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Where there's a will
At its first local contemporary art group exhibition this year, alternative art venue 1a space is showcasing an array of multimedia works from established and promising young artists that are traditional and, in Kwan Sheung-chi's case, highly conceptual. "My new work isn't ready yet," the 25-year-old artist says a few days before the opening, on June 9. "I have this worry and fear of not being able to live up to the curator's expectation. "Perhaps I'll show nothing at all. Perhaps my work is my thought process that gone into this exercise. Anyway, the show will run until the end of the month so I still have time to come up with something before then." Kwan wasn't the only one feeling the heat. On the day of the interview for this article, curator Jeff Leung Chin-fung was rushed to the hospital with severe stomach pain. "It was probably something I ate," the 29-year-old says, although he later admits he's under pressure for the show to do well. By all accounts, aWay is an important show. It runs until June 29, having brought together 15 local visual artists to "make noise". Most belong to a generation that has emerged after the post-1997 euphoria, although they're often over shadowed by their mainland and Asian contemporaries. Leung chose the artists. "These are people I've known for at least three to fours years. I have confidence in them and their works. They're not artists about to disappear into obscurity." Besides Kwan, participants include Project 226 (comprising Clara Cheung Ka-lai and Gum Cheng Yee-man), Tamshui Woo Tam-min, Chun Hau-ching, Tozer Pak Sheung-chuen, Joey Leung Ka-yin, Mabel Cheung Mei-po, Jaspar Lau Kin-wah, Lee Kit, Yuen Kin-leung, Hanison Lau Hok-shing, Law Yuk-mui, Florian Ma Ho-yin and Doris Wong Wai-yin. Most are in their 20s. "I am fairly optimistic about the local contemporary visual art scene these days," says Leung, a fine arts graduate from the Chinese University. "You've had the two big auction houses gradually shifting their Asian operations to this city over the past couple of years and I think we will benefit, however little, from this. Collectors passing through are bound to take a look around at what's happening in the city." He says Hong Kong is still off the collectors' radar, but that will change. "In the next five years or so, there will be an alignment between mainland and Hong Kong artists - not so much in their style, but definitely their creative thinking. "I've been looking at works by young mainland artists and, like Hong Kong artists, they're paying more attention to urbanistion and its impact on their personal life, as well as society at large." According to Leung's curatorial statement, the artists' works are "geared towards personal issues and experiences, and tend to focus on fragmented sensations and memories". The works are "motivated by concerns about hybrid living experiences and everyday culture, rather than looking into the clash of east and west", he says. "The works - although diverse and unique in choice of media and topic - speak powerfully of the person behind them. They're more oriented towards personal experiences of life than the previous generation of artists. "More importantly, they have a different take and understanding of how to respond to society through art." One reason Leung juxtaposes works by two generations of artists is to highlight the differences as well as show how the new is a mutation of - rather than breakaway from or contradiction of - the old. He says artists born in the 1960s and 70s and who became active in the 1990s experienced the political uncertainties of the handover and an identity crisis. Their works represented their inherent bond with the Chinese culture, but was also informed by western art, particularly painting. "Artists born in the 1980s grew up under the context of the local art scene," says Leung. "They don't mythicise contemporary western art, but simply observe or explore it as they would any other forms. "I want to illustrate a link between the two generations. Joey Leung's Chinese gongbi [delineative] drawings, for instance, are a continuation of the traditional art form. Although her choice of medium and techniques are traditional, her subjects are contemporary and unique. "I want to demonstrate that young artists aren't ignoring works by the previous generation, but they are a mutation of the old," the curator says. Growing up during the economic boom and social stability of the 80s, the consumer culture and rapid pace of life helped shift the artists' attention from social issues to personal choice and orientation. Tozer Pak, who's known for his collection on a piece of yellow cloth of footprints of demonstrators during last year's July 1 rally, will offer something non-political for this exhibition. Leung asked him to collect works from the past nine years. "They include comics I'd drawn back in 1997, a conceptual installation from about 2003 and one new piece," says the 28-year-old. "The central theme that connects all these works is human relationship." Hanison Lau questions whether a piece can be called art when it's unfinished. His works will be personal and individualistic. "Hong Kong contemporary art is not bad," says Leung. "But it is a fact that twenty-something artists tend to think about shopping and falling in love, so they won't start thinking about their work seriously until they hit 30." But is this city being left out of the current vibrant regional contemporary art scene, especially that just across the border? Leung says a connection must now be established between young local artists and galleries. At the moment, most of their works aren't being represented and exposed to collectors. "What gives Hong Kong an edge over the mainland is the freedom we have here," he says. "We just don't have the international limelight on us - yet." aWay, 1a space, Unit 14, Cattle Depot Artists Village, 63 Ma Tau Kok Road, To Kwa Wan. Ends Jun29
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