Kylie Manning: Sea Change

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Pace is pleased to present an exhibition of new paintings and works on paper by Kylie Manning at its Hong Kong gallery. On view from March 26 to May 9, the show, titled Sea Change, will be Manning’s first-ever solo presentation in Hong Kong. Exploring enactments of movement and accumulation as they relate to luminosity and abstraction, the works in the exhibition were all created by the artist in the last year. Sea Change will be accompanied by Manning’s first catalogue from Pace Publishing, which will be available for purchase after the show’s opening, featuring an essay by art historian and writer Ted Barrow as well as images and full-bleed details of Manning’s recent works and projects.

The artist’s forthcoming exhibition with the gallery has been conceived as part of a tour throughout East Asia that includes presentations at the X Museum in Beijing, Pace in Hong Kong, and an expanded iteration at Space K Seoul, opening in August. The show at Pace’s gallery in H Queen’s will feature five large-scale paintings and a group of related drawings. She produced this body of work following her monumental collaboration with choreographer Christopher Wheeldon for the New York City Ballet in 2023. Wheeldon wanted to “form a dance within her world,” and Manning created large-scale backdrops and costumes for his production From You Within Me. Immersed in rehearsals for the ballet, her works from this period investigate the ways that individual marks can hint at tempo, oscillation, and perspective, cultivating a balance between implication and motion.

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

Kylie Manning (b. 1983, Juneau, Alaska) is a painter based in Brooklyn, New York. Her work is heavily informed by the atmospheres, latitudes, and colours present in the various geographies of her childhood. Using brushwork, light, and balance, the artist captures moments within her personal history, such as her time working on Alaskan seining vessels and memories of surfing in Mexico. Through her practice, Manning re-contextualises the concept of traditionally gendered “masterpieces" with an eye toward contemporary feminism, and her visual lexicon is as much in conversation with J.M.W. Turner and Frans Hals as it is Ruth Asawa and Berthe Morisot. Manning's oil paint compositions centre on ethereal, gestural, and genderless figures within expansive, disparate landscapes. She purposefully leaves the origin, gender, and raison d'être of the forms within her paintings up to interpretation, allowing the viewer to step into her world, yet form their own reading of the work. The resulting works vibrate with energy and light, flickering before the viewer's eyes.