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During Hong Kong Art Week, must-sees include the prestigious Art Basel and Art Central fairs, renowned for showcasing contemporary art from global galleries. Additionally, a variety of exhibitions and cultural events across the city offer insights into both local and international art scenes. These activities provide a comprehensive view of the vibrant and diverse artistic landscape in Hong Kong.
With Art Basel returning to pre-pandemic levels of gallery participation and Art Central resuming its position in Central Harbourfront’s marquee, there’s no shortage of places to be during Hong Kong Art Week.
On top of the many exhibitions opening this month to coincide with these fairs, two shiny additions are joining the 2024 art fair line-up.
Overwhelmed? Here are our top picks (in no particular order).
Art Basel
Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, 1 Harbour Road, Wan Chai. March 28 to 30 (VIP access: March 26 to 30).
Art Central
Central Harbourfront. March 28 to 31 (VIP access: March 27).
Supper Club, Fringe Club
The first edition of Supper Club runs from March 25 to 30. Consider it an invitation by local gallerists Willem Molesworth and Ysabelle Cheung (PHD Group), and Alex Chan (The Shophouse), to chew over the digestive nature of looking at and consuming culture.
Curated by Anqi Li, Supper Club hosts the emerging and experimental works of 22 international and regional galleries, plus live performances and panel discussions.
Expect programming that disrupts the often hegemonic conventions of art fair sales and interactions. Luckily for visitors craving some late night food for thought, Supper Club’s hours stretch from 4pm to 1am.
Fringe Club, 2 Lower Albert Road, Central. March 25 to 30.
1-54, Christie’s Hong Kong
A reference to the 54 African countries in existence today, 1-54 is the sole international art fair dedicated to showcasing works by African artists. As March draws to a close, look out for “Coalescent Lights” at Christie’s Hong Kong, the fair’s first iteration in Asia.
Curated by Kami Gahiga, “Coalescent Lights” spotlights luminaries who have enriched the canon of contemporary African art. With themes ranging from tradition, intimacy and materiality to translocation and representation, the exhibition proves African art has never been monolithic nor stagnant.
22/F, Alexandra House, 18 Chater Road, Central. March 26 to 30.
Sarah Morris’ “Who is Who”, JC Contemporary, Tai Kwun
“Who is Who” builds on Sarah Morris’ long-term study of global sites in the electronic era, and a key work in the show is the American-British artist’s 16th film, ETC.
In a nod to designer Henry Steiner’s 1979 Electronic Teller Card for HSBC, ETC alludes to the history of Hong Kong as a centre of commerce subject to rapid digital change.
While currently showing on the M+ Facade, ETC’s Tai Kwun presentation will be accompanied by Morris’ ex-husband Liam Gillick’s musical compositions for the first time.
And don’t miss Tai Kwun’s annual Artists’ Night on March 28. The evening of live performances, installations and music spread across various sites around the historic compound will be headlined by artist and composer Pan Daijing.
“Who is Who”, 3/F, JC Contemporary, Tai Kwun, 10 Hollywood Road, Central. Until April 14.
Artists’ Night, multiple sites in Tai Kwun, March 28, 6pm-11.30pm.
Yang Fudong’s “Sparrow on the Sea”, M+ facade
While not technically an exhibition, the latest moving-image work by Chinese artist Yang Fudong – co-commissioned by M+ and Art Basel and presented by Swiss bank UBS – warrants a solid shout.
Sparrow on the Sea braids black-and-white shots of Hong Kong’s architecture, landscapes, and soundscapes, evoking the motifs and textures of Hong Kong cinema from the 1970s to the 90s.
Cementing the filmmaker’s dreamlike aesthetic, the film poetically blends Hong Kong’s past and present, offering glimpses into its unpredictable future.
M+ facade, 38 Museum Drive, West Kowloon Cultural District. On view every night until June 9. Walk-in slots are available for the screening.
Trevor Yeung’s “Soft breath”, Para Site
“Soft breath” is Trevor Yeung’s first major solo exhibition of 2024, before he heads to Italy to represent Hong Kong at the 60th Venice Biennale.
Yeung draws on the natural environment to address social norms that stifle human relationships, and his latest show is no exception.
A soap-sculpted replica of a tree takes centre stage, conjuring a leaning oak emblematic of Hampstead Heath – one of London’s nocturnal cruising grounds.
Thematically challenging binaries of night and day, public and private life, and hidden and visible desires, Yeung transplants this queer landmark to the soil of Hong Kong through studied uses of light, scent and impermanent materials that evoke transience.
As the artist contemplates the original tree’s uncertain fate, “Soft breath” – co-commissioned in partnership with Gasworks, London; and Aranya Art Centre, in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province – calls attention to the rituals around wishing trees native to Hong Kong’s New Territories.
Para Site, 10B, Wing Wah Industrial Building, 677 King’s Road, Quarry Bay. Until May 26.
