Opening for the first time this May, the Artecal Charitable Exhibition features over 50 artworks by 30 artists, bringing together diverse backgrounds and genres. Agnes Leung is one of the young talents exhibiting at the week-long show.
The whimsical imagery of Agnes Leung immediately draws the eye and captures the imagination. She’s one of the youngest artists showing in the Artecal Charitable Exhibition at Pao Gallery, Hong Kong Arts Centre. Often pained on wooden board but also on canvasses, the works depict real and imagined creatures like an octopus chandelier and a cat with antennas for ears.
The exuberant painter is showing a total of five works at Artecal Charitable Exhibition, among them Capybara’s Gourment, and Fungi Boundary 1 and Fungi Boundary 2. One of Hong Kong’s many promising young talents and with a personality to boot, Agnes Leung’s work is on view at Pau Gallery in the Hong Kong Arts Centre from now until 3 June. Below, watch Agnes give a tour of her studio and read our conversation with her on painting music, her muse(s), and the importance of staying cool in Hong Kong’s endless summer.
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Do you have a favourite song or album that you listen to while you work?
It’s tough to pick a favourite. Overall, I love music with lively beats and chill-out vibes. I move my body with the rhythm while I paint because it helps me with infusing an energetic pace into my paintings. I go through The Weeknd’s DAWN FM whole album every day, it’s like a complete music radio, it feeds into my energetic creations. Harry Style’s album Harry’s House album and Bruno Major’s The Most Beauty Things are the other two on my playlist that I can have on repeat as they help me ease my mind.
What’s your studio like?
Messy yet lively. Just like certain people with OCD may feel frazzled when things are not in order, I get that level of bothersome when facing a spotless tidy room. I get inspired mostly by things and events that are happening around me, which is why I like discovering new inspiration within corners of my studio, you never know what comes to surprise next! They are what influenced me in cre
ating a world of many beings depicted on my canvases.
Who is your current muse?
As you can tell, the reoccurring subjects within my works are mostly animals and plants, they are definitely my muse at the moment. The way they interact with people and the energy they express gives me a lot of strengths and joy. I study and pay close observation to them for all the illustrated botanical and animal anatomy books and study their body movements from sims video games.
What’s one thing you can’t live without?
Air-conditioner. Summer in Hong Kong can be unbearably hot for me. The air-conditioning at my studio has broken down recently and I feel like I could almost melt and fuse into the colour of the paint in front of me.
What do you think is the attitude towards art in Hong Kong right now?
I believe the aesthetics of the general public would prefer artworks that are more conditioned, traditional, delicate, and sophisticated. I didn’t feel as confident prior to exhibiting my works in Art Central 2023, not to mention it being my first solo booth. But I was showered with a lot of constructive positive feedback and encouragement from collectors and many people from the field. This fuelled the motivation within me in trusting the Hong Kong art scene does value ideas that come from the genuine ground.
Vanessa Lee
Managing Editor
