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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240325
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240425
DTSTAMP:20260524T213040
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:20260524T213040
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:20231129
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240118
DTSTAMP:20260524T213040
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:20231027
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20231220
DTSTAMP:20260524T213040
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:20230825
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230923
DTSTAMP:20260524T213040
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:20230720
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230820
DTSTAMP:20260524T213040
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:20230519
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230711
DTSTAMP:20260524T213040
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:20230320
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230417
DTSTAMP:20260524T213040
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:20260524T213040
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:20260524T213040
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
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20220921
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20221025
DTSTAMP:20260524T213040
CREATED:20220920T035226Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220920T035226Z
UID:10018950-1663718400-1666655999@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Contemporary Curated: Landscape
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is pleased to present Contemporary Curated: Landscape curated by gallerist and curator Taymour Grahne\, highlighting ten contemporary artists based between the UK and USA. Sixteen landscape paintings were created to illustrate each artist’s personal interpretation of nature\, ranging from mythology\, historical references\, social issues\, to human consciousness. \nThis group exhibition will be showcasing works by Tessa Perutz (b.1988) who portrays nature through abstract minimalistic shapes in a soft colour palette\, allowing audience to experience the feeling of lightness within a scene of nature. Hilary Doyle (b.1985) depicts a time when all genders were equal in society. Her painting carries connotation of a world in prehistoric period\, under the influence of ancient and Neolithic periods. Nadia Ayari (b.1981) and Asif Tanvir Hoque (b.1991) are both inspired by mythology and yet have created rather different subject matters. Hoque incorporate elements from Italian art history into his figurative paintings\, giving the character a traditional heroic quality within the painting. On the other hand\, Ayari’s distinctive paintings focus on simple products by nature which can be easily overlooked\, yet these objects become the protagonists of her paintings\, being magnified in size through powerful combination of strong colour palette and bold outlines; a simple flower can now be seen in a different light and gain a sense of significance in its existence. \nMatthew F Fisher (b.1976) visualizes the infinity of time and space\, portraying scenes of nature that are suspended in time\, exploring the cosmos from a deep personal perspective. Eliot Greenwald (b.1983) challenges the audience’s perception by combining elements from all sides of universe\, connecting outer space and earth’s nature in ways that skew the traditional concept of landscape. Stipan Tadic (b.1986) explores the relationship between various dimensions within his paintings. Meanwhile futuristic and conceptual\, the techniques used to paint the subject matter remains to be traditional with hints of surrealism. Shaun Ellison (b.1984) portrays personally memorable moments of his life into his paintings. Ellison’s figurative painting captures a live moment in time where the sun is setting as groups of people are at the beach\, gazing into the sea and sky\, this captured moment stands still for audience to experience the once shared sunset hour. \nMinyoung Kim (b.1989) and Evie O’Connor (b.1993) both depict food as their subject matter\, the main resource humans obtain from nature. Kim is fascinated by human emotions and consciousness\, therefore her painting often store elements of comical irony and evokes a sense of laughter from the audience\, allowing them to react and interact with the subject matter. O’Connor on the other hand\, retrieve image archives from social media platforms and paints the subject matter in an ordinary and realistic setting. The rawness in his subject matter awake audiences and disconnect them from the polished subjects they had gotten used to viewing on mass media platforms.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/contemporary-curated-landscape/
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/2022/09/Shaun-Ellison-July-4th-Coney-Island.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20220818
