This month’s list of art exhibitions is short but sweet.
I gotta say, October’s new art exhibitions are some of my all-time favourites. An instant mood lifter, many of them are bright, colourful and quirky — reflecting the general excitement in Hong Kong as travel restrictions finally lift for good (sorry, I’m flying to Thailand in a few days and I can’t think about anything else). From SHOUT’s new exhibition featuring cartoon character LYCHEE and his friends to K11 MUSEA’s extensive display of printmaker Kazumasa Nagai’s posters, it’s gonna be a fun-filled October ahead of us.
Hong Kong art exhibitions to see this October 2022
It’s Already Tomorrow
When: 9 September to 22 October
Bisma Hussain’s first solo exhibition showcases her signature vibrant portraits of domestic life. The Pakistani artist’s fixation on domestic interiors comes from years spent confined within her home due to an undiagnosed illness. Intimate depictions of bathrooms, kitchens and laundry rooms, as well as human figures whose postures are contorted, constricted and crumpled, feature widely across her paintings. Using vibrant and energetic colours and forms, Hussain pushes the bounds of hyperrealism and conveys the resilience of the human spirit.
Over The Influence, G/F & 1/F, 159 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong, +852 2617 9829
Midnight Sun
When: 15 September to 29 October
Hong Kong artist Tang Kwong San’s solo exhibition showcases his newest works, a series of figurative paintings that depict the human form woven together with urban trees and fashion garments. Working on the motif of concealing an organic body in camouflage acts, Tang brings attention to how nature’s resources can be reduced to consumer products and address our delicate relationship with nature.
Contemporary by Angela Li, G/F, 248 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong, +852 3571 8200
Mehdi Ghadyanloo
When: 22 September to 5 November
In a solo exhibition running until early November, Gagosian Hong Kong is bringing the works of Iranian artist, painter and muralist Mehdi Ghadyanloo to Asia for the first time. Ghadyanloo’s paintings often depict slides, tunnels and ladders, absent of children or other figures. At once familiar and mysterious, they exist as monuments to psychological states and hint at the nostalgia of childhood play.
Gagosian Hong Kong, 7/F, Pedder Building, 12 Pedder Street, Central, Hong Kong, +852 2151 0555
FRIENDS.S.S.S The Palette Masquerade
When: 23 September to 17 October
In SHOUT’s newest exhibition, the cartoon characters from lifestyle brand LYCHEE & FRIENDS feature in works by 15 artists from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Argentina, Indonesia and the Philippines. Each art piece depicts LYCHEE meeting new friends around the world in different painting styles and genres, from impressionism with bold and striking colours to surrealist figurative compositions.
SHOUT Art Hub & Gallery, Harbour City, Shop OT308A, Level 3, Ocean Terminal, Harbour City, 7 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, +852 2503 1222
Portraits of a Wild Family
When: 27 September to 22 October
Brand new art gallery SENS Gallery is presenting its inaugural exhibition Portraits of a Wild Family, featuring the works of British painter David Surman for the first time in Asia. Recognised for his depiction of animal forms through vigorous brushwork and bright colour palettes, Surman utilises an innocent style to convey human stories and shed light on the multiplicity of this world.
SENS Gallery, Room 08, 19/F, Landmark South, 39 Yip Kan Street, Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong
KAZUMASA NAGAI: FROM NOW TO ETERNITY
When: 30 September to 12 October
Acclaimed Japanese designer and printmaker Kazumasa Nagai’s first retrospective lands in Hong Kong for two weeks only. Held at K11 MUSEA, the exhibition narrates Nagai’s career with over 100 of his posters and original etchings since the late 1950s.
Works are categorised into four themes: LENS TO THE WORLD, a set of distinctively geometric and abstract posters from the 1950s to 70s; BEYOND THE HORIZON, a range of posters created in 1974 that express the artist’s futuristic worldview; IMAGERY OF THE LIVING WORLD, personal works depicting animals and plants with figurative expressions; and FRIENDS FOR LIFE, the artist’s current explorations of the motifs of living creatures.
Kunsthalle, 6/F, K11 MUSEA, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
(Lead and featured images courtesy of Kazumasa Nagai)
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 :)
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