BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Culture Plus - ECPv6.16.5.1//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://cultureplus.asia
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Culture Plus
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:Asia/Hong_Kong
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+0800
TZOFFSETTO:+0800
TZNAME:HKT
DTSTART:20210101T000000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250325
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250419
DTSTAMP:20250318T023042Z
CREATED:20250318T023042Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250318T023042Z
UID:10021436-1742860800-1745020799@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Honest Machines
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is pleased to present “Honest Machines”\, a joint collectors’ exhibition by RadioHack Werkstatt. Initially growing through the support of collectors in Hong Kong\, the exhibition will be on view from 25 March to 18 April 2025\, during Art Week in the city. The first joint collectors’ exhibition of its kind\, “Honest Machines” is a sound-art exhibition curated by RadioHack Werkstatt founder Dr. Bujar Aruqaj. \nThe exhibition serves to explore the togetherness of design\, function\, and sound rooted in the ethos of Dieter Rams and mid-century modernism. During his time at Braun in the 1960s and 1970s\, Dieter Rams established a design language that perfectly expresses his “less but better” philosophy. The unobtrusive\, useful\, and aesthetically pleasing paved the way for simplicity\, functionality\, and timelessness of consumer electronics and influenced generations of designers. Even after decades his mark is felt in the clean lines\, minimalistic forms\, and intuitive interfaces of today’s design landscape proving that great design transcends all. \nTaking over WOAW Gallery\, the curated selection showcases sound systems that embody quality\, simplicity\, and purpose. From meticulously crafted Hi-Fi systems to the functional elegance of pocket radios\, “Honest Machines” highlights the timeless beauty of restraint\, the logic of form\, and the seamless integration of technology into human experience.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/honest-machines/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery 5 Sun Street\, 5 Sun Street\, Wan Chai\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Design,Multimedia,Music
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/download-3-e1742264859426.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250325
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250419
DTSTAMP:20250318T021934Z
CREATED:20250318T021934Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250318T021934Z
UID:10021435-1742860800-1745020799@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:H.R. Giger Hong Kong
DESCRIPTION:The exhibition will be on view from 25 March to 18 April 2025\, which also celebrates his first solo exhibition in Hong Kong. \nParallel to the 2025 edition of Art Basel\, KALEIDOSCOPE and Mai 36 Galerie present “H.R. Giger Hong Kong” at WOAW Gallery\, the first solo exhibition of legendary Swiss artist H.R. Giger in the city. \nPart of a series curated by KALEIDOSCOPE’s creative director Alessio Ascari\, reexamining Giger’s cross-generational legacy and influence\, the show offers a rare opportunity to explore the dark beauty and visionary power of his art. \nHighlights from the exhibition include the two original doors from the short-lived Giger Bar in Tokyo – a total environment designed by the artist in 1989 with custom roof\, walls\, and fittings – as well as one of his iconic Harkonnen chairs. \nThe exhibition also features the renowned “Biomechanoid” portfolio\, originally produced with Galerie Bruno Bischofberger in 1969\, an early body of work which lays the foundation for Giger’s influential aesthetic.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/h-r-giger-hong-kong/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery 3 Sun Street\, 3 Sun Street\, Wan Chai\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting,Sculpture
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-03-18-at-10.15.27-AM.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250218
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250318
DTSTAMP:20250127T112719Z
CREATED:20250127T112719Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250127T112719Z
UID:10019979-1739836800-1742255999@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Yam Shalev: Between Times
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is pleased to present “Between Times”\, a solo exhibition by artist Yam Shalev. This exhibition embarks on a profound exploration of ephemeral moments\, showcasing a collection of meticulously constructed paintings that depict the most intimate yet universal scenes through Shalev’s lens. The exhibition will be on view from 18 February to 17 March 2025\, which also celebrates his first solo exhibition in Hong Kong. \nTime is elusive; it slips by too quickly for anyone to catch. In “Between Times”\, Shalev’s works freeze time as he frames these fleeting instances on canvas. Often vanishing before we truly notice them\, some moments stand out as the highlights in life. Shalev invites the viewers to embark on an intimate journey through closely observing these intense\, condensed and universal daily fragments. \nConsider the simple act of sneaking into the kitchen for a midnight snack or catching the golden hour light as it spreads across the room unexpectedly. Moments of drifting to sleep that we are able to leave behind the thoughts and remnants of the day. In in the morning\, a gentle breeze brushes your face just before dawn with warm glow and the smell of coffee from the kitchen. These little yet significant moments are all woven into this exploration. \nRooted in an investigation of color\, composition\, and ambiance\, Shalev constructs each painting with care\, bit by bit\, object by object\, revealing the intimacy\, serenity\, luxury\, light\, and vulnerability inherent in our quotidian scenes. These moments may be mere fragments of our lives\, yet they are opportunities we might truly recognize and appreciate if only we could pause\, freeze them for a second\, and contemplate.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/yam-shalev-between-times/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery 3 Sun Street\, 3 Sun Street\, Wan Chai\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Yam-Shalev_La-Brocherie-Mandelieu_2025.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250109
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250209
DTSTAMP:20241217T061728Z
CREATED:20241217T061728Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241217T061728Z
UID:10021247-1736380800-1739059199@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Giles Pates: Muggsy
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is pleased to present Muggsy\, a solo exhibition by New York artist Giles Pates. This vibrant and heartfelt collection of works celebrates the unifying power of local basketball courts around the world\, inviting viewers to reconnect with the communal spirit that often defines these shared spaces. The exhibition will be on view from 9 January to 8 February 2025 \, which also celebrates his first solo exhibition in Hong Kong. \nMuggsy is a celebration of the communal power found in local basketball courts around the world. The title draws inspiration from Muggsy Bogues\, one of the smallest players to ever grace the NBA\, known not only for his heart\, tenacity\, and unshakable spirit – qualities that resonate deeply with the energy of a local court. \nAt the core of this exhibition is the idea that basketball courts serve as timeless spaces of connection\, transcending language\, background\, and age. Regardless of one’s history or origin\, a local basketball court is a place where strangers can become friends and individuals can find a lasting sense of community. \nThe inspiration behind “Muggsy” comes from a personal experience shared by the artist. During a conversation with his wife and brother-in-law\, Giles was moved by the story of his wife’s family\, who had recently immigrated from Karachi\, Pakistan\, and were searching for a sense of belonging in New York City. One afternoon\, Giles’ brother-in-law found himself shooting hoops alone at his local mosque\, when a group of local kids approached him and began playing. What began as a solitary moment quickly turned into a bond of friendship that remains strong to this day. \nThis powerful memory has inspired Giles to create a series of works that invite viewers into the spirit of their own local courts. Through these paintings\, Giles aims to evoke nostalgia for a time when communal spaces held a deeper meaning\, reminding us of the sense of unity and connection that we experienced as children in the parks of our hometowns.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/giles-pates-muggsy/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery 3 Sun Street\, 3 Sun Street\, Wan Chai\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Screenshot-2024-12-17-at-2.13.58-PM.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241107
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241217
DTSTAMP:20241030T072706Z
CREATED:20241030T072706Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241030T072706Z
UID:10019829-1730937600-1734393599@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Pop Craft Structure
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is pleased to present Pop Craft Structure\, a solo exhibition by Korean artist Gyuhan Lee. The title is derived from Lee’s transformation of mass-produced consumerist packaging into structured designs. Using the packaging of iconic brands\, he creates furniture and furnishings with easily-accessible materials\, infusing utilitarian function to waste and further drawing attention to consumerist behaviors. The exhibition will be on view from 7 November to 16 December 2024 \, which also celebrates his first solo exhibition in Hong Kong. \nMost of us know the familiar crumple of paper bags in our hands. We tear them open to consume its insides\, barely registering the material beneath our fingertips as they are balled up and tossed aside like an afterthought. In the hands of Lee\, the Korean artist breathes new life into the “valueless” material\, skillfully weaving the recycled fiber with traditional Korean paper as he turns disposable waste into detailed craftsmanship. \nTo Lee\, sourcing the easily accessible materials is the beginning of his creative process. Using the image of popular and iconic brands that he himself consumes\, such as McDonalds and Nike\, he creates his works by hand in what he considers to be a process of repetition. As many of the materials he uses already have predetermined logos and bright colors\, Lee works to strike harmony between the structure and form\, as well as color and balance\, of his works. In this new series\, he focuses more on images of popular brands by incorporating Hermés blotting paper into his lamps. Inspired by the Hermès building in Ginza\, Tokyo\, the two new lamps mimic the window panels of the architectural design. \nBetween the thin layers of upcycled paper is Lee’s careful craftsmanship\, stretching material over frames\, turning brand symbols into chromatic patterns\, until a soft light emits from the delicate shade of his lamps. In his other works\, he welds cardboard to plywood\, furnishing the fragile surface of the Nike shoebox into a sleek design with smoothed edges and vibrant patterns that gleam all on their own. As an artist designer\, Lee reimagines not only waste management but also consumer behavior\, entertaining the seemingly boundless possibilities of upcycling through traditional Korean craft.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/pop-craft-structure/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery 3 Sun Street\, 3 Sun Street\, Wan Chai\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Crafts,Design
