We've handpicked some art exhibitions and events to check out this August. Read on to discover more.
Young Soy: Hong Kong Baby Girl by Kitty Wong
Young Soy Gallery is proud to present HKBBG (Hong Kong Baby Girl), an artist-in-residence programme featuring Hong Kong artist Kitty Wong.
Having spent her formative years in Canada, Kitty has been capturing the memories she has of her childhood city Hong Kong for over a decade. Her illustrations are a love letter to the city — drawing inspirations from the collective memory as well as the uncompromisingly strong women and iconic scenery of Hong Kong.
During her residency, Young Soy Gallery will be transformed into Kitty’s studio space where she will create a new body of work and invite the public to witness her creative process.
"HKBBG" (Hong Kong Baby Girl) aims to awaken the playful, vivid and sassy energy within every Hong Konger, celebrating the city’s dynamic spirit and those who embody it.
When: 31st July - 13th August 2024
Image: courtesy Young Soy Gallery
The Cove, G/F, 40A Upper Lascar Row, Sheung Wan
Square Street: The Archivist Augurs, The Larper Dreams
Square Street Gallery is pleased to present The Archivist Augurs, the Larper Dreams—a group exhibition which creates a dialogue between works by Dony Cheng, Dave Chow, These Faces (a.k.a. Jennifer Yeung), and Brandon Tay. The title of the exhibition borrows from Tay’s 2024 video work Emulator, which will also be included in the show. By working with Hong Kong philosopher Yuk Hui’s essay “For a Planetary Thinking” (2020), the exhibition brings together a group of artists engaged with a skeptical framework as they question the prescriptive paradigms with which we approach technology and its relationship to the material world.
Since the industrial revolution, and the ensuing globalization, our relationship with technology follows a particular logos; a machine completes a task it was produced to complete. Drawing upon what German philosopher Martin Heidegger called Gestell or “enframing,” Hui argues that this logos closes off the possibility of technology, and thus fits within the model of accelerationist development that has been decided and laid out for us. He suggests instead that the challenge to such models can be found in artmaking, wherein the enframing of the same technology used to facilitate the flow of capital breaks its relationship with instrumentalisation, opening it up to risk and alterity. This exhibition thinks through this approach to technology through the works of four artists.
When: 25th July - 24th August 2024
Image: courtesy Square Street Gallery
21 Square Street, Tai Ping Shan
Hong Kong Arts School: Beyond Chaos
This exhibition explores the theme of the "random thoughts mechanism," highlighting how fragmented thoughts can lead to profound creativity. As the artists delve into their subconscious, they remind us that inspiration often comes from our personal journeys and the chaos of life.
Three alumni artists, Waverly Wong, Toby Wong, and Maria Cheung, return to the Hong Kong Art School after graduating from the Bachelor of Arts programme to collaboratively present this exhibition. They explore how the mechanism of "random thoughts" can be transformed into creative inspiration, inviting the audience to re-discover themselves. Waverly Wong reveals the intertwining of dreams and memories in her series "Karma"; Toby Wong's recent works “Secluded in the Blue” and “Faded Welki”invite you into a misty abstract world; while Maria Cheung captures the essence of time and memory in her stunning photography series "Endless," urging us to reflect on life's cycles.
Together, these artists challenge us to explore our own inner landscapes and embark on a journey of self-discovery.
When: 16th August - 24th September 2024
Image: courtesy Hong Kong Arts School
10/F Hong Kong Arts Centre, 2 Harbour Road
HART: A Brief Digression
Wu Jiaru’'s latest project “A Brief Digression" is exhibited in an industrial space, exploring the encounters of objects in movement through a series of installations. It reconsiders the potential social significance of the act of "mobility" itself. Beyond the value of a carefully wrapped object as a commodity, can its journey create new social value? "Package" often encapsulates intimate stories that drift from one end of the ocean to an unknown destination, with no promise of arrival. These objects act as primal carriers of information and hope, reaching unattainable places and intertwining political and personal narratives. Through a series of improvisational approaches, the artist creates site-specific works about the mobility and protection of social objects. The audience, viewing from the god's perspective, can engage with the object's narrative and create new stories for it.
When: 8th August - 9th September 2024
Image: HART
G/F and 3/F, Cheung Hing Industrial Building, 12p Smithfield Road
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WOAW Gallery: Tick Tock, Tick Tock, Tick Tock
“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.
Murgatroyd 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.