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20220915
DTSTAMP:20260524T213040
CREATED:20220822T054914Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220823T062012Z
UID:10017978-1660780800-1663199999@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Bianca Nemelc: Sea\, I’m Awake
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is pleased to present SEA\, I’M AWAKE at its Queen’s Road location in Central. The solo exhibition features acrylic works from Bianca Nemelc\, a figurative painter whose practice lives within the profound and nourishing correspondence between the human body and the natural world. \nBorn and raised in the urban city landscape of New York City\, much of Bianca Nemelc’s practice pulls inspiration from imagined narratives and her own Caribbean heritage as she reconnects with her ancestral roots and finds new revelations in how humans coexist with nature. In SEA\, I’M AWAKE\, the artist makes use of fanciful brushstrokes to explore the possibilities for brown bodies and the waters to synchronise in harmony and find comfort in one another. The result is a body of wondrous paintings portrayed in the serene colours of earth tones\, breathing with ease in the fluid compositions of effortless balance. \nThe element of water is a frequent theme for the artist\, owing to her perception of rivers\, oceans\, and seas as points of intersection between the living and the spiritual. Almost like yin and yang\, these water bodies exist between freedom and captivity\, the unpredictable wilderness and the mother of all things tranquil\, and forgetting and remembering—for just as the tides pull away and push back again\, the water quietly lets us know\, “I’m still here.” \nOn top of the rich hues of brown in the figures depicted in her paintings\, the artist also has a fascination with the wide spectrum of colours that carries different bodies of water\, from the brightest Caribbean blues to blood-stained copper waterfalls of the Antarctic. One of the most powerful qualities of water\, she says\, is its ability to transform and become a reflection of whatever it inhabits. The flesh-coloured waves in her recent collection of work\, for instance\, are a contemplation of the body’s pink flesh hidden beneath melanated skin—“both cannibalised by the ocean and cradled with love in the same breath.” \nThe artist divulges\, “It is imperative to my own self-discovery to create safe spaces within my work to meditate on these dualities\, because they are the same that exist within myself.” Bianca Nemelc concludes\, “SEA\, I’M AWAKE is a loud declaration and a quiet acknowledgement of the kinship between body and water.”
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/bianca-nemelc-sea-im-awake/
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/2022/08/Bianca-Nemelc-Leap-of-Faith-311.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20220706
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20220811
DTSTAMP:20260524T213040
CREATED:20220701T133102Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220705T032819Z
UID:10018569-1657065600-1660175999@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:James Goss: Paradise
DESCRIPTION:Woaw Gallery is pleased to announce its representation of New York based artist James Goss’ and his first exhibition in Asia titled ‘Paradise’. The exhibition is on view from July 6 to Aug 10\, in 9 Queen’s Road Central\, Central\, Hong Kong. \nSpending most of his lifetime in the outdoors of Long Island\, New York City\, Lake Champlain has become an endless source of beauty for James Goss. This source of inspiration serves as the springboard for the string of compositions – ‘White Boat’. Set against the lakeside backdrop\, the series showcases the ever changing appearance driven by time of the day; light or lack thereof to form a stunning glimpse into the calm waterscape. \nInformed by Josef Albers’ instructions of colours\, Goss uses his personal sense of looking and experiments with colours\, rendering vibrant hues that pervade his oeuvre. Accompanied by ample birch trees\, the lake offers a tranquil haven of serenity which lets the light play its game. Among the wondrous colour spectrum that the lake reflects\, the hues during the golden hour accompanies textured and sculptured strokes to exude an aura of serenity. \nNature has long been providing comfort to James\, acting as a beacon shedding hope in his artistic journey – ‘A roadmap to the universe is found within the flower. I’m here to listen and take notes to enjoy all of her splendour’. As the boat sets off from shore\, makings its way through the sea facing all sorts of currents\, waves and tides before docking on an island. James plays with this metaphor\, where the boat sails from island to island representing one’s self journey through life.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/james-goss-paradise/
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/2022/07/james-goss_white-boat-207-2022_oil-on-canvas_h91.4-x-w91.4-cm.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20220526