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Screenshot-2024-10-30-at-3.23.07-PM.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241002
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241031
DTSTAMP:20240925T020151Z
CREATED:20240925T020151Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240925T020151Z
UID:10019729-1727827200-1730332799@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Ronan Day-Lewis: That Summer We All Saw Them
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is pleased to present That Summer We All Saw Them\, a solo exhibition by New York-based artist Ronan Day-Lewis featuring a body of oil pastel works on canvas. Venturing further into his distinct vision of mythic Americana\, Day-Lewis turns his attention to a group of disconnected youths from the early millennium\, constructing a fragmentary narrative that probes the mysterious chasm between past and present. The exhibition will be on view from 2 – 30 October 2024. This will be the artist’s first solo showing in Hong Kong. \nThe process leading to this body of work began serendipitously\, with Day-Lewis stumbling across an Instagram account called “tvwishes” one night this winter. The images on the account’s grid had the strange quality – both familiar and alien\, tangible and unreachable – of the recent past. A closer look at the captions\, written by an anonymous admin\, revealed that these images were sourced mainly from early-two-thousands Flickr posts. Scrolling down\, one photograph was particularly arresting: a teenage boy floating belly up in a black void\, head thrown back hedonistically\, hair glittering in that distinctly violent early-digital camera flash that had\, until this moment\, been reserved in his mind for photos from his childhood. The photo\, which had been taken on August 31\, 2003 at 9:09pm\, was captioned with a name\, followed by “American life.” \nHe went to Flickr and found the album the photo came from. Picture by picture\, he found himself parsing through the days of the photographer’s adolescence. He began to recognize the recurring faces of their close friends; their names; the rooms they frequented. Over the following weeks\, Day-Lewis found his way to other strangers’ uploads from similar periods and other unspecified towns. Many of the images seemed to possess a latent darkness under their ennui. He began to feel as though he was getting to the bottom of something hidden. He felt that he had seen these faces\, these rooms\, these clothes\, these hallways before. Friend groups from different times and places\, strangers to each other\, converged. He started to think that all these people were photographed over a single summer. Day-Lewis began to tell himself stories; that they saw something no one else would ever believe; that they lost their minds together. \nThe first painting the artist made was of the boy on the trampoline. By layering his personal mythology onto the images\, he has tied himself irrevocably to these people he will never meet\, sublimating himself through the act of painting into the past lives of strangers.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/ronan-day-lewis-that-summer-we-all-saw-them/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery 3 Sun Street\, 3 Sun Street\, Wan Chai\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Ronan-Day-Lewis-American-Life-2024-Oil-pastel-on-canvas-18-x-24-cm_High-res.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240831
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241015
DTSTAMP:20240819T152630Z
CREATED:20240819T152630Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240819T152630Z
UID:10019647-1725062400-1728950399@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Kang Haoxian: In Motion
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is delighted to present Chinese painter Kang Haoxian’s solo exhibition “In Motion”\, on view from 31 August to 14 October 2024. Known for his grand pieces\, where he blends elements of magical realism with popular cultural motifs\, Kang transitions from his established style of atmospheric works in this exhibition. Instead\, the showcased canvases highlight the painter’s desire to capture the intricate moments and detailed shapes of his surroundings\, ultimately taking the form of car tires. \nTo Kang\, tires have been an integral part of modern society since their inception – forming important components on our vehicles\, mass produced due to their many uses\, tires serve multiple functions that physically propel and drive us forward in everyday life. He observes the different varieties of designs\, craftsmanship\, and its ability to perform reflects the continuous desires and pursuits of the driver behind the wheel. Serving as a reflection of human emotions\, this exhibition captures how tires are able to encapsulate the desires of people from all walks of life\, serving as the most prominent indication of progress and movement. \nIn this series of works\, the artist further emphasizes the feel of tires moving against the earth through his canvases. His attention to the different physical aspects of tires prompt an almost philosophical contemplation – the vehicle moves forward to different places\, advancing to further and boundless destinations. \nKang’s works also paint the private intimacy and personal feelings through the interactions between people and cars. The female figure reflected on the glass in Live Free or Die (2024) \, the casual arm draped over the car window Brave Action (2024)\, the contrast between the quiet car space and the blood red environment in I enjoy my own tranquility (2024)\, all of his paintings exhibit the artist’s interest and ability to capture the unique contemplations that emerge from within the vehicle. To him\, the world is like a huge garage\, filled not only with “cars” but also a myriad of complex human emotions. The subject may appear unconventional\, yet they are integral to our daily lives\, forming important components on our vehicles. Highlighting the permeating presence of art in our daily lives\, “In Motion” seeks to capture the emotional complexity of humans through the dependable presence of car tires.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/kang-haoxian-in-motion/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery 5 Sun Street\, 5 Sun Street\, Wan Chai\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Kang-Haoxian-Live-free-or-die2024-e1724080987199.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240730
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240825
DTSTAMP:20240718T121539Z
CREATED:20240718T121539Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240718T121539Z
UID:10020956-1722297600-1724543999@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:MAIN CHARACTER
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is thrilled to present “MAIN CHARACTER”\, an immersive exhibition curated by Lisa Boudet. This unique showcase\, featuring works by 12 contemporary international artists\, propels visitors into a cinematic journey. The gallery is covered from top to bottom in grand red curtains – akin to a performance stage\, the space invites viewers to wonder if we are actors about to come onto the stage\, or if we are audiences waiting for the curtains to unfold and the show to begin. \nAmong the featured artists are Lucie Antoinette\, Claudio Coltorti\, Emily Furr\, Edward Givis\, Evgen Čopi Gorišek\, Jacob Littlejohn\, Luke O’Halloran\, Nathan Ritterpusch\, Meghann Stephenson\, Yongqi Tang\, Angela Fang Zirbes\, and Caroline Zurmely. \nFocusing on different subjects\, each artist offers a distinct perspective on the concept of what it means to have “main character energy” – the belief in oneself as the central figure of one’s narrative. The gallery’s dramatic transformation is inspired by the renowned American filmmaker David Lynch\, celebrated for his aesthetically captivating and enigmatic films. The exhibition metamorphoses the gallery into a scene reminiscent of Lynch’s iconic work Twin Peaks (1990-1991)\, specifically the surreal “Red Room” scene where the boundaries between reality and the subconscious dissolve. This ambiguous space invites viewers on an introspective journey – against a backdrop of red curtains\, visitors are forced to wonder if we are the protagonists performing on stage\, or are we simply spectators in someone else’s story. \nThere are many ways in which main characters define themselves in their narratives\, such as standingout through their independence and their choices. In his work smoking cigar (2024)\, American artist Edward Givis pays tribute to iconic American actor Jack Nicholson\, who is known for roles that encapsulate the sense of freedom and individuality associated with main characters. For instance\, Nicholson’s role as Randle McMurphy in the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) challenges the control and authority of the mental institution with his lively and rebellious attitude. Despite the efforts of the ward\, he continues to rebel against the head nurse\, even inspiring and encouraging his fellow patients to fight against oppressive control. Despite his circumstances\, Nicholson’s character chose to defy societal norms\, and instead strived to live life in his own way. smoking cigar did not illustrate his entire face\, yet Nicholson is still recognisable in Givis’s painting – a testament to the actor’s unique charm and iconic roles. \nHowever in many stories\, female characters are often reduced to one-dimensional figures\, simply seen as accessories\, sidekicks\, love interests\, or scapegoats in other people’s tales. American artist Meghann Stephenson\, an artist who focuses on the subtle elements and gentle details to interpret gender and girlhood\, drawing on mythological and religious stories of women to place them as the focus of the story. Her work\, The Only Living Girl (2024)\, features an elegant female arm holding a bright red pomegranate\, inspired by various mythological and religious stories of women The fruit is most symbolic of the Greek myth of Persephone\, where Stephenson’s focus on the pomegranate gives autonomy to the goddess. Her work is reflective of female narratives throughout history – in cinema\, we see the classic trope of female characters holding the burden of blame with a false sense of agency. Women often become a caricature of temptation\, a one-dimensional catalyst for the journey of a man\, a background character to be only remembered by their one mistake. By illustrating the pomegranate\, Stephenson challenges the historical narrative by giving autonomy to Persephone’s decision to consume the fruit\, allowing the goddess to take control of her own destiny. \nThrough their art\, these artists capture the essence of confidence\, charisma\, and self- assuredness akin to the main characters in famous stories\, challenging viewers to reconsider their roles in shaping their destinies. As “MAIN CHARACTER” disrupts conventional narratives\, it prompts a profound reflection: can we seize control of our own stories\, or are we destined to be mere passengers in the tales of others?
