Hong-Kong-based artist Trevor Yeung is representing Hong Kong at the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, one of the most important contemporary art forums in the world, held between 20 April and 24 November 2024. Titled Trevor Yeung: Courtyard of Attachments, Hong Kong in Venice, his exhibition is curated by Olivia Chow, Assistant Curator, Visual Art, at M+.

Cave of Avoidance (Not Yours), installation view of “Trevor Yeung: Courtyard of Attachments, Hong Kong in Venice”, 2024

Both the artist and the curator have been jointly selected by M+ and the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC). In the past, M+ and HKADC have collaborated to present the solo exhibitions of five Hong Kong artists at the Venice Biennale: Lee Kit (2013), Tsang Kin-Wah (2015), Samson Young (2017), Shirley Tse (2019), and Angela Su (2022).

Trevor Yeung – M+

Born in 1988 in Dongguan, in China’s southern Guangdong province, Yeung grew up in Hong Kong and graduated from the Academy of Visual Arts at Hong Kong Baptist University in 2010. Since then, he became one of Hong Kong’s most dynamic artists featured internationally.

He participated in numerous local and international exhibitions, including the Singapore Biennale, Singapore (2022); Kathmandu Triennale, Kathmandu (2022); la biennale de Lyon, Lyon (2019); EVA International Biennale, Dublin (2018); 4th Dhaka Art Summit, Bangladesh (2018) and the 10th Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai (2015).

Trevor Yeung, Mr. Cuddles Under the Eave, Blindpost Gallery, Art Basel Hong Kong 2023

Yeung has exhibited at institutions locally and internationally, such as Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris (2022); Tai Kwun Contemporary, Hong Kong (2022); Jameel Arts Center, Dubai (2022); PinchukArtCentre, Kiev (2021); M+, Hong Kong (2021); Shanghai Power Station of Art (2021); Para Site, Hong Kong (2020); Stiftung Skulpturenpark Köln, Cologne (2020), etc.

The artist draws his inspiration from intimate and personal experiences, expressing himself in artworks ranging from image-based works to large-scale installations. Fascinated by botanic ecology and horticulture and obsessed with structures, Yeung features carefully staged objects, photographs, animals, plants, aquarium system and installations as metaphors to reflect the emancipation of everyday aspirations towards human relationships. He often projects emotional and intellectual scenarios onto living substitutes in his work, translating his own social experiences into elaborate fables exploring failure and imperfection.

Trevor Yeung, Night Mushroom Colon (Six), 2018, Galerie Allen, Paris

In his Venice presentation, Trevor Yeung explores sentimentality, desire, and relationships of power through the concept of attachment, manifesting as feelings of connection with objects, as well as a longing for someone special. The exhibition articulates the artist’s intimate experiences and keen observations of the relationships between humans and aquatic systems, drawing from references including his father’s seafood restaurant, pet shops, feng shui arrangements, and the fish he kept as a child.

Among the eleven new artworks showcased, four are specific to Venice and respond to the architecture of the exhibition venue. The site-specific works are Pond of Never Enough, Salty Lover (Venice), Gate of Instant Love, and Night Mushroom Colon (Hong Kong in Venice). Yeung articulates his fascination with artificiality in nature and urban space with aquariums that are fully operational but contain no fish. The landscapes of these fishless aquariums saturate the exhibition with a palpable sense of absence and allude to the fragile equilibrium that characterises our relationships. The other works are Mx. Trying-My-Best, Two Unwanted Lovers, Night Mushroom in shade (Teak Cabinet), Rolling Gold Fountain, Little Comfy Tornado, the stealth that doesn’t hurt/the scratch that doesn’t help, and Cave of Avoidance (Not Yours).

Installation view of “Trevor Yeung: Courtyard of Attachments, Hong Kong in Venice”, 2024

M+ and HKADC are planning a series of public programmes in Hong Kong to connect Trevor Yeung’s artworks and perspectives with the local audience. Following the closing of the Venice Biennale, M+ will also organise an adapted exhibition in 2025. Stay tuned!