Mar 29 2019

Roundup from Art Central 2019

by Xuan Wei Yap

Art Seasons (Singapore / Beijing) were behind PHUNK’s Hope, Rock, Kiss, Live (2019), which comprises prints and collage on wood, with front pages and articles drawn from an array of international newspapers. All photos by Xuan Wei Yap for ArtAsiaPacific.

With 107 galleries from 22 countries—including 30 new participants hailing from places such as Russia, Israel, Thailand and Colombia—the fifth Art Central was the fair’s most geographically diverse edition to date. Unfolding within two temporary structures located along Hong Kong’s Central harborfront, the event provided a platform for works by established artists alongside emerging talents, as well as performances and six large-scale installations, three of which were specially commissioned for the occasion.

The 2019 Projects sector was overseen by independent curator Ying Kwok, who gathered installations interlinked by their investigations of historical and cultural narratives. For example, Angela Yuen’s City Rhapsody (2018) and Cheuk Wing Nam’s Ak7 Shou3 (2016), presented by Hong Kong’s Contemporary by Angela Li, are works that encapsulate the distinct heritage and cultural tones of the fair’s host city. Yuen’s kinetic assemblage features brightly colored plastic toys and stationery that were manufactured in Hong Kong. The objects rotate around a light, projecting the Hong Kong skyline onto the surrounding white walls, evoking the city’s history as the “Kingdom of Plastic Toys” during the 1960s and ’70s. Cheuk’s work, on the other hand, commented on her personal experiences of growing up in Hong Kong and Mainland China, and her curiosity and subsequent difficulties in figuring out if the person she would speak to would respond in Cantonese or Mandarin. Her participatory installation included sensors that visitors were invited to press. Depending on how much pressure the viewer applied, varying frequencies of sounds interwoven with voices speaking Cantonese and Mandarin would play. Singapore’s contemporary art and design collective Phunk presented a large-scale, text-based painting. The work called attention to the uncertainties of our world today through its newspaper headlines alluding to Brexit, Donald Trump, the refugee crisis, and global warming. Yet, formally evoking peeling street posters, HOPE, ROCK, KISS, LIVE (2019) reminded fair attendees of the impermanence of these issues, and encouraged an optimistic view of the future.

Contemporary by Angela Li (Hong Kong) presented ANGELA YUEN’s City Rhapsody – Project Roseate (2018), an installation made from locally sourced manufactured objects, such as plastic toys and stationary. The sculpture rotates around a light source and projects the Hong Kong skyline onto the surrounding white walls.

Contemporary by Angela Li (Hong Kong) also brought CHEUK WING NAM’s Ak7 Shou3 (2016), a participatory installation comprised of a violin, cello, cassette players, speakers and sensors. The tactile sensors encourage attendees to interact with the work. Upon triggering the sensor, a variation of frequencies were emitted from the speakers.

Tezukayama Gallery (Osaka) had SATORU TAMURA’s Point of Contact for 100 Incandescent Lamps #2 (2018). The 100 incandescent lamps light up briefly when the circuit created by Tamura is momentarily completed.

Gallery Hyundai (Seoul) presented IVÁN NAVARRO’s Webeatme (2016). Utilizing light boxes with neon and one-way mirrors, the artist creates the illusion of an infinite space that extends behind the surface of the work.

NAM JUNE PAIK’s Techno Boy II (1996), seen at Galerie Bhak (Seoul), is a mixed media sculpture with antique radios, 6 TVs, as well as a camera and LCD monitors.

LI XIAOFENG’s Light Fades into the Rainbow (2018), a sculpture of a dress made from Qing-period shards, was at Red Gate Gallery (Beijing).

S.A.C. Gallery (Bangkok) brought THANATHORN SUPPAKIJJUMNONG’s Secret of Love No. 6 (2018). On certain folds of the paper are lessons that the artist’s family imparted to her while she was growing up, typed in English and Thai.

At Gallery Tableau (Seoul), SUNTAE HWANG depicts a tableaux of everyday objects utilising tempered glass, film and LEDs, in The sunny room (2018/19).

NYOMAN NUARTA’s Legenda Borobudur III (2017), made from copper and brass, can be seen at Linda Gallery (Singapore / Beijing / Jakarta).

There were also works that showed innovative uses of light. At the booth of Osaka’s Tezukayama Gallery was Satoru Tamura’s installation, comprised of a hundred incandescent light bulbs, while neon-and-mirror works by Chilean artist Iván Navarro were presented by Seoul’s Gallery Hyundai. These pieces were not only eye catching but delivered a range of messages, such as the ephemeral nature of life as well as critiques of social and geopolitical agendas, contributing to the wealth of insights into modern society’s complexities at the fair.

Xuan Wei Yap is ArtAsiaPacific’s editorial intern.

Art Central is on view at Hong Kong’s Central harborfront until March 31, 2019.

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