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/main-character/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery 5 Sun Street\, 5 Sun Street\, Wan Chai\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Edward-Givis-smoking-cigar-2024.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240726
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240903
DTSTAMP:20240714T182021Z
CREATED:20240714T182021Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240714T182021Z
UID:10019609-1721952000-1725321599@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Conor Murgatroyd: Tick Tock\, Tick Tock\, Tick Tock
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is pleased to present “Tick Tock\, Tick Tock\, Tick Tock”\, a solo exhibition by London-based painter Conor Murgatroyd. Showcasing 12 artworks that Murgatroyd created this year\, the exhibition celebrates his first solo showing in Hong Kong as he takes us on an intimate journey into a world of the images that have shaped his artistic identity. Rich and vibrant\, his paintings represent the beauty of the human soul in a space where subjective memories and objective history coexist. \nMurgatroyd unveils a meticulously curated collection of influences that span history\, blending the personal with the universal and the seen with the unseen as he envisions historical artistic visuals within the context of his own experiences. Rejecting the idea of the past as a single cohesive narrative\, the artist instead highlights the act of remembrance as a deeply personal act based on human experience\, blending the personal with the universal as he creates a space that immortalises the existence of the human soul. \nThe title “Tick Tock\, Tick Tock\, Tick Tock” is a recognition of both the governing power and the transience of time. Whilst its passing dictates the grand narrative of history\, it is simultaneously ephemeral and impossible to fix in place. Within this exhibition\, Murgatroyd comes to terms with this paradox by capturing elements of his lived experience in an attempt to contain the intangible essence of chronology. In The Old Cat is Asleep…Don’t Wake Him (2024)\, Murgatroyd illustrates the beautiful village of Loviste\, where his wife was born. The passing of time is illustrated through the beauty of life blossoming within the space\, where the amount of time Murgatroyd’s family spends there every year creates a lasting impact on the human soul. Another work\, titled Comfort Of The Evening (2024)\, depicts a scene which consists of different points in time – illustrating actors engaging in various abstract roles simultaneously\, Murgatroyd depicts a space where his lived reality coexists with his imagination. \nThis collection of vibrant works does not simply hold reverence for Murgatroyd’s influences. The exhibition is also a story of an artist finding his own voice within these overarching grand narratives. The juxtaposition of realism and surrealism in Murgatroyd’s paintings places the presumed objectivity of history alongside the non-fixity of human experience and the subjectivity of memory\, representing an interaction between the interior of his imagination and the exterior of artistic tradition. Works such as Girl On The Beach (2024) revisit Murgatroyd’s illustration of Loviste\, but he blends the landscape with cubist themes of Picasso and Quan Gris\, both heavy influences of the artist whenever he paints the coastal village. His resulting landscapes are indistinguishable between memory and history\, layering together the beauty of history and experience. Ultimately\, this personal exploration is also a testament to Murgatroyd’s deep reverence for the visual language of art history and its continuing relevance in today’s artistic discourse.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/conor-murgatroyd-tick-tock-tick-tock-tick-tock/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery 3 Sun Street\, 3 Sun Street\, Wan Chai\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Conor-Murgatroyd-The-Sound-Of-Trumpets-2024.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240521
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240629
DTSTAMP:20240524T105946Z
CREATED:20240524T105946Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240524T105946Z
UID:10020831-1716249600-1719619199@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Home
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is pleased to announce Home\, a group exhibition curated by Taymour Grahne. The group exhibition Home brings together the figurative paintings of 3 distinguished artists: Mikey Yates\, Nada Elkalaawy\, and Asif Hoque. Through their artworks\, the exhibition explores the multifaceted concept of home and its contemporary interpretations. Each artist offers a distinct and thought-provoking perspective on the notion of home\, inviting viewers to contemplate its significance in today’s dynamic world. The exhibition will be on view from 21 May – 28 June in the gallery’s 3 Sun Street\, Wan Chai location. \nFor this group show\, London-based art dealer and curator Taymour Grahne has selected three artists that approach figurative painting in their own unique ways. Focusing on the notion of home and its many interpretations in today’s world\, the works featured in the show offer us insights into the artists’ ideas about identity\, memory and ways in which we connect to our surroundings. \nMikey Yates’ figurative paintings are often informed by a distinct place or person in the artist’s life. Yates makes total use of his canvas\, with many of his compositions brimming with activity. Objects\, forms and people become vibrant planes of shadow and colour in a style reminiscent of fauvism. Visible layers and shadows create a sense of movement\, as if the artist has captured the passing of time and created a visual representation of one moment blending into the next. A recurring theme of Yates’ work is the idea of the home\, and the objects\, people and memories that form one. The artist plays around with his subjects with a malleable touch and distinct sensibility\, often exaggerating or accentuating particular angles and contrasting light. The geometric forms become a vehicle for bright colours and dynamic compositions\, each telling a unique story relating to the artist’s personal history. \nNada Elkalaawy’s work explores her interest in attachment\, identity and loss\, with compelling portraits of porcelain figurines and ornaments. Her attention to surface and light\, and precision with her use of paint\, blends the real and not real\, with a focus on capturing emotion. The artist’s exquisite portrayal of the porcelain patina brings objects to life in a way that resembles the luminosity of skin. Her depictions of women maintain a stillness that resembles that of the ornaments\, forming a noticeable connection between the hollowness of the objects with the enigmatic appearance of the figures. These objects however are imbued with feeling\, as if a vessel for the artist’s personal sentiments and memories. The impenetrable and often despondent expressions of the subjects painted gives her work a subtle air of sadness\, and lead us to ponder over the connections we make with the objects in our lives. \nAsif Hoque’s paintings are defined by his innovative synthesis of classical motifs and personal heritage. Hoque’s visual language plays upon the iconography of grand historical and religious works\, taking inspiration from both Eastern and the Western artistic cultures. His take on allegorical narratives reinvents the Greek mythological genre\, placing joyous Brown bodies at the centre of the work. Born to Bangladeshi parents\, in Rome\, Hoque’s works are an expression of his identity\, and a celebration of life itself. The artist’s dramatic paintings typically present angelic figures floating through golden rays of light and billowing clouds\, illuminating his characters and alluding to a story that goes beyond the canvas.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/home/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery 3 Sun Street\, 3 Sun Street\, Wan Chai\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/20240514-Home-004-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240516
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240615
DTSTAMP:20240510T085323Z
CREATED:20240510T085323Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240510T085323Z
UID:10020788-1715817600-1718409599@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Willem Hoeffnagel: Embodied
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is pleased to present Dutch painter Willem Hoeffnagel’s solo exhibition Embodied. Taking place from May 16 – June 14 in 5 Sun Street\, Wan Chai\, the exhibition presents a new body of Hoeffnagel’s artworks revolving the sentiments in life with his recognizable figures. Showcasing 20 artworks that Hoeffnagel created this year\, the exhibition marks as the second collaboration between the gallery and the artist. \nTitled Embodied\, the exhibition features Dutch painter Willem Hoeffnagel’s recent works surrounding the subtle sentiments in life\, where he continues to create his recognizable figures while exploring introspection and emotions. He believes they are a core component that makes humans distinctive\, declaring that the emotions we experience in life are a fundamental part of what makes us human – to Hoeffnagel\, there are no absolute good or bad emotions\, but just a representation of a state of mind. His cartoonesque figures act as a placeholder without them having to represent a specific person\, giving room to ambiguity about what stories or situations they are in\, allowing the viewer room for interpretation. Each of his works exhibiting in Embodied conveys emotions that viewers grasp and sympathize with\, but are not clearly defined. \nIn Embodied\, Hoeffnagel visualizes intangible feelings through the juxtaposition of eyes and several elements\, creating various scenes carrying subtle emotions. With the absence of facial expressions\, the artist himself and viewers can echo with the characters through other factors such as hand gestures\, rain drops\, ropes. In one of the highlighted works\, Tangled portraits a moment of a figure being tangled in ropes. From the placement of the fingers\, viewers can sense the slight anxiousness\, or perhaps excitement the character is experiencing. \nThe artist created several works including multiple characters in a scene that conveys subtle yet complex feelings about human interactions. In Conflicted\, the two figures are against each other with swords\, while their hands are grasping each other. Their swords in hand\, the two figures stand facing one another with their hands gripping each other’s. Their eyes and gestures are showing a subtle sense of hesitation and sadness of confrontation. Despite the presentation of certain emotions\, a major part of his interest in art is looking at his paintings and questioning what is happening and searching for the unseen and seen aspects of his pieces.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/willem-hoeffnagel-embodied/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery 5 Sun Street\, 5 Sun Street\, Wan Chai\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Willem-Hoeffnagel-Core-Family-2024-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240327
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240512
DTSTAMP:20240507T001343Z
CREATED:20240306T152929Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240507T001343Z
UID:10019243-1711497600-1715471999@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Keita Shirayama: Everyday