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20220708
DTSTAMP:20260524T213040
CREATED:20220518T062839Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220518T071121Z
UID:10018317-1653523200-1657238399@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:En Iwamura: URLANDSCHAFT
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is pleased to present URLANDSCHAFT\, the Asia solo debut of multidisciplinary artist En Iwamura. Citing the current state of confusion and chaos in the world from the COVID-19 pandemic to climate disasters and catastrophic wars\, the Kyoto- based Japanese artist aims to invoke a sense of lively and wondrous innocence with his paintings\, sculptures\, and installations that take the viewer to a new\, metaphysical realm as the ultimate prompt for contemplation. \nEntitled Neo Jomon: Beans\, Iwamura’s ceramic sculpture series presents “simple round forms” of dynamic beings with childlike expressions that seem almost cartoonish. Portraying themselves in pastel ombres\, the odd and fanciful shapes are cast to inspire a strange-yet-familiar feeling of peace that resonate deeply and thematically with the artist’s abstract ink-on-paper paintings of neutral faces and geometrically fascinating patterns. Similarly\, the newly developed installation of plants is created as an indoor garden in the gallery space to bring forth an ambiguous vision of tranquility that only exists in the viewer’smind\, and with it\, the artist continues the exploration of Ma in his practice – the Japanese concept of space and movement. \nAs alluded by the exhibition title\, the works on show depict “the original scenery from the bottom of the human heart\, which are often accompanied by feelings of nostalgia but may also be a mental landscape rather than a real landscape\,” says En Iwamura. \nKyoto-born and based\, En Iwamura is a Japanese artist holding two MFAs in Visual Arts/ Ceramics and Crafts/Ceramics respectively. His work has been exhibited in Belgium\, France\, Macau\, Japan\, and various cities in the United States. In 2018\, he was an artist- in-residence at China’s Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/en-iwamura-urlandschaft/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery Central\, WOAW Gallery\, 9 Queen's Road Central\, Central\, Central and Western\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting,Sculpture
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_6660-e1652855200956.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20220419
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20220515
DTSTAMP:20260524T213040
CREATED:20220412T023626Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220412T033545Z
UID:10018112-1650326400-1652572799@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Reflections: Partly Fiction
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is pleased to present REFLECTIONS: PARTLY FICTION \, a group exhibition curated by Matt Black and Kevin Poon\, featuring works by John Armleder\, Daniel Crews-Chubb\, JPW3\, Jordy Kerwick\, Leelee Kimmel\, Spencer Lewis\, Chris Martin\, Cristina de Miguel\, Julian Schnabel\, Pat Steir. \nThis new exhibition from the REFLECTIONS series titled “PARTLY FICTION” explores the intentional decisions of artists to tell a truth\, their truth\, or their idea of the truth. As per Barnett Newman\, Mark Rothko and Adolph Gottlieb’s manifesto in the New York Times in 1943 “It is our function as artists to make the spectator see the world our way – not his way.” The idea of art from its origins is rooted in the artist attempting to capture what is around them and make it theirs. Art is often a representation of a moment in time through the eyes of the painter\, or simply their personal perspective as it relates to the feelings of the social unconsciousness. \nIt is partly fiction. Through these ten paintings\, the artists as narrator explore their individual interpretations of that truth.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/reflections-partly-fiction/
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/2022/04/Leelee-Kimmel_Orange-Crush-2022_Oil-Oil-Stick-and-Acrylic-on-canvas_182.9-x-167.6-cm.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20220331
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20220415
DTSTAMP:20260524T213040
CREATED:20220330T091105Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220408T041245Z
UID:10018089-1648684800-1649980799@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Romancing Relevance
