.
Central Market, 93 Queen’s Road Central, Central, Hong Kong, +852 3618 8668
The Frame Digital Art Gala II
When: 24 November to 12 December
Following SHOUT Gallery and Samsung’s successful first collaboration featuring the latter’s The Frame TV, the brands are once again teaming up for another edition of “The Frame Digital Art Gala”. The exhibition features digital artists from Hong Kong, such as NFT artist Szabotage; urban photographer Wing Chan; advertising illustration firm Lolohoihoi Design Studio; animal portrait illustrator Leon Lollipop; and The Fattie digital play series creator Eric Chow. Of course, like the first edition, each art piece is displayed on the new Samsung The Frame 2022 matte screen TV.
SHOUT Art Hub & Gallery, Shop 109-112, 1/F, Hysan Place, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, +852 2503 1222
Enter the Forest at the Darkest Point
When: 24 November to 8 January
UK-born, US-based artist Stephen Thorpe presents a new body of work created over the summer of 2022 in “Enter the Forest at the Darkest Point”. The solo exhibition features his acclaimed “corner” paintings with their richly coloured walls and enticing wall motif designs, questioning the viewer’s concept of interiority and space. If you look closely, he references the noble tradition of English tapestries in his work, transferring the finely detailed luxury of the Gobelin world to paint.
Ora-Ora, 105-107, Barrack Block, Tai Kwun, 10 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong, +852 2167 8735
deTour 2022
When: 25 November to 4 December
PMQ’s annual design festival is back for its 2022 edition. This year, it follows the theme of “Design as One” and comprises three main categories of exhibitions: International Collaboration; Feature Exhibitions; and Selected Entries from local and oversea talents. Highlights from over 80 activities include the “About Time” exhibition, which creates a memory lane for visitors to reflect on their relationship with time; and “Hello, Data!” by Neighbourhood Innovation Lab, a local initiative promoting close neighbourly relationships.
Don’t worry if you miss deTour’s short window — the arts festival has a virtual version for global viewing via its website until 31 December.
deTour 2022, PMQ, 35 Aberdeen Street, Central, Hong Kong
The Secret Cabinet
When: 25 November to 12 January
Nine young Korean artists come together to produce around 30 works in The Stroll Gallery’s latest group exhibition. Through a series of paintings, Ahra Kim, Chansong Kim, Doyu Hwang, Lee Na, Jieun Kim, Jiyeon Kim, Juhyun Kim, Yeonhong Kim and Yunzo Paek each delve into their personal ‘cabinets’ and share a faded past, a significant relationship, childhood innocence, fear and curiosity for the future.
The Stroll Gallery, Unit 504, 5/F, Vanta Industrial Centre, 21-23 Tai Lin Pai Road, Kwai Chung, Hong Kong, +852 6366 0717
GROUNDING
When: 3 December to 2 January
A collaborative presentation with Sample Magazine and Lettercult, Tomorrow Maybe at Eaton HK invites four artists, Lazarus Chan Long Fung, Winnie Yan Wai Yin, Wong Winsome Dumalagan and Tang Kwong San, to create new artworks under the theme of “GROUNDING”. Drawing inspiration from a geology visit to Hong Kong’s uninhabited Port Island, each artist produces a range of mixed media and video installations that consider the project of starting a new life on an exotic planet, on view until early 2023.
Tomorrow Maybe, 4/F, Eaton HK, 380 Nathan Road, Jordan, Kowloon, Hong Kong, +852 2710 1947
(Lead and featured images courtesy of Eric Chow and SHOUT Art Hub & Gallery)
Charmaine Ng
Editor
Charmaine enjoys eating steamed broccoli and knocking back cups of spearmint tea, all in the name of health. Covering art, beauty and music :)