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is pleased to debut Keita Shirayama’s first solo exhibition Everyday. The exhibition presents a series of abstract paintings inspired by his childhood memories in a nature-rich environment\, exploring life and death\, emotions\, and the cycle of existence. Showcasing 12 Shirayama’s latest artworks\, the exhibition will be on view from March 27 – April 26\, 2024 in 5 Sun Street\, Wan Chai. \n\n\n\n\nEveryday\, a solo and debut exhibition of the Osaka- based artist Keita Shirayama\, showcases paintings of imaginary scenes based on the artist’s childhood memories in a nature-rich environment. Shirayama’s works are built upon his deeply rooted memories and experience growing up in Asago city\, where it is surrounded by high mountains with significant seasonal nature sceneries. It was a great part of Shirayama’s early life experiencing the constant renewal of seasons and its permanent cycle in his hometown. These aspects deeply affect his artistic perspective and approach to art. The scenes captured in his paintings are created in his mind with his memories\, often with an abundance of natural elements and ambiguous depictions of subjects. \nA body of paintings reflect the theme of the perpetual cycle of life and death through capturing the fleeting nature of existence. The artist realized the beauty of impermanence in life through living in a city with ephemeral beauties nature offers. Although the soft pink of cherry blossoms fades away quickly once spring ends\, the abundance of summer flowers\, vivid redness of autumn leaves\, pure whites of snow will carry on coloring the mountains until the cycle brings the cherry blossoms back. The vibrant colors\, evanescent sceneries\, seasonal sensation\, and personal experiences have ingrained in Shirayama’s mind\, which became the foundation of his works. \nPainting in oil\, Shirayama captures the power and vitality of life with intense strokes and her vibrant\, yet delicate colors represent the poignant essence of finite existence and the ceaseless flow of time. Each of his work conveys a certain impression that reminds viewers of the beauty of nature and introduces the intimate scenes and precious memories to the artist. He connects viewers to a world where people\, animals\, landscapes\, and the scenes of intermittently evoke a mysterious sensation of life and death\, extending a sense of familiarity associated with memories or dreams.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/keita-shirayama-everyday/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery 5 Sun Street\, 5 Sun Street\, Wan Chai\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Keita-Shirayama-Many-Things-2023.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240327
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240512
DTSTAMP:20240507T001255Z
CREATED:20240306T152220Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240507T001255Z
UID:10019242-1711497600-1715471999@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Objecting Reality
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is pleased to announce Objecting Reality\, a group exhibition curated by Saša Bogojev. Taking place during Hong Kong Art Month\, the group exhibition showcases recent paintings of 10 distinguished international artists: Niklas Asker\, Jennifer Carvalho\, Ginny Casey\, Suzuki Hidetaka\, Quinten Ingelaere\, Heesoo Kim\, Damien Meade\, Filip Mirazović\, Ken Nurenberg\, and Wedhar Riyadi. The exhibition focuses on the painting’s capability to petrify anything into a still image by converting the painted flat surface into an illusion of a lifeless object within a three-dimensional scene. \n\n\n\n\n“Art is a lie.” “Painting is an illusion.” These notions reflect profound philosophical and artistic perspectives on the nature of art and its connection to reality. They express insightful concepts regarding the role of art in representing and interpreting the world. In this regard\, the legacy of painting inanimate objects is a testament to humanity’s enduring fascination with the transfiguration of the ordinary into the extraordinary. \nFrom depictions of food and possessions in ancient Egyptian tombs\, decorative Roman wall paintings or floor mosaics\, the portrayal of everyday objects carrying religious and allegorical meanings in the Middle Ages\, and the emergence of still life as a distinct genre in Netherlandish painting during the 16th and 17th centuries\, our artistic heritage is intertwined with the idea of objectifying reality. Through their inexplicable mastery of capturing depth and perspective\, painters are capable of summoning the very essence of sculpted forms on a flat canvas\, creating a theatrical world where light and shadow gracefully dance across rigid subjects. \n\n\nWhile the Baroque period celebrated the drama of chiaroscuro to infuse life into their sculptural forms\, contemporary painters are often drawn to capturing the deceptive glow of lustrous materials and polished surfaces. In an age increasingly defined by artificial\, fabricated\, inorganic\, or virtual existence\, there is an increased interest in capturing the stillness and lifelessness of our surroundings. Rather than portraying the essence of the subject\, a convincing visual representation of the world is crafted by capturing the flare of life that surrounds it. Employing painting’s sorcerous ability to transcend its two-dimensional boundaries and achieve sculptural illusion\, a well-executed brushstroke holds the power to transform any segment of the natural world into veiny marble\, gleaming gold\, or translucent porcelain or glass.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/objecting-reality/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery 3 Sun Street\, 3 Sun Street\, Wan Chai\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Ken-Nurenberg-Again-2024m-Oil-on-Linen-77-x-55-cm-.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240325
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240425
DTSTAMP:20240306T151410Z
CREATED:20240306T151134Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240306T151410Z
UID:10019241-1711324800-1714003199@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Clinton King: Moonshine
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is pleased to present American artist Clinton King’s solo exhibition Moonshine. This is King’s first solo exhibition in Hong Kong and marks the gallery’s first exhibition with the artist. The exhibition showcases a body of King’s recent oil paintings exploring a fresh approach towards new and unforeseen identities. Moonshine will be on view from March 25 – April 24\, 2024\, at WOAW Gallery Central. \n\n\n\n\nTransitional works hold a profound significance within an artist’s practice as they serve as pivotal moments of an artist’s exploration and discovery. In Clinton King’s solo exhibition “Moonshine”\, each painting represents such a juncture in King’s practice\, departing from familiar approaches towards new and unforeseen identities. The paintings also embody both his fresh explorations as well as remnants of his earlier endeavors\, and reflects his instinctive approach to painting. \n“Moonshine” is in response to one of the first paintings King completed in this series of works\, and marks the inception of his solo exhibition. Titled In the sun’s shadow\, the painting captures a dynamic interplay between positive and negative elements. This delicate equilibrium of his exploration\, where light and dark coexist in harmonious proportion\, made King reevaluate the concept of “shining” and “borrowing light”\, and what it means to be seen by others in full light. “Moonshine” is thus the embracing of the shadow – embodying an ongoing quest to reconcile the opposing forces of light and dark\, it also emphasizes a confidence that we can still shine even when the sun has set. \nKing’s works emphasize his use of material and the sensory qualities of painting through his minimalist approach. Fascinated by the amount of information a single\, loaded brushstroke can convey\, King’s abstract paintings layer graphical\, gradient strokes of resonant colors in order to achieve intricate but powerful effects. In each canvas\, every mark borrows from\, responds to\, and guides the next in a painterly dialogue\, distilling painting to its essential elements. King’s gestural brushstrokes push abstraction to new levels of visual intensity\, drawing the gaze of viewers into atmospheric spaces unique to each composition. From dense\, kaleidoscopic stratification to vaporous fields of color\, King’s broad spectrum of mark-making serves as a guide to unknown territories\, offering simultaneously dramatic and intimate experiences.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/clinton-king-moonshine/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery Central\, WOAW Gallery\, 9 Queen's Road Central\, Central\, Central and Western\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Feedback-cascade-Oil-on-linen-79in-x-63in.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240221
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240321
DTSTAMP:20240220T003446Z
CREATED:20240220T003446Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240220T003446Z
UID:10020576-1708473600-1710979199@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Chris Regner: Careers in the Arts
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is pleased to present Careers in the Arts\, Chris Regner’s first solo exhibition in Asia. The exhibition features a series of self-deprecating paintings that delve into the personal and universal human experience\, through a lens of Regner’s self-identity as an artist and his encounters with struggles and solitude in the contemporary art world. Showcasing 9 artworks he created this year\, Careers in the Arts will be on view from February 21 to March 20\, 2024\, at the gallery’s Central location. \nIt’s been argued\, or perhaps agreed\, that every painting\, every artwork even\, is a self- portrait of the person who made it. Once that is acknowledged\, there is a small step to approaching a more pronounced\, traditional self-portrait format. And for his Asian solo debut with WOAW gallery in Hong Kong\, Chris Regner made that step and focused solely on creating a self-deprecating body of work. Somewhat continuing onto his 2021 solo that dealt with the struggles with masculinity in the context of lacking a good role model\, he is now talking about himself as an artist. Lonesomely making work in this day and age\, motivated and crippled by contemporary reality and both the personal and universal human conditions\, he examines the challenges and sacrifices imposed by choosing Careers in the Arts. \nThe preceding mash of visuals borrowed from Google images\, mythologies\, popular culture\, imagination\, and autobiographical elements has now been replaced with a more compact way of portraying the scene built from scratch with the help of VR software. Software which ironically helped remove screen-like flatness by adding a sense of volume and depth to his imagery. Regner’s visual language is now stark and bold\, with its rigid\, plastic veneer creating a more obvious distance between the internal emotions and how they’re revealed (or not) to the world. This polished\, plastic\, balloon-like aesthetics also conveys the pressure of existence or ego inflation (Balancing Act\, 2024) while simultaneously commenting on the superficial way of presenting ourselves\, primarily through social media. \nUsing exaggeration\, caricature\, vibrant shades of bright colors\, and perfectly rounded\, smoothened\, and lit VR shapes\, the hyper-stylized images merely hint at deeply personal concerns. Evoking Dana Schutz or Peter Saul’s frenzied ambiances\, Regner employs humor\, goofiness\, or absurd to counterbalance the heavier subjects filled with melancholy\, empathy\, and anxiety. In this light\, the Balancing Act\, 2024\, depicts the fragile and elusive equilibrium of career requirements\, marriage\, vices\, and self-hatred held by a skinny\, tired\, and scarred (artist’s) hand. The interest in this ongoing clash between expressing oneself\, running a professional career\, and navigating the demands of society or family is arguably most evident in Future Planning\, 2024. Offering an air of solemnity through an approachable and fun picture\, the image shows an artist caught in a calm\, meditative posture\, getting his seemingly Zen-like state interrupted by real-life concerns. The same tension between personal and professional may also be observed in Soul Transfer\, 2023\, where the anxious artist literally “pours their heart and soul” into the work. With his face (reminiscent of Ashley Bickerton’s colorful portraits) reflecting on the Paul McCarthy-like sculpture while being observed and judged by the Grim Reaper\, Regner is underlining the weight and intensity of his choices. Ironically\, this more personal and revealing approach is executed through airbrush\, a distant\, highly impersonal tool that leaves no actual mark of the artist’s hand on the surface. And that\, itself\, could be a perfect metaphor for careers in the arts – baring oneself emotionally and mentally for everyone to see and judge through a significantly removed\, one-way communication.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/chris-regner-careers-in-the-arts/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery Central\, WOAW Gallery\, 9 Queen's Road Central\, Central\, Central and Western\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Soul-Transfer-Acrylic-on-canvas-56in-x-65in.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240206