When: 26th July - 12th September 2024
Image: courtesy WOAW Gallery
3 & 5 Sun Street
De Sarthe: X Liao Jiaming
DE SARTHE is pleased to announce its eighth annual de Sarthe Artist Residency (deSAR) as well as its resident artist, Liao Jiaming (b. 1992 in Guangdong. Lives and works in Hong Kong.) The artist will create new artworks using the gallery as his studio, which will be open to the public during normal gallery hours throughout the duration of the residency. deSAR runs from June 29th to August 30th and will culminate in a month-long exhibition opening August 31st.
Since the beginning of civilization, humanity has given birth to innumerable religions, cults, and superstitions in desire of divination. Bound by our earthly bodies, we subconsciously gravitate toward unknown beings who we believe are in possession of higher knowledge – but what does this entail in the contemporary information age? Over the course of the residency, the artist will transform the gallery space into a site reminiscent of worship, where AI and machines undergo sacralization as if prophets and relics of the technological era. To comprise a series of videos, installations, and mixed-media artworks, Liao aims to mediate between the scientific and the non-secular, exploring the unconscious human psyche behind artificial entities, rituals, as well as narratives.
During the residency, visitors are invited not only to interact with the artist, but also an AI-based installation created by Liao that generates fictitious tarot cards. Available only during the residency period, the resultant images will be used as raw materials in the artist’s creative process.
When: 29th June - 30 August 2024
Image: Courtesy of De Sarthe
U26/F, M Place, 54 Wong Chuk Hang Road
Artspace K: If I were...
“If I Were…” exhibition, with its intriguing name, opens up infinite imagination for the audience…
Artspace K has invited four Asian artists, Cassian Lau, Kim Won Geun, Sam Tse and Vivagirl to participate in this exhibition. The common theme of their creations is “characters,” interpreting the inner world of their roles through their appearance, expressions and age. There are depictions of youthful innocence and vanity, cool-looking yet gentle-hearted Korean “uncles” with big bellies, young individuals bravely pursuing their dreams and innocent dreamlike girls. Their works are presented through imagination and virtual reality, reflecting the artists’ own adorable, warm and courageous aspects, as well as their memories of personal growth.
This exhibition hopes to prompt the audience to reflect on the fact that everyone engages in role-playing in their interaction with others in life. Regardless of the role we find ourselves in, we must not forget to show our true selves.
When: 4th July - 27th October 2024
Image: courtesy Artspace K
G105-106 The Repulse Bay, 109 Repulse Bay Road
Pearl Lam Galleries: The Evanescent
Featuring significant works by eight artists, including Jana Benitez (b. 1985, USA), Mr Doodle (b. 1994, UK), Dale Frank (b. 1959, Australia), Michal Korman (b. 1987, Slovakia, based in France), A.A. Murakami (b. 1983, UK & b. 1984, Japan), Thukral and Tagra (b. 1976 & 1979, India), Zhang Jianjun (b. 1955, China) and Zhu Jinshi (b. 1954, China), The Evanescent acknowledges the innate temporal and sensible qualities that are embodied by an artwork. By embracing the ephemeral nature of our visual experience, the grouping of artworks aims to connect with audiences and provoke new meanings to emerge.
The logic of living in an information age dictates the ways in which we recognise different images; increasingly disparate visual bytes are stored instantaneously in our brains with little significance. What is the meaning of art in the age of post-mechanical reproduction? Instead of relying on art for spiritual guidance, contemporary art now functions more as a vehicle for claiming broader inclusivity. Increasingly art immerses the audience in a sea of ideas, but at the expense of focusing our attention towards a single idea for too long.
When: 20th June - 24th August 2024
Image: courtesy Pearl Lam Galleries
G/F, Ruttonjee House, Ruttonjee Centre, 3-11 Duddell Street
3812 Gallery: Brain Back Memories
Can you imagine what the journey of mental health recovery looks like?
In our “Brain Back Memories – Places we’ve walked together” exhibition, you will find 20+ stories from Mind HK ambassadors along with photographs of ambassadors, and their meaningful places and items linked to their mental health journey. The exhibition will also showcase original, inspiring, and hopeful artwork by Erin Hung, inspired by our campaign and ambassador’s stories.
As a part of our #HereAndNow campaign, we want to encourage visitors to see from Mind HK ambassadors’ perspectives and take a walk through their lives in Hong Kong through words and images. Mental health stories take place in every landmark and hidden corner.
Come swing by #HereAndNow and let’s start the conversation around mental health!
When: 6th - 9th August, 12th - 15th August 2024
Image: courtesy Mind HK
3812 Gallery Central
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