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is pleased to present Romancing Relevance\, a thematic group exhibition curated by Kevin Poon\, celebrating an unfettered exploration of imagination\, featuring works by Brian Calvin\, Jake Clark\, Sean Gannon\, Evgen Čopi Gorišek\, Baldur Hegalson\, Monika Karandi\, Laure Mary-Couégnias\, Zoe McGuire\, Keita Morimoto\, Charlie Roberts\, and Trude Viken. The exhibition is on view from March 31 to April 14\, in 9 Queen’s Road Central\, Hong Kong. \nIt is said that desire populates the space between artists and their work. Fixated on a subject — a memory\, a taste\, a sensation — the artist transforms raw material into objects of the world. In other words\, this desire catalyses artists to continually experiment and transgress the boundaries set up by their predecessors. In pursuit of the sublime\, the writers and artists of Romanticism\, the literary and artistic movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th Century\, expanded upon notions of myth-making\, landscape\, nature\, and the melancholia. \nA nod to the Romantics\, Romancing Relevance brings together a group of artists who share an obsession with paint and its possibilities. By challenging the bounds of their imagination\, the artists court the contemporary as a site of transfiguration and transformation\, offering up new possibilities for the painterly surface. \nTraversing the land of dreams and mountains\, Zoe McGuire\, Monika Karandi\, and Laure Mary-Couégnias transform paint into mysticism and fables. Preoccupied with contorting memory and representation\, Trude Viken and Brian Calvin deform and reform themselves through self-portraiture. Meanwhile\, Evgen Čopi Gorišek and Baldur Hegalson disfigure bodies and faces\, rendering them into mutable containers of the psyche. A reflection on consumer culture and its contents\, the works of Sean Gannon and Jake Clark open up a light-hearted space of reflection. Citing the Dutch Golden Age and perspective painting\, respectively\, Keita Morimoto and Charlie Roberts offer enigmatic snippets that capture the interiority of the contemporary.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/romancing-relevance/
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/2022/03/9D6E7E85-2347-45AB-9FC3-CBD2E45FC12F.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20220225
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20220324
DTSTAMP:20260524T213040
CREATED:20220221T032007Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220318T033416Z
UID:10018005-1645747200-1648079999@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Felix Treadwell: Gentle Creatures
DESCRIPTION:Woaw Gallery is pleased to present Gentle Creatures\, the first solo exhibition of British artist Felix Treadwell in Hong Kong. \nIncorporating both East and Western influences into his art through a flattened contemporary style\, Treadwell’s soft rendered paintings depict playful characters\, animals\, and fantastical creatures inspired by his favourite childhood comics. \nFollowing his interest in examining the notions of adolescent vulnerability and conformity\, the works featured in this show explore a more grown-up character in their daily routines of part-time jobs and hobbies\, while revisiting and mirroring the dinosaurs in their everyday journeys millions of years ago. \nTreadwell’s recent works portray our connections over millions of years between two dominions\, a loneliness\, fragility\, and mortality that we and all living beings have to face. The experiences of our lives are so fleeting in the long history of life’s existence\, even the small moments\, such as watering a flower. Yet\, beauty lies in the tiny subject matters. Our lives are made up of numerous scattered moments. The moments might not be seen important separately that they are easily forgettable. But when we see them as a whole\, representing a person\, or the living beings\, the moments shape our lives. Regardless its transient nature\, every living being may once share the same experience\, highlighting the similarities\, differences and speciality in every of us. \nThe dinosaurs and the humans are still naive\, fragile and insecure and may always be\, yet there is beauty in that and a reason to continue existing\, regardless of how short our time is. The limitation of time gives meaning to life. Within the bounded time\, humans are trying their best not only to survive\, but the eager to live\, to achieve their goals and to attain what they want. Treadwell hopes the works can conjure some comfort and relate to our loneliness in the quiet suffering we face.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/felix-treadwell-gentle-creatures/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery Central\, WOAW Gallery\, 9 Queen's Road Central\, Central\, Central and Western\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting,Sculpture
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20220122
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20220218
DTSTAMP:20260524T213040
CREATED:20220120T072225Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220121T065321Z
UID:10017947-1642809600-1645142399@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Jordy Kerwick: Année du Tigre\, L'heure du Tigre