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240314
DTSTAMP:20240126T035731Z
CREATED:20240126T001359Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240126T035731Z
UID:10019187-1707177600-1710374399@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Fluid Maze
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is proud to present “Fluid Maze”\, a group exhibition showcasing the works of eight distinguished local artists – Hector Chan\, IV Chan\, Dony Cheng\, SSAN Hui\, Mandy Lau\, Florence Lee\, Wong Kaying\, and Wu Jiaru – as they experiment with different mediums to question the meaning of “seeing”. Whether they live or grew up in Hong Kong\, the artists are all connected by the city. The essence of Hong Kong is embedded in their works as they each weave their individual experiences\, forming a maze of their consciousness in an interplay between each artwork and the bigger picture. The term “fluid” refers to a lack of fixed shape. Like liquid\, it is floating\, formless\, and freely flowing. In the realm of art\, we try to stay afloat by grasping at ideas amidst a sea of deeper connotations and interpretations as we seek to find the “correct” answer. But like liquid\, art is not anchored to a single thought – it is an endless flow of ideas as it fills and takes the form of the space it occupies\, presenting various meanings forever in flux. Instead of finding the “true meaning”\, “Fluid Maze” encourages visitors to simply enjoy the experience of seeing art. Let the art carry you to no destination\, and simply allow yourself to be lost in the maze.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/fluid-maze/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery 5 Sun Street\, 5 Sun Street\, Wan Chai\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/WU-JIARU_Animak_Island_III-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20231129
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240118
DTSTAMP:20231109T005913Z
CREATED:20231109T005913Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231109T005913Z
UID:10020383-1701216000-1705535999@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Imagined States Chapter 2: Intrinsicality
DESCRIPTION:This November\, WOAW Gallery is pleased to present a series of exhibitions\, along with an academic panel discussion\, on the visual exploration of cultural self- identification. At various gallery locations throughout Hong Kong from November 16\, 2023 – January 17\, 2024\, the exhibition series “Imagined States” showcases over 20 recent paintings of 12 acclaimed international artists\, offering a thought-provoking journey through two distinct chapters: Chapter 1 – “Extrinsicality” and Chapter 2 – “Intrinsicality”. As a culmination of this exciting event\, an engaging academic panel discussion will be held delving into the intricate themes and concepts behind the artwork. \nTaking place at the gallery spaces in Wan Chai and Central\, the exhibition series “Imagined States” showcases the artistic process of empowering metaphors through which humanity constructs and locates itself within realms\, places\, and territories of the mind. In the realm of art\, artists do not seek to depict accuracy\, but to present a version of the truth based on their unique visualization of the world. They change their surroundings through various mediums\, palettes\, and techniques\, as they seek to express their truth by engaging with our senses\, our memories\, and our emotions. Through their works\, each artist illustrates what exists beyond words as they unfold their personal truth before our very eyes\, inviting us to reexamine our own truths. \n“Imagined States”: Chapter 2 – “Intrinsicality” \nThe second chapter\, “Intrinsicality\,” refers to something that is natural and inherent\, and takes place at the gallery’s Central location from November 29\, 2023 to January 17\, 2024. In this chapter\, the focus shifts inward as artists invite viewers to perceive their personal truths. Through the weaving together of intimate memories and unique stories\, each artist presents their personal landscape\, mediating their emotions and identity in the world. This immersive experience allows both the artists and the audience to reflect on their sense of self and engage in a shared contemplation of identity. \nPropelling the “Intrinsicality” chapter is Korean artist Miyeon Yi\, who negotiates ideas of freedom\, death\, and ennui based on her own experience with her great-grandmother. Her atmospheric works illustrate a continuous push and pull between the anxiety of living empty lives and the hopeful desire to transform the world that we live in. Presenting alongside Yi is American artist Blake Daniels. His evocative paintings are a collision of personal\, historical\, social\, and political memories\, as Daniels draws inspiration from traditions of cultural practices and storytelling. He intertwines his experiences with vivid colors\, art histories\, and religious iconography in a celebration of his understanding of the world through memory.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/imagined-states-chapter-2-intrinsicality/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery Central\, WOAW Gallery\, 9 Queen's Road Central\, Central\, Central and Western\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Blake-Daniels-Johannesburg-Street-Dogs-or-The-Assumption-of-Lerato.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20231116
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240118
DTSTAMP:20240320T015202Z
CREATED:20231109T005416Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240320T015202Z
UID:10020382-1700092800-1705535999@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Imagined States Chapter 1: Extrinsicality
DESCRIPTION:This November\, WOAW Gallery is pleased to present a series of exhibitions\, along with an academic panel discussion\, on the visual exploration of cultural self- identification. At various gallery locations throughout Hong Kong from November 16\, 2023 to January 17\, 2024\, the exhibition series “Imagined States” showcases over 20 recent paintings of 12 acclaimed international artists\, offering a thought-provoking journey through two distinct chapters: Chapter 1 – “Extrinsicality” and Chapter 2 – “Intrinsicality”. As a culmination of this exciting event\, an engaging academic panel discussion will be held delving into the intricate themes and concepts behind the artwork. \nTaking place at the gallery spaces in Wan Chai and Central\, the exhibition series “Imagined States” showcases the artistic process of empowering metaphors through which humanity constructs and locates itself within realms\, places\, and territories of the mind. In the realm of art\, artists do not seek to depict accuracy\, but to present a version of the truth based on their unique visualization of the world. They change their surroundings through various mediums\, palettes\, and techniques\, as they seek to express their truth by engaging with our senses\, our memories\, and our emotions. Through their works\, each artist illustrates what exists beyond words as they unfold their personal truth before our very eyes\, inviting us to reexamine our own truths. \n“Imagined States”: Chapter 1 – “Extrinsicality” \nTitled “Extrinsicality”\, referring to something that exists externally from someone or something\, the first chapter of the exhibition series will commence at WOAW Gallery Wan Chai. From November 16\, 2023 to January 17\, 2024\, the exhibition breaks down our fundamental perception of reality through visual distortion. Each artist employs a variety of artistic techniques\, from trompe l’oeil to calligraphic marks\, from airbrushing to displaced cultural iconography\, as they challenge our understanding of our surroundings. Their works encourage us not to simply accept things at first glance\, and prompts us to consider the endless possibilities of the universe. \nArtists featured in “Extrinsicality” include American artist Lauren Hussey\, whose multidimensional compositions are filled with an array of illegible text\, scribbled calligraphic marks\, and sporadic ink blots to offer viewers a riveting visual experience. Her dynamic patterns engage with our innate desire to make sense of our surroundings as she challenges our subconscious understanding of the visual lexicon. Another artist participating in “Extrinsicality” is Chinese-Canadian artist Peter Chan. Showcasing his new series ‘Magic Windows’\, Chan presents a surrealistic study of the illusory nature of media\, aiming to highlight its role in the shaping of cultural identities. His striking blue\, green\, and purple framed screens explore the formation of social mentalities by dissecting the role of perception within social and visual culture.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/imagined-states-chapter-1-extrinsicality/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery 5 Sun Street\, 5 Sun Street\, Wan Chai\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Peter-Chan-StudyofAnticipation1_imageonly-tif.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20231027
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20231220
DTSTAMP:20231014T041433Z
CREATED:20231014T041433Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231014T041433Z
UID:10020322-1698364800-1703030399@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Jonathan Casella: Pink Diamond Too
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is pleased to debut Jonathan Casella’s Pink Diamond Too. This is Casella’s first solo exhibition in Asia and marks the gallery’s first exhibition with the artist. The exhibition showcases Casella’s personal experiences and reflections\, depicted through his ongoing Doublestar series\, and paintings that incorporate carefully selected found images and photography of flowers from California. \nPink Diamond Too showcases Casella’s work as a whole when two serialized bodies become one as paintings from the artist’s ongoing Doublestar series are framed within the narrative of his syntactic and vernacularly driven abstract works. As the title suggests\, the color pink overtly connects the works in Pink Diamond Too\, but Casella’s ability to subvert our logic\, utilizes the color pink to entrance us and divert us into his playground. The pink diamond is at once a concrete object of desire and an abstract concept\, though the line between its existences blurs. It is iconoclastically a rare gem studded throughout the zeitgeist and fed into the culture as a beacon of achievement while simultaneously losing its splendor once attained\, failing in its intended promise. It is also the kind of diamond whose pink origin cannot be agreed upon by gemologists who are presented with a myriad of right answers\, so much that they cannot rely on any one of them to be certainly true. \n\n\n\n\nCasella’s pink doused paintings are a current of color\, form\, and imagery that ferry us like a perfume leading us to its source as we sift through its notes. Weaving our own connections throughout the room\, we find ourselves triangulating occurrences\, marks\, images\, shapes\, patterns\, and hues within each painting and amongst them\, to decipher the metaphor of the author of the work\, but by this point Casella has slyly involved us in the narrative. Assembled together as they are here\, Casella’s paintings are a stable of information that then becomes ours to parse\, and in a sense our own empirical data to translate. \nWhile all of the paintings in Pink Diamond Too share attributes in the logic of their making\, they each are self-contained in an approachable scale that emphasizes their jewel-like refraction of their densely configured content. The reduced scale is important for the works as they also begin to feel like windows or portals making us feel as though we can move into and out of them as well as laterally between works\, by virtue