Vaan Ip and Pen So: L’ ARTchitecture

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Galerie Koo is delighted to announce its exciting exhibition “L’ ARTchitecture” by Hong Kong artists Vaan Ip and Pen So. The exhibition is an associated project with French May Arts Festival 2022.

Exploring the relationship between people and the city is the main theme of Vaan Ip and Pen So’s work. Vaan Ip and Pen So are both contemporary Hong Kong artists. Born in Hong Kong, a unique place in terms of geography, culture, and academic background, Ip and So’s work conveys a dense expression of urban conditions and their own feelings about life in the city. On this special occasion, they will present a series of old and new works, going beyond their usual local focus, expressing their typical style and approach to other cities (such as London, Paris, etc.) around the world.

Vaan Ip’s sculptures are designed to present his city in a three-dimensional medium, and the result is not only interesting but also unexpectedly multifaceted. The work evolves with his ideas, from adding kites as a symbol of dreams, to dreams withholding a collapsing city. When everyone pursues their dreams and strives for excellence in all walks of life, society will naturally progress.

Pen So, on the other hand, likes to pay attention to what is happening around him, and with his detailed style of drawing, he reflects the real side of society and the rapid changes in the city, hence he wants to use his drawings to remind people to look up more often at what is around them on the streets, as anything can suddenly disappear without one’s acknowledgment.

Both artists record their feelings about the cities, hoping to build a bridge through their works, thus communicating with the viewer and creating resonance.

“We are delighted to showcase Vaan Ip’s and Pen So’s artworks to art and culture enthusiasts in Hong Kong,” says Cecilia Koo, gallerist of Galerie Koo. “With their unique view and sensation, and together with their favourite distinct medium and technique, both artists personalize cityscapes of the world in their individual acclaimed style. Each artwork allows the viewer to be impacted in a different way, hence, ferment a personal feeling stemming from the imagination immersed.”

Galerie Koo continues to promote contemporary art with beauty and colours to art lovers of all levels domestically and internationally. The exhibition continues to make a contribution to promote Hong Kong’s cultural and creative industries.

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

Vaan Ip (b.1984) graduated from the Hong Kong Art School in 2009 with a higher diploma in Fine Arts, majoring in painting. In his earlier works, his paintings interact with his view of the city and his childhood memories. With his distinctive ideas, he began to develop the Lost City series. The series depicted the characteristics of a crowded city, both its unity and structure. Feeling trapped and lost in the rapidity and complexity of the city, Ip believes that one’s dreams—often represented by a kite in his work, are what kept one away from the troubles of their hustling, everyday life. Ip then extended his ideas into installation works. Using brass and stainless steel as materials to further emphasize the architectural aspects of Hong Kong, he believes the medium delivers his vision of accomplishing one’s dream, so as to embrace the journey of life.

Pen So is an illustrator and graphic designer born in Hong Kong. Autodidact, he started to draw ever since he graduated from HKDI. The creation of each and every one of his artworks has always been a way to release his instinctive emotions which stirred up inside, yet best let out through his gifted artistry creation. In the past couple of years, So focuses in the works of creating comics and novel illustrations, his interactive drawing book "Trap", and was invited to participate in WALL's art exhibitions in Belgium and Germany, and “Kowloon Walled City” was also invited to exhibit in Germany.

In 2015, Pen So won the first prize in the 7th Comic Book Rising Star Competition for illustrated books, and in 2016, he published his first illustrated book, Hong Kong Disaster, which won the "2016 Hong Kong Golden Reading Award - Best Illustrated Book", the "28th Hong Kong Print Awards - Best Publication Idea Award" and the "2017 Hong Kong Publishing Biennial Awards - Illustrated Book Publication Award". In 2017, Pen So and Yu Yee published a collection of story scenes from "Kowloon Walled City: The Great Romantic Escape", which won the "29th Hong Kong Print Awards - Black & White and Two-colour Book Champion" and the "2019 Hong Kong Publishing Biennial Awards - Graphic Novel Publication Award".