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EVENT DESCRIPTION
Tai Kwun Contemporary is pleased to announce Sarah Morris: Who is Who, the upcoming solo exhibition of renowned American artist Sarah Morris (b. 1967). The exhibition presents the feature- length film ETC (2023) and a newly commissioned wall painting, Lippo [Paul Rudolph]. Who is Who is on view from 16 March to 14 April 2024 in the 3rd floor gallery space of JC Contemporary.
Who is Who examines the multitude of interconnections at any given moment in late industrialism. The exhibition’s title nods to the German philosopher Theodor Adorno’s contemplation of the ‘troubled world’ of the 20th century: Minima Moralia: Reflections from Damaged Life (1951).
The artist, known for her paintings of vivid geometries and films that explore the psycho-geography of the global sites, forms new understandings of one’s locality in systems and structures in Who is Who. Her cinematic portraits of cities create a chain of connections between locales and production.
Morris’s sixteenth film, ETC is currently on view on the monumental LED façade of M+. At Tai Kwun Contemporary, the film will be exhibited for the first time as an installation with sound by Liam Gillick. ETC was shot in Hong Kong in the spring of 2023 and documents the city at a specific moment. The film visualizes the simultaneity of electronic and analogue life in Hong Kong and continues the artist’s examination of the interconnection of place.
The film’s title playfully recalls the Electronic Teller Card – an earlier version of today’s ATM card – and considers Hong Kong’s role as a global centre of commerce. Celebrated graphic designer Henry Steiner designed “ETC” for HSBC in 1979.
The film features trading, financial and governmental sites such as Sham Shui Po’s Electronic Market, ATL Logistics Centre, the HSBC headquarters, the Legislative Council Complex, and lesser-known locations. The graphic designer Henry Steiner, the architect James H. Kinoshita, and the actress Josie Ho appear alongside other characters: currency, buckets, taxis, fruits, escalators, pens, bamboo, trucks etc.
In an era marked by rapid change, ETC reflects upon the use of space, layering daily life with complex histories. The artist considers both micro and macro scales which propel the viewer into a field of fragmented narratives. The artist places herself and the viewer in many situations which reveal her distinct vision of the contemporary moment. The films are a manifesto for all of the painting that could be made by the artist.
The exhibition also includes a newly commissioned, site-specific wall painting, Lippo [Paul Rudolph], which reimagines the architecture of the legendary Lippo Centre in Admiralty, Hong Kong. The building is also featured in Morris’s film ETC. Through images of surfaces in Morris’s films and paintings, the artist mediates between the inside and outside, public and private, revealing possible systems of navigation.
Outside of the third floor galleries of Who is Who, Sarah Morris and Scott King have designed a new billboard artwork TXJSQE for the 55 Squared project in Tai Kwun’s Parade Ground.
Visitors can also learn more about the artist through public programmes. On 17 March, there will be Conversation talk with the artist Sarah Morris and curator Tobias Berger, followed by a screening of Finite and Infinite Games (2017) which presents Alexander Kluge and the Elbphilharmonie, a performance art building in Hamburg, Germany. Like Tai Kwun, the Elbphilharmonie was designed by Swiss Architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron. On 13 April, there will also be the Special Screening of Rio (2012) which presents the city of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil during the time of carnival.
ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER
Since the mid-1990s, New York–based artist Sarah Morris (b. 1967) has been making abstract paintings and films which form urban, social, and bureaucratic typologies. Her work is often derived from close inspection of architectural details combined with a critical sensitivity to spatial systems. She has exhibited extensively, including recent solo exhibitions at M+, Hong Kong (2024); Kunstmuseen Krefeld, Germany (2023); Espace Louis Vuitton Munich, Germany (2023); Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Germany (2023); Jesus College, Cambridge, UK (2019); UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China (2018); and Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Finland (2017).You may also like
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