of the mark-making that Casella flourishes with dexterity. \n\n\n\n\nIn Casella’s Doublestar paintings\, the use of an abstracted but identifiable shape and semblance of frame are almost image-like\, yet as the marks upon its surface are scanned\, the viewer becomes drawn to its components\, causing an oscillation or vibration back and forth between the holistic image and its particles. Alongside the flush of color that guides the viewer through the show\, Casella’s style of mark-making is abound in each work\, contextualizing the works from different series side by side and drawing us as much across the walls as we are drawn across each painting’s surface. \n\n\n\n\nCasella’s ever-evolving lexicon is a collection of details of vivid colors\, jagged shapes\, soft edges\, and images from his personal relationships\, iconography\, and environment. Painted imagery of photographic images\, logo-like designs\, and hand-drawn characters appear to sit side by side with expanses of colors\, polka dots\, grids\, starbursts\, stripes\, and erratic hard-edged lines. These all congregate in Casella’s narrative abstractions leading to compositions where he has carefully and strategically arranged photographic images in a layout akin to a comic strip — suggesting a sideways legibility. We are made by this layout to feel as if a plot will unfold\, however\, its structure is obstructed by impeding color and pattern that within the paintings command the same urgency. These impediments\, though\, do not serve to stop the story\, but rather to infer that the story is composed of elements not just in descriptive pictures\, but also of external influences. \n\n\n\n\nPink diamonds though real and naturally occurring are very elusive\, and in their rarity exist as nearly an abstract concept. From Lil Uzi Vert’s infamously ripped out pink diamond face piercing (for which he saved a small fortune)\, to the name of the cursed\, flawed jewel in the Pink Panther pantheon\, that is often the focus of mischievous effort to acquire it\, the pink diamond while at the center of aspiration and lust\, remains just a rock. It is the way that the mind is activated through suggestion and influence that we come to symbolize the gem as an object of desire. In this way Casella’s paintings\, subversively tricky in their making\, remain paint\, but it’s in Casella’s deft handling of the material and content that they become for us pink diamonds too.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/jonathan-casella-pink-diamond-too/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery Central\, WOAW Gallery\, 9 Queen's Road Central\, Central\, Central and Western\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Jonathan-Casella_Brutalist-Bathtub.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230902
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230918
DTSTAMP:20230913T040918Z
CREATED:20230816T113409Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230913T040918Z
UID:10020199-1693612800-1694995199@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:The Descendants
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is pleased to announce The Descendants\, a group presentation of over 20 international artists and our sophomore return to K11 MUSEA\, running from Saturday\, 2 September through to Sunday\, 17 September 2023. \nThe exhibition is curated and organized by Melanie Lum\, Micki Meng\, and Kevin Poon\, presented by WOAW Gallery in venue partnership with K11 MUSEA. Taking up the entire Kunsthalle of K11 Art & Cultural Centre\, K11 MUSEA\, The Descendants showcases a generation of pivotal artists who are at the forefront of guiding contemporary art from across the globe. \nIn the pursuit of reinvigorating once-classic forms of abstraction as well as experimenting with portraiture and landscape\, each participating artist foregrounds artistic exploration in the particular histories and legacies of the art cosmopolitans they hail from and identities they inhabit. The new vanguard of contemporary art binds itself to visions of diaspora\, racial and gender dynamics\, sexuality\, and the untrammelled participation of art that moves these narratives forward.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/the-descendants/
LOCATION:Kunsthalle\, K11 Art and Cultural Centre\, K11 MUSEA\, 18 Salisbury Road\, Tsim Sha Tsui\, Yau Tsim Mong
CATEGORIES:Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Dominique-Fung_Look-Steadily-and-Intently_-2021.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230825
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230923
DTSTAMP:20230819T141711Z
CREATED:20230819T141711Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230819T141711Z
UID:10020205-1692921600-1695427199@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Alexander Guy: WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is delighted to announce WHAT ARE YOU LOOKIN AT\, a solo exhibition by Scottish artist Alexander Guy\, showcasing nine of his recent and earlier oil paintings. Drawing inspiration from quotidian objects and situations\, the exhibition captures the post- COVID cultural vibrancy through a series of visual records\, formalized by the artist’s experience in Glasgow. It’s a testament to the extraordinary that lies hidden in the ordinary\, with a reflection on the excesses of consumerism. The exhibition will be on view from August 25 to September 22\, 2023\, at WOAW Gallery Central\, marking Guy’s first solo showing in Hong Kong. \nIn the swift passage of time\, memories often fade\, especially during these times of COVID. Yet\, humanity persists in grasping at every moment and etching it into existence\, transforming the intangible into something visible. WHAT ARE YOU LOOKIN AT is a visual souvenir of the past year in Glasgow\, a time capsule for the year of 2023 that captures the essence of our times. It serves as the artist’s visual record\, documenting the effect of post- lockdown changes in a consumerist society. From sky-rocketing price tags to excessive packaging in Glasgow supermarkets\, the anxiety\, nervousness\, and tension are palpable between the lines of Guy’s vibrant colors. Indirectly pointing out the paranoia of the public through a significant event of modern history\, the exhibition invites us to reflect on the challenges of our times through mundane and the commonplace. \nRooted from his musical background\, Guy sets the exhibition in a format of a music album\, with each individual work created to complement the others. Guy visualized the nine paintings to be viewed as “singles” and “B-sides”. By presenting his works in this format\, Guy encourages viewers to engage with each painting as a standalone piece while also considering its connection to the larger body of work. The visual album concept invites visitors to explore the exhibition as a curated journey\, where the arrangement and sequencing of the paintings create a deliberate flow and rhythm. Through this musical- based approach\, Guy aims to enhance the viewer’s experience and evoke emotions\, much like the way a well-crafted album can resonate with its listeners. The exhibition becomes a multisensory experience\, where the visual compositions and thematic threads intertwine to create a meaningful and thought-provoking narrative.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/alexander-guy-what-are-you-looking-at/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery Central\, WOAW Gallery\, 9 Queen's Road Central\, Central\, Central and Western\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Alexander-Guy_THIS-IS-NOT-AN-ORANGE-PAINTING.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230822
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20231023
DTSTAMP:20230816T112451Z
CREATED:20230816T112451Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230816T112451Z
UID:10020200-1692662400-1698019199@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:The Record\, the Double\, and the Singular
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is thrilled to announce the grand opening of its new location situated in the vibrant neighbourhood of Sun Street\, Wan Chai\, Hong Kong on August 22\, 2023. Building upon its unwavering dedication to showcasing cutting-edge contemporary art and enriching the local art scene\, this expansion follows the resounding success of our original space on Sun Street in Wan Chai and now includes an additional street-level gallery in close proximity\, expertly overseen by the acclaimed Beau Architects. To mark the inauguration of this new location\, WOAW Gallery will be presenting a special twofold exhibition by Korean artist Taedong Lee and local artist Kitty Ng\, with one in the new space\, 3 Sun Street Wan Chai\, and the other in its first space in the same street. The vivacious dialogue between the two exhibition represents the gallery as a bridge\, connecting disparate artistic communities worldwide. \nFrom August 22 – October 22\, 2023 at 3 & 5 Sun Street Wan Chai\, a duo-solo exhibition of works by Kitty Ng and Taedong Lee\, titled “The Record\, the Double\, and the Singular\,” initiates a dialogue between two contemporary artists who start their paintings with their personal archive of photographs. In the first half of Camera Lucida (1981)\, Roland Barthes argues that photography is a medium of death; when the camera captures a moment\, it records the passing of that very moment. Ng and Lee\, however\, view photographs as catalysts for the singularity inherent to the processes of recollection and distortion. \nBy indulging in images from their archive\, they allow for a certain fantasy to take hold of them — a fantasy from the present\, that deepens and changes the original memory associated with the photograph. By giving in to the centrifugal force of speculation\, their memories become muddled with their lives today. They reduce\, add\, revise\, and ultimately transform the image\, etching onto the canvas the irreducibility of their singular response. \nSpatial and temporal speculation lies at the heart of Tae Dong Lee’s practice. From the comfort of his studio\, Lee traverses his family photographs and uproots them of their context\, concurrently opening up the image and his practice to conjecture. The distortions of his memory that take place through this process combine the vitality found in the vivd landscapes of Jeju Island with his interiority. The figures found in the photographs — himself\, his parents\, and his siblings — take new shape and form against a renewed terrain. \nIn “An Exceptionally Bright Night” (2022)\, three figures — the artist and his parents — sit atop horses\, eddying in the lush blue-green pigments that make the environment. Echoing the mysticism of Peter Doig\, the work absents spatial markers and engenders what the artist calls a “phantom place.” In “Escaping” (2022) and “Escaped” (2022)\, two images that share the same source image\, we are offered an insight into the ebbs and flows of the artist’s interiority. Utilising darker hues\, the former offers an elegiac lament while the latter indulges in a reluctant jubilance. \nIt is imperative for Kitty Ng that her photographs reinvent themselves through her paintings. Taken over the course of her college years\, her imagery is composed of friendships and kinships rooted in a quotidian intimacy. Her subjects can be seen in a dorm room\, the streets of Shanghai\, in the comfort of a home\, in a dorm room\, or even on something as mundane as a walk. As rings true with most beautiful banalities\, each stroke on the canvas is placed with yearning\, a yearning to reconcile the fallibility of relationships — that they change\, dissolve\, and take new forms. \nNg’s studio practice began with making collages in Photoshop; in works such as “Forward We Go!” and “S to S\,” she supplants intimate memories with friends and family and combines them with jovial moments. The resulting compositions are playful\, charming\, and full of a lived life. During her residency in Shanghai\, she started moving away from college but retained the figurative impulses she developed through them. In the series of works titled “Love Languages” and “Bittersweet Fantasy\,” she embraces the selective nature of memory\, leaving behind few details and white space to surround it. \nNg and Lee firmly reject ideas of nostalgia that have become the ascendant trend in figurative works. They reject the stability the personal archive might suggest. They reject\, and they reject. Their voices converge in the act of failing to double the memory. Our minds are always in flux\, we are affected by the troubles of the every day\, the whims of the heart\, and the travails of existing. Unlike mechanical processes\, our bodies cannot reproduce exactitudes. They can barely do approximations. It is this singularity that distinguishes us. We fail\, fail\, and we fall. And therein lies something gorgeous.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/the-record-the-double-and-the-singular/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery 5 Sun Street\, 5 Sun Street\, Wan Chai\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Kitty-Ng_Forward-We-Go.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230720