DESCRIPTION:WOAW Gallery is pleased to present the first exhibition of the year\, Année du Tigre\, L’heure du Tigre\, a solo show of France-based Australian artist Jordy Kerwick. Featuring a new body of works filled with brilliant colours and vibrant energy\, the exhibition celebrates the lunar new year of the Tiger and investigates the topical themes of power\, fear and hope. Année du Tigre\, L’heure du Tigre opens on 22 January and runs until 17 February 2022. \nKnown for his raw\, thickly impastoed works that explore the classic genre of still life through a contemporary perspective\, Jordy Kerwick is a self-taught artist who has built his art away from the conventional structure of art-making\, and plays around with textures and surfaces with a candid approach. Motifs and characters are brought down into rough shapes that veer toward abstraction\, creating a flattened view of the three-dimensional space. Powerful strokes and expressive colours form energetic compositions that reveal beauty in its most organic and truthful state\, recalling the art of Modernist masters such as Henri Matisse and Helen Frankenthaler. \nDrawing from his collections of imagery of cultural markings\, people\, places and things – especially from daily life – Kerwick’s strongly autobiographical works divulge deeply personal stories. A husband and father of two sons\, domestic life has been one of his key sources of inspiration\, depicted in an unfiltered manner. Scribbles of geometrical shapes by his sons are often seen in the background of the paintings; other times\, his sons are portrayed as double-headed serpents or tigers. Considering his youth living in Hong Kong\, Kerwick connects his memories with the Chinese traditional zodiac stories. \nTiger\, at once an immanent threat\, a Taoist signifier of spiritual power\, and a mythical animal\, is void of reality in Kerwick’s works\, acting as a somber reminder of failed efforts to rise against oppression in a metropolis that thrives on the exchange of fortune and power. Predatory animals and imaginary beasts – serpents\, wolves and unicorns – are juxtaposed with symbols of worldly pleasures such as music-related elements\, reminiscent of Vanitas. Despite the playful imagery\, it is but a portrait of the essential character of life – its fragility.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/jordy-kerwick-annee-du-tigre-lheure-du-tigre/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery Central\, WOAW Gallery\, 9 Queen's Road Central\, Central\, Central and Western\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting,Sculpture
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Jordy-Kerwick_canvas.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20211215
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20220116
DTSTAMP:20260524T213040
CREATED:20211216T005054Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220112T041447Z
UID:10017819-1639526400-1642291199@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:Urban Whispers
DESCRIPTION:Woaw Gallery and Make Room Los Angeles are pleased to announce a two-chapter group exhibition\, Urban Whispers. The first phase of the show will open at Woaw’s Queen’s Road Central location in Hong Kong on 15 December. The second phase will open at Make Room’s Melrose Avenue location on 18 December. \nIn Italo Calvino’s 1972 novel Invisible Cities\, the Venetian explorer Marco Polo meets with Kublai Khan to describe the wonders that he has seen on his travels. As his stories of cities and people unfurl\, it becomes apparent to the reader that Polo’s urban landscapes are fabrications of his imagination\, each one serving as a poem\, parable\, or moral tale rather than a description of a real place. Calvino presents to the reader the city as its own urban legend\, and within the fictional cities such as Zora\, Maurilia\, or Ersilia\, one can find kernels of truth of what it really means to be a city dweller. \nUrban legends are the tools used to make sense of the intense\, absurd reality of city living. In Urban Whispers\, artists from a variety of urban environments explore visual interpretations of urban myth as it applies to their practice. From hyper-urban scenes to delicate\, pastoral fantasies\, the show shines a light on the ways in which we process living in a completely fabricated– and completely human– environment. Collectively\, these stories we tell are also our love letters to cities we inhabit. \nThe first phase features work by a variety of artists working in cities around the world\, including Los Angeles\, Hong Kong\, New York\, Brussels\, Shanghai\, and San Francisco. \nJoeun Kim Aatchim’s works on silk and Weston Uram’s wooden wall works carve out intimacy within the visual collapse of space\, evoking the rush of urban living; The canvases of Bix Archer and Jessica Taylor Bellamy find an intersection between the nostalgia of memory and the pessimism of modern existence; Michelle Blade\, Guimi You\, and Bambou Gili’s paintings interrogate the presence of humanity within a natural environment\, carving out the personal within the urban. Astra Huimeng Wang’s and Mak Ying Tung 2’s sculptural canvases take inspiration from e-commerce websites such as eBay and Taobao\, raising questions of globalism within private space. \nPeng Ke’s photographs of cities coax out the surrealist elements of urban landscapes; Yimiao Liu’s drawings and the paintings of Joshua Petker are grounded in the artists’ interest in the interconnectedness of existence\, highlighting the self-destructive tendencies of humanity in bright\, playful color and references to art history and popular culture; Lior Modan and Jacopo Pagin’s surrealistic works capture objects and pin them into their environments\, playing with ideas of space\, sense\, and thought. And Weston Uram’s wooden wall works play with ideas of identity and gender\, mixing heady themes of identity with charged sculptural materials\, such as silk\, wood\, and found objects. \nIn Invisible Cities\, Marco Polo relays to Kublai Khan the following: “Cities\, like dreams\, are made of desires and fears\, even if the thread of their discourse is secret\, their rules are absurd\, their perspectives deceitful\, and everything conceals something else.” The artists of Urban Whispers take these dreams and allow them to blossom\, creating visual worlds in which the substantive matter of cities and their stories are explored as if anew.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/urban-whispers/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery Central\, WOAW Gallery\, 9 Queen's Road Central\, Central\, Central and Western\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20211029
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20211125
DTSTAMP:20260524T213040
CREATED:20211018T084559Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211018T084559Z
UID:10017539-1635465600-1637798399@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:TEKNOLUST: OBJECTOPHILIC FUTURES
DESCRIPTION:TEKNOLUST: OBJECTOPHILIC FUTURES envisions a post-singularity utopia/dystopia in which humans interact with intelligences of their own creation on equal footing. The exhibition manifests multiple realms of existence: a fungible\, physical space in Woaw Gallery on Queen’s Road\, Hong Kong; EPOCH’s REPLICANTS\, which digitally recreates the architecture of Woaw’s Queen’s Road location and surrounding neighborhood in a timeline with an alternate roster of artists; and a series of IRL\, WOAW-situated portals that provide networks between tangible\, spiritual\, and virtual universes. \nBefore entering the physical gallery\, Stephen Neidich’s The so-called blush response\, 2021\, is a set of kinetic curtains that serve as a welcome\, or perhaps a warning\, through the gallery windows. They open and close of their own volition\, revealing\, then obscuring\, then revealing again the worlds that inhabit the space beyond. Nik Kosmas’ Collapse 4\, 2021\, is a female\, sculptural human-android form that rises from the gallery floor\, ascending into or being repelled from a metaphysical wormhole of L’s levitating spells. The time-traveling vessels are specifically programmed to block and ward off the birth and existence of the singularity—and to complete the dissolution and reversal of any multiversal trajectories that slipped through the cracks\, along with a restoration of organic consciousness. Further on\, Theodore Boyer has transformed the gallery walls into a starmap\, delineating pathways to a multiverse of new realities: Nicolette Miskhan’s Luna\, 2021\, portrays a mermaid stretching herself into a yantra\, at one with the moon; Hortensia Mi Kafchin depicts the black emptiness of space as masseur\, caressing the mind and body of a willing woman until she merges as one with its cold embrace; Greg Ito’s tondo is a literal window to the grand finale of humanity itself. \nDeeper in the environment\, beyond the starmap\, the corporeal and virtual integrate in a blackened room. Jennifer West’s Cat Clone Copy Hologram 1–3\, 2021\, which jerry-rig 16mm cat films hand-painted with ink and urine to be playable by current and future technologies\, float above the walls on holofans alongside Dr. Woo’s Nothing the God of biomechanics wouldn’t let you into heaven for 1–7\, 2021\, a series of unique\, digitally-rendered masks. Each of Woo’s pieces calls upon various movements in which disguises have maneuvered throughout history functionally\, allegorically\, and ritually\, from Inuit ceremony to contemporary digital faces on Twitter and Reddit. Within the exhibition\, each mask will be auctioned individually as NFTs. The winners will be presented with a choice: cash-in the token for a flesh-and-blood tattoo of the design from Woo within a year of the initial sale\, upon which the token will be destroyed; or allow the work to exist as an avatar on the blockchain in perpetuity. \nBoth West and Woo’s pieces cross the uncanny valley into EPOCH’s REPLICANTS\, which is projected in the blackened room and available universally through the world wide web. REPLICANTS is a virtual prophecy of the Queen’s Road of the future. It is devoid of people\, populated only by machine and artistic energies. West’s Skyscraper Painted Hacker Cats\, 2020–2021\, alight the facade of a deserted building\, a cryptic spin on the cryptokitties of today. Woo’s masks