Joana Vasconcelos’ “Valkyrie Seondeok”, ArtisTree
Valkyrie Seondeok is Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos’ latest addition to her Valkyrie series, which pays tribute to more than 30 influential women around the world. The sculpture will be presented as part of “ArtisTree Selects: Enchanted Forest”, the artist’s first exhibition in Hong Kong.
The textile installation depicts Queen Seondeok, the second female sovereign in recorded East Asian history and the first reigning queen of Silla – one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea.
The site-specific work features sewing, knitting and crocheting in yet another monumental display of traditional textile techniques, as is Vasconcelos’ signature.
ArtisTree, 1/F, Two Taikoo Place, 979 King’s Road, Quarry Bay. Until April 28.
CHAT 5th Anniversary: “Factory of Tomorrow”, Chat
This spring, CHAT is celebrating its curatorial journey over the past five years with a group exhibition reflecting on its past, present and future.
“Factory of Tomorrow” includes works from CHAT’s contemporary art collection plus newly commissioned works, drawing comparisons between heritage and innovation in the world of textiles.
Featuring creations by 19 artists and collectives of Asian backgrounds, the exhibition will gather their takes on technology, material, diversity and climate change.
2/F, The Mills, 45 Pak Tin Par Street, Tsuen Wan. Until July 14.
Wifredo Lam’s “Homecoming”, Chantal Miller Gallery, Asia Society Hong Kong Centre
“Homecoming” is a retrospective of the late Cuban artist Wifredo Lam. With his Afro-Spanish and Cantonese roots, it’s fitting that Lam’s work is coming to Asia for the occasion, where his son, guest co-curator Eskil Lam, will trace his father’s Chinese lineage and histories of the Chinese diaspora.
With Hain Yoon as assistant curator and support from Wifredo’s other son, Stephane Lam (Le Pavillon Rouge des Arts), “Homecoming” will be an all-inclusive exhibition complete with prints, memorabilia and paintings from Wifredo’s key artistic periods spanning his time in Cuba, Spain, France and Italy.
Asia Society, 9 Justice Drive, Admiralty. Until June 2. The talk “Homecoming: Wifredo Lam and his Chinese Heritage” will take place on March 28, 6pm to 7.30pm.
Xiyadie’s “Butterfly Dream”, Blindspot Gallery
This month, Blindspot Gallery is presenting the largest Xiyadie exhibition Asia has seen. The solo exhibition – the Shaanxi artist’s first – will feature more than 30 works from the early 1980s to the present, breathing new life into the paper-cut art form that originated during the Eastern Han dynasty (AD25 to 220).
Autobiographical in nature, Xiyadie’s collection tells the story of his coming out as a homosexual from rural China and his struggle as a marginalised migrant worker.
In that vein, the title “Butterfly Dream” alludes to the self-taught artist’s pseudonym, Xiyadie, meaning “Siberian butterfly” – a symbol of resilience and flamboyant beauty in the harshest of conditions.
Blindspot Gallery, 15/F, Po Chai Industrial Building, 28 Wong Chuk Hang Road. March 26 to May 11.
Source: South China Morning Post
Wolfgang Tillmans’ “The Point Is Matter”, David Zwirner
Count on Wolfgang Tillmans to feature a new video work in his latest exhibition – his first in Hong Kong since 2018.
This time, the artist will be interspersing works shot in Ethiopia, Germany, Nigeria and Mongolia, among other places, with photos of Hong Kong and Shenzhen, breaking free from the rigid categories of local and global.
Pushing the limits of photography’s poetic and formal possibilities with a close eye on changing phenomena, “The Point is Matter” will gather a wide range of subjects and themes, encouraging exercises in free association through the process of looking.
David Zwirner, 5-6/F, H Queen’s, 80 Queen’s Road Central. March 25 to April 30.
Glenn Ligon, Hauser & Wirth
With new work padding his first solo exhibition in China, Glenn Ligon is doubling down on his radical use of text to explore the politics of culture and identity.
The display will showcase a continuation of the American conceptual artist’s Stranger paintings, his new abstract painting series, titled “Static”, and a collection of untitled drawings on Kozo paper, all of which excerpt James Baldwin’s 1953 essay Stranger in the Village.
Hauser & Wirth, 8 Queen’s Road Central. March 25 to May 11.
Wong Ping: anus whisper
Kiang Malingue, 10 Sik On Street, Wan Chai. March 26 to May 4, with opening reception and performance on March 25, 3pm-8pm.
After Human: Marks of the Beasts
Tomorrow Maybe, 4/F, Eaton HK, 380 Nathan Road, Jordan. Until April 28, with an opening reception on March 26, 5pm-8pm.
Plastic Love
Hong Kong artist Wong Ka-ying’s first solo exhibition. Square Street Gallery, 21 Square Street, Sheung Wan. Until May 5.
Source: South China Morning Post