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230820
DTSTAMP:20230716T175433Z
CREATED:20230716T175433Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230716T175433Z
UID:10020177-1689811200-1692489599@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Vibrant Escape: An Ode to Summer
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is thrilled to present Vibrant Escape: An Ode to Summer\, a group exhibition of sixteen artworks by eight multigenerational artists from around the world\, including Imon Boy\, Deborah Brown\, Isabella K. Cancino\, Alli Conrad\, Marcela Flórido\, Kurt Lightner\, Charlie Roberts\, and Kristian Touborg. The exhibition will be on view from July 20 to August 19\, 2023 at the gallery’s Central location. \nOne of those July days where wind has fled\, the vibrant city welcomes a scorching summer heat into its streets. Drawing inspiration from the bold palette of the season’s nature scene and the sense of openness it connotes\, the exhibition embarks a visual conversation between artists in different cities bringing fresh perspectives in visual arts and design and allowing creative minds to connect and inspire one another. Showcased within one space\, each artist presents their own definition and visualisation of the season summer\, conveying one’s message as their ode to summer. This group exhibition invites viewers to experience the artworks individually and as a whole\, sparking conversations with personal impressions of this shared summer in the year 2023.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/vibrant-escape-an-ode-to-summer/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery Central\, WOAW Gallery\, 9 Queen's Road Central\, Central\, Central and Western\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Imon-Boy-Sargo.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230615
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230723
DTSTAMP:20230608T062355Z
CREATED:20230608T062355Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230608T062355Z
UID:10020100-1686787200-1690070399@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Auudi Dorsey: We Just Got to See Us
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is pleased to present We Just Got to See Us\, an exhibition of new work by American artist Auudi Dorsey\, at the gallery’s Wan Chai\, Hong Kong location. Featuring 11 artworks\, the exhibition explores the experiences of African Americans in the Southern region of United States with quotidian scenes through a contemporary lens. The exhibition will run from June 15 to July 22\, 2023\, which also celebrates the artist’s first solo showing in Asia. \nNo matter the space\, place or time\, the Black community has endured a vast amount of exportation through the capabilities. Dorsey captures moments from the past and present\, drawing from personal experiences to depict the community’s struggles and triumphs. As a native of black neighbourhoods in the Southern region\, the artist draws inspiration from daily life that have shaped his identity and heritage\, evoking a sense of pride in his work. The exhibition invites visitors to step into a world that celebrates the Black community’s resilience and spirit. \nThis new series of work is a testament to the importance of community and its role in shaping the lives of the Black community in the Southern region. The figures in the artworks are fully present and at the forefront of the subject matter\, with often-seen objects in Dorsey’s works – white tees\, cars and cigarettes. The artist’s colour palette is primarily composed of earthy tones that complement the rich hues of black skin. In contrast\, the white background in some of the works represents the absence of community that once existed\, leaving people to either migrate or be viewed as intruders in their own community. \n“Being able to express any kind of emotion with a contemporary context allows me to engage in environmental\, social and the political climate of black folks in the Southern region. Moments in the past and present are depicted in these bodies of work and some from personal experiences. I want the people of my community to be seen and honor because people is what keeps community together.” the artist says. \nAuudi Dorsey (b.1992) work comes from within and comes from perspective. Figures seen in the artist work are inspired by the day-to-day people and circumstances that exist in Southern culture. The ideal of adding value to what may seem valueless aesthetically to the human eye or stories of how Black Americans in the south still hold on to most of their ancestorial culture. Figures in his work can be seen engaging in their environment whether it’s from celebrations\, traditions\, or social conditions.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/auudi-dorsey-we-just-got-to-see-us/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery 5 Sun Street\, 5 Sun Street\, Wan Chai\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Auudi-Dorsey_two-men-one-pleasure_2023.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230519
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230711
DTSTAMP:20230625T234007Z
CREATED:20230506T134957Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230625T234007Z
UID:10018550-1684454400-1689033599@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Soimadou Ibrahim: In Deeds and Gestures
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is pleased to present Soimadou Ibrahim’s In Deeds and Gestures\, the French artist’s first solo exhibition at the gallery’s location on Queen’s Road Central\, Central\, Hong Kong. \nIn these new artworks\, Ibrahim draws on various elements from his native Comoros and other parts of Africa. The ylang-ylang flower\, for instance\, is a recurring motif in his pieces\, representing the beauty and richness of his home country. The blue-bellied roller\, a bird commonly found in different parts of Africa\, serves as a symbol of freedom and exploration. The birdwatcher is another important symbol in the exhibition\, highlighting the importance of paying attention to the natural world around us and connecting with the environment. Throughout the exhibition\, Ibrahim also depicts various characters and wildlife\, celebrating the diversity and cultural richness of the African continent. \nUsing bold strokes and bright colors\, In Deeds and Gestures is a visually striking exhibition that gently provokes the viewer to reflect on the importance of care and nurturing. Ibrahim’s artwork encourages viewers to pay attention to the natural world around them\, connecting with the environment and the communities they belong to. By depicting elements from his own cultural heritage\, the artist also highlights the importance of preserving and celebrating diverse cultures. In Deeds and Gestures is a powerful reminder of the significance of the significance of self-care\, community care\, and environmental stewardship\, a process that allowed the artist to reconnect and engage with his own roots. \n“Not only do we rely on nature and the state of connectedness for our survival\, but also as a means to flourish. The food we savour\, the sanctuaries we build for ourselves\, and the relationships we forge; all seeds that allow us to thrive\,” the artist says.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/soimadou-ibrahim-in-deeds-and-gestures/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery Central\, WOAW Gallery\, 9 Queen's Road Central\, Central\, Central and Western\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Soimadou-Ibrahim-Seat-of-Affection-2023-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230426
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230531
DTSTAMP:20230520T065351Z
CREATED:20230412T100514Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230520T065351Z
UID:10019765-1682467200-1685491199@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Giorgiko: The Seed of Peace
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is pleased to present The Seed of Peace\, a solo exhibition by the Los Angeles-based artist duo Giorgiko. Partnered with Thinkspace Projects\, the exhibition features 25 new oil paintings and ink drawings that explore the search for peace in its different forms and the costs of obtaining it. The exhibition is on view at WOAW Gallery’s location at Sun Street\, Wan Chai\, Hong Kong\, from April 26 to May 25\, 2023\, which also celebrates the artist duo’s first showing in Hong Kong. \nThrough the journeys of childlike characters\, Giorgiko takes viewers on a captivating exploration of the pursuit of peace. The characters navigate scorched lands\, tumultuous storms\, and wild dogs in search of shelter. In this new series of artwork\, a divine seed is a centrepiece that grows into a pure white olive tree\, standing in gentle contrast to the chaos of the environment\, offering peace to the children. Giorgiko draws inspiration from the sacred story of Christ’s self-sacrificing death and resurrection\, which bring peace to many. The exhibition presents a parallel story; the death and rebirth of a seed\, which grows into a new plant and offers shade to all who would rest under it. \nGiorgiko’s unique interpretation of this story offers viewers a fresh perspective on the search for peace. Viewers are invited to contemplate their own sources of peace in temporal and lasting forms. Giorgiko’s work reminds us that peace cannot be forcefully taken or manufactured but rather needs to be planted gently.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/giorgiko-the-seed-of-peace/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery 5 Sun Street\, 5 Sun Street\, Wan Chai\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Giorgiko-The-Seed-of-Peace-2023-30x30-1.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230324
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230416
DTSTAMP:20230328T050852Z
CREATED:20230328T050852Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230328T050852Z
UID:10019655-1679616000-1681603199@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:HORIZONS
DESCRIPTION:Sow & Tailor is pleased to announce our upcoming curatorial endeavor\, HORIZONS\, a group exhibition connecting forty-six artists across multiple backgrounds at varying stages in career. \nThe bonsai tree\, which Sow & Tailor credits as the conceptual inspiration for the gallery\, is a miracle of boundaries: to propagate a flourishing tree within the confines of a pot demands both familial delicacy and a precision to detail. Since Sow & Tailor’s institutional debut in Hong Kong with Hot Concrete: LA to HK at K11 Musea\, Karen Galloway’s keen eye for burgeoning talent has grown into a global root system. HORIZONS is her latest experiment in propagation — a mosaic of artists across backgrounds and boundaries in celebration of global community\, while emphasizing the gallery’sa core value of intimacy over fireworks. \nHosted in Hong Kong’s Wan Chai district and featuring small works hung salon-style\, the pop-up location is the apotheosis of the Sow & Tailor ethos — art made accessible\, not just figuratively\, but physically as well. The domestic scale of the pieces press up against the viewer\, beckoning them to participate rather than merely witness. The artist list reflects a similar non-hierarchical equitability of space\, holding equal room to emerging\, mid-career\, and established artists alike — nurturing space for artists of all kinds to occupy together\, as one. \nFrom the lush paintings by Jonas Wood\, Freudian slippage of Aryo Toh Djojo\, mandala- esque carpet paintings of Kour Pour\, and familial histories of Tidawhitney Lek — the exhibition features wildly disparate artists\, steeped in a diversity of personal nuance; it’s a global perspective without the flattening of globalism. Symbology is deconstructed\, reconstructed then tossed away altogether. Domestic spaces are warped\, cultural and consumer symbols are alienated from context\, and the familiar is made wholly unfamiliar. The salon style allows each artist’s practice to be in conjunction and conversation with one another\, celebrating the nebulous multiplicity of the human experience in the 21st century.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/horizons/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery 5 Sun Street\, 5 Sun Street\, Wan Chai\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/93a99d13-93c5-45a3-8ea1-697be94c443b.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230320