are indelibly marked on frozen and hanging cadavers/replacement body parts inside WOAW’s gallery space\, perhaps as an oracle of what is to come for those who burn their tokens to have their bodies inked. Qianqian Ye + Tiare Ribeaux conjure A.A.G\, 2021\, a massive\, transpacific godexx rising from the ocean\, born from submarine fiber optic cables and a desire for connection. Katja Novitskova’s Approximation (Tyrell Owl)\, 2021\, surveys the desolate scene from behind a storefront window. On the streets of REPLICANTS\, the owl’s status as approximation is irrelevant—it is as authentic as anything else. \nIn TEKNOLUST: OBJECTOPHILIC FUTURES\, there is no segregation between electric and organic sheep. It is a blueprint\, a guide\, and a cautionary tale of existing futures in which we shed our skin suits and upload the collective consciousness to new frontiers.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/teknolust-objectophilic-futures/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery Central\, WOAW Gallery\, 9 Queen's Road Central\, Central\, Central and Western\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Digital Art,Painting
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cultureplus.asia/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/EPOCH_Replicants_Woaw-e1634546331750.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210929
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20211024
DTSTAMP:20260524T213040
CREATED:20210902T001310Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210902T001310Z
UID:10017349-1632873600-1635033599@cultureplus.asia
SUMMARY:MAXX HEADROOM by Michael Lau
DESCRIPTION:Woaw Gallery is pleased to present MAXX HEADROOM from September 29 to October 23\, 2021 at its Central gallery space. A collaboration with renowned Hong Kong-based artist Michael Lau\, also known as the “Godfather of Designer Toy”\, the solo exhibition will feature a series of original new paintings and sculptures from the artist’s signature Gardener Series\, showcasing an important part of the artist’s career over the last three decades. \nDelving into Maxx\, the hero character of Lau’s original 1999 Gardener series\, MAXX HEADROOM explores the concept of youth\, passion and perseverance. Through a selection of original and new works\, the exhibition reflects the artist’s own journey through the character of Maxx as an epitome of the artist himself\, a strong headed youth who would give all for his passion. From the first Gardener logo\, sketches\, comics\, and album cover made in 1998\, to remnants of its pivotal moments\, as well as the artist’s recent Maxx paintings and sculptures\, audiences are invited to enter the evolving journey of Gardener and the artists’ unwavering psyche. \nStarting in 1998\, The Gardener series began as a comic column at renowned Touch Magazine\, a bible for Hong Kong youth back then who followed popular culture and lifestyle news. With Lau’s passion for vintage G.I. Joe 12-inch action figures\, the artist created his first collection of Gardener figurines with his signature distinctive style. Unlike other commercial action figures\, each Gardener model was handcrafted by the artist\, encouraging toy aficionados to appreciate each figurine’s value as art objects\, and establishing them as “ARTOY”. Inspired by street culture and his community of friends and influencers\, each Gardener figurine represents Lau’s ideology on life and the world around him\, with factual and fictional characters leading their own lifestyle and language in his imaginative utopia. \nAs a pioneer of the vinyl art toy movement\, Lau’s influence has extended beyond the realm of toys into the art world\, and his work brought about a new phenomenon in the global art toy collecting culture since the turn of the 21st century. Lau’s debut exhibition of a series of 99 original 12-inch Gardener figures at the Hong Kong Art Centre in 1999 overturned public conceptions of toy as a mass-produced\, low-cost\, low-quality product\, and instead positioned toys as limited- edition art objects. With the increasing prominence of street culture in the 90s\, Lau was also featured as a changemaker in Forbes’ “20 Trends Sweeping the Globe” (January 2008). \n“MAXX HEADROOM is a deeply personal collection of works and every piece of work is a culmination of art and toy as witness of our past and present.” – Michael Lau \nCelebrating Lau’s vision of “All Art are Toys\, All Toys are Art”\, MAXX HEADROOM breaks the conventions of contemporary art and shares an important part of history that gives birth to Lau as the “Godfather of Designer Toy”. Reveling in the idea of street culture\, and attitudes from the ‘Golden Era’\, MAXX HEADROOM is a passionate self-reflection\, and a journey of maximum effort and fresh aspirations.
URL:https://cultureplus.asia/event/maxx-headroom-by-michael-lau/
LOCATION:WOAW Gallery Central\, WOAW Gallery\, 9 Queen's Road Central\, Central\, Central and Western\, Hong Kong
CATEGORIES:Painting,Sculpture
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