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230417
DTSTAMP:20230314T104946Z
CREATED:20230314T104946Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230314T104946Z
UID:10019575-1679270400-1681689599@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Stacy Leigh: ESCAPE TO B-ROLL
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is pleased to present Stacy Leigh’s ESCAPE TO B-ROLL\, the New York City– based artist’s exhibition featuring 10 paintings she created this year at WOAW Gallery’s location at 9 Queen’s Road Central\, from March 20 to April 19\, 2023\, which also celebrates the artist’s first showing in Hong Kong. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nESCAPE TO B-ROLL features a series of unplanned\, freestyle paintings inspired by the artist’s fantasy of “selling her apartment and moving to a house somewhere with no neighbors.” The exhibition showcases artworks of bright\, bold colors with whimsical titles like House full o hoes\, Bad bish\, and The life of a drone day 8. Each scene in the painting center quaint houses and landscapes of lush greenery\, painstakingly created from the artist’s imagination. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe artworks depict a fantastical world created by the artist after an unpleasant experience with her housing board—a “b-roll” of a life she wishes to escape into. The paintings exude a suburban calm\, and are littered with potted plants\, tiny dogs\, and handsome cars. Behind half- drawn shutters\, viewers are offered glimpses into the cozy interiors of warmly-lit houses\, and on the outside\, the neatly-trimmed lawns and isolated cliffs provide the setting for weekend barbecues and picnics on a summer’s day. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n In this series of paintings\, the houses are set against a backdrop of sunset-drenched skies\, with no trace of human presence in any of the frames. The artist imbues her farcical sense of humor into hidden corners of the paintings\, works that require careful viewing for all their details to come into focus—for instance\, doormats that read “If you’re reading this\, take off your shoes” and “There’s some hoes in this house.” Some works are new iterations of the “drone day paintings” in Leigh’s oeuvre\, which often tackle similar themes of quiet suburbia life. Yet there is also an unsettling quality to the perfection of these scenes\, with their vivid colors and bold brushstrokes\, as though at any moment\, the arrival of a stranger may puncture the fantasy and bring the peace to an abrupt end.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/stacy-leigh-escape-to-b-roll/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery Central\, WOAW Gallery\, 9 Queen's Road Central\, Central\, Central and Western\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image001.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230117
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230217
DTSTAMP:20230117T063701Z
CREATED:20230112T013735Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230117T063701Z
UID:10018311-1673913600-1676591999@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Evgen Čopi Gorišek: Paradise Lost and Found
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is pleased to present Paradise Lost and Found\, by Berlin-based artist Evgen Čopi Gorišek’s debuting his first solo exhibition in Hong Kong\, at its Central location. Paradise Lost and Found will be on view from January 17 to February 16\, 2023. Paradise Lost and Found is also WOAW’s third exhibition with Gorišek\, with two previous group exhibitions Romancing Relevance and Familia. \nWhen in the late 15th century Hieronymus Bosch started conceptualizing his magnum opus The Garden of Earthly Delights\, he was determined to portray the Catholic church’s idea of sin and its consequences. Driven by strong religious beliefs\, he felt the urge to warn about the effect of worldly fleshy indulgence on the eternal afterlife. However\, what the Early Netherlandish master might’ve seen as a “fall from grace”\, the 21st-century everyman sees as part of the human condition. And so\, some 500 years later\, Evgen Čopi Gorišek (b. 1994\, Slovenia)\, took the essential elements of the epochal triptych to portray his vision of contemporary life and his own place in it. \nAlthough religious propaganda inspired by medieval infernal literature and visualizations of misinterpreted biblical texts\, this intensely moralistic work prompted the likes of Salvador Dalí to claim that Bosch should be labeled the first modern artist. Creating an early form of cinema with his highly entertaining conversation piece\, inspired the Berlin-based artist to review the concept from a 21st-century viewpoint. Transforming WOAW Gallery’s space in Central Hong Kong into an immersive installation\, Čopi Gorišek’s Paradise Lost and Found introduces an all-new body of work comprising works on canvas\, a series of watercolor and pencil drawings on paper\, and a life-size sculpture. Seated on the camping chair in the middle of the grassy ground\, the chill picnic-goer is the centerpiece of this presentation. Radiating happiness and content while daydreaming about life through a repurposed mix of realism\, metaphor\, and fantasy\, he is inviting the viewer to tag along on his journey to delightful revelation. Honoring the composition of the iconic triptych\, the exhibition curated by Saša Bogojev divides the gallery walls into three sections but stays clear from going into the spiritual or religious sphere. Although sharing many of the elements of the original\, such as the use of a common horizon\, foreground with the main protagonists and story\, midground with lush surroundings\, flowers\, and body of water\, and background with manmade elements in the “hell” part\, the updated vision is taking place in a public park instead of the mythical Garden of Eden. \nRather than confounding and confusing like Bosch’s visual world of metaphors did\, the park and its attendees feel familiar\, inviting\, straightforward\, and friendly. Referencing the archetypal romantic setting filled with greenery\, flowers\, and fountains\, the story replaces the sinful pleasure with socializing\, flirting\, and easygoing lifestyle. Meaningful allegories understandable to the righteous elite are substituted with stylized portraits of seductive sitters whose appearance is their most important quality. Instead of audaciously portraying mostly nude characters\, often subordinated\, increasingly insecure or terrified\, and in midst of shameless action\, these fashionable muses are confidently posing for the artist and the viewer. Doubtless and fully aware of their own presence\, they are signifying a modern-day perception of the world and the accompanying absence of spiritual “paradise”. This shift becomes more obvious in the part of the exhibition meant to represent “hell”. \nHonoring the original idea to depict this section as a manmade world Čopi Gorišek’s vision of the netherworld is similar to the rest\, just slightly dimmed as it takes place indoors. Therefore\, where the 15th-century subjects feel suddenly ashamed of their bodies and actions or are getting punished\, the up-to-date muses still act equally nonchalant and careless. Yet\, their motionless grinning face brings back the Boschian sense of the grotesque\, questioning their real emotive state against the polished shine of their clothes\, accessories\, and the perfection of their smooth skin. Perched up in the de-lighted nightlife setting evoking a club\, house party\, or back of an Uber\, they’re steadfastly delighted to live in what the Renaissance master would likely describe as paradise lost.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/evgen-copi-gorisek-paradise-lost-and-found/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery Central\, WOAW Gallery\, 9 Queen's Road Central\, Central\, Central and Western\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Paradise.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20221215
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230110
DTSTAMP:20221215T235358Z
CREATED:20221215T235358Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221215T235358Z
UID:10018263-1671062400-1673308799@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Smart Idiots
DESCRIPTION:Spanish painter Matias Sánchez has only one true passion: painting. The act of painting is the foundation of Sánchez’s artistic practice\, beyond style\, subject\, and narrative. The self- taught artist was born to paint. While he learned the craft from his father\, his great teachers were works by important Spanish and European painters throughout history that he studied in museums and libraries. He has deep reverence for good paintings\, and therefore has great respect for his colleagues\, who in one way or another\, also devoted themselves to painting. \nFor this reason\, he has invited friends and colleagues whose work he appreciates for the exhibition at WOAW Gallery. All the artists in the exhibition are about the use of color\, the physicality and sensations of painting. Sánchez works with colors\, shapes\, and composition until figures and scenery emerge. Cristina Lama and American painter Dan Schein also celebrate this style of impasto painting. French artist Gregory Forstner’s works are deeply rooted in the tradition of painting\, shining a light on human nature through his animal figures like a fable. Some paintings tell a story\, like Paco Pomet’s precisely rendered painting of a displaced reality. Some paintings celebrate the virtuosity of acting with paint\, and sometimes the content takes a back seat\, but it is all about painting. Some paintings were not created with a brush and pigment on a canvas\, but with needle and thread like Klaas Rommelaere’s tapestries. \nThe world of painting is so vast and varied\, the common thread between this selection of artists is that they share a sense of humor. The title “Smart Idiots” is tongue in cheek and perfectly reflects Sánchez’s wit. While the oxymoron does not make sense in the first instance\, many successful people are probably smart idiots – deftly playing to their strengths and minimizing their shortcomings. The deprecating title also points to the imposter syndrome many of us can relate to. In reality\, it may pay off to be a smart idiot than an idiotic genius. \nSeemingly fun and silly\, the title has many layers of understanding to it\, much like the works by Sánchez\, which are joyful and fun upon the first glance. When digging deeper\, the viewer will see a certain menace and edge. Deeper yet\, one will realize that the act of painting is his core interest. Any subject or narratives that manifests on the canvas is simply the result of the artist’s exploration of colors\, shapes\, and references distilled from the artist’s decades of dedication to studying history and the arts. Such depth comes so naturally that for him an inside joke about Brancusi or revolution poets are merely the basic tools and building blocks for his painting compositions. The selection of artists will act as a manifestation of Matías ’ artistic vision beyond the canvas.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/smart-idiots/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery Central\, WOAW Gallery\, 9 Queen's Road Central\, Central\, Central and Western\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/013-20221213WoawCentralGroup0239-KitminLee.jpg
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR