Art Projects Gallery is proud to introduce Hong Kong artists Lai Wai Lam, Fung Hoi Shan and Tao Hoi Chuen in the group exhibition “Wandering in the rain”.
The title of the exhibition “Wandering in the rain”, is a metaphor illustrating the key characteristics of the “Gongbi traditional chinese painting technique”. Gongbi requires drawing with fine lines first to represent the exaggerated likenesses of the objects, and then adding washes of ink and color layer by layer, so as to approach the perfection of exquisiteness and fine art.
In their respective ways, the three artists uses Gongbi to express unique narratives and interpretations of the city.
Ink medium plays a pivotal role in the Chinese painting system while cities, as subject matters and scene settings, are often depicted in the traditional academic paintings. Painters usually use ordered compositions and fine lines to create elegant visuals in traditional Chinese academic paintings. These paintings were traditionally used as a documentary of life and the city.
For contemporary Gongbi paintings, the function of Gongbi is not just a documentation of the city but as a means for the artists to express themselves visually, using their own perception and sensitivity to portray the impressions of the city, while advancing the traditional ingenuity of the Gongbi painting.
Lai Wai Lam’s works focus on the Gongbi flowers and birds genre, seamlessly integrating with experimental ink art. His abstract and poetic works describe subtle relationships between man, nature and the built world. Lam’s experimental ink painting technique adds a more casual, flexible and organic visual quality to the traditional Gongbi paintings.
Fung Hoi Shan’s works re-investigates the relationships between human, animals and the city. She constructs surrealistic settings in her works, placing cityscapes and different wild animals together, creating a sublime and poetic atmosphere that wanders between reality and imagination. Her use of Hong Kong literature as themes further elevates and deepens the meaning in her works.
Tao Hoi Chuen’s practice explores the possibilities of multiple-perspectives in Chinese Landscape Painting and Gongbi Portraiture. Influenced by the traditional theories of Chinese Painting. Tao’s works reflects the idea of “Qi” in his work, which he combines with his fascination with Photorealism to create his unique expression. The subject matter depicted in Tao’s paintings reflects the daily life of Hong Kong people realistically, in which he expresses the sense of alienation and numbness among the city dwellers.
“Wandering in the rain” exhibition runs from 12 Feb till 5 Mar at Art Projects Gallery.
About the Artists
LAI WAI LAM
Lai Wai Lam (b.1990) received his B.A. in Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2012 and 2018 respectively. In 2018, he was awarded the Bronze Award – Established Artist Category (Landscape or Figurative) in the annual art competition in Hong Kong – The 2018 UOB Art in Ink Awards. The winning artwork is now donated to United Overseas Bank’s collection.
Lai mainly focuses on ink as a medium of creation and is especially interested in the procedure of delineative painting. At the same time, his shading and smudge technique of superimposed ink layers retains a quiet and persistent temperament, much like the artist himself. Visual details of objects encountered in daily life is always reorganised and presented in his artworks as he makes use of different technique and perspective to explore other possibilities of expressions in ink painting. Lai grew up in the countryside which gives him spiritual freedom and peace. As he starts his career in the city, he begins to feel the pace of the rapid and artificial urban development. As a result, he focuses on expressing his inner feeling through his paintings depicting the relationship between the city, human and nature such as the contrast between urban bustle and leisure in the natural environment.
FUNG HOI SHAN
FUNG Hoi-Shan (b.1993 Hong Kong) graduated from the Fine Arts Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2016 and finished her Master programme of Fine Arts in 2020. Applying the techniques of traditional Chinese painting, FUNG works primarily with fine brushes and uses deep coloured shades which create a dusky ambiance within her works. Inspired by her own life experiences and perceptions, she reflects the emotional linkages between human-animals through depiction of the cities and wildlifes. The tension between animals and cities also shown in her paintings. She is especially skilled in using gold and silver colours to build rich layers that intertwine the reality and fantasy.
TAO HOI CHUEN
Jacky Tao Hoi Chuen (b.1996 Hong Kong) obtained his BA in Fine Arts from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2018 and is currently an MFA degree candidate at the same university.
Focusing on the creation of the Gong-bi figurative painting, Tao investigates the presentation and the way of viewing between two-dimensional and three-dimensional spaces, exploring and redefining the significance of “flatness” in traditional ink art in the context of contemporary art.
藝途畫廊榮幸呈獻三名年輕水墨藝術家賴韋林，馮凱珊及杜海銓的聯展《細雨中漫步》，工筆畫緩慢的步調有如漫步雨中朦朧的城市。三名藝術家同樣以水墨及工筆作為創作媒介，以不同的敘事手法表現有關城市的想像。
水墨媒介在東方繪畫系統中有舉足輕重的角色。在古人筆下的城市風俗常見於院體畫之中，傳統書畫的院體繪畫主要以工整的構圖及筆墨營造出典雅的畫面，在科技尚未發達的情況產生紀實的功用，角色相對地較為工匠式。在當代的工筆繪畫語言當中，藝術家更多於在視覺上表現自我，以自身的感知隱喻城市的想像，同時卻不失工筆畫傳統的匠心。
賴韋林的創作以工筆花鳥及實驗水墨為主，透過繪畫麻雀表現人與人之間關係的微妙，以及以抽象水墨詩式的表現城市景物。賴韋林以創新的實驗水墨手法配以傳統工筆的繪畫技法製造出獨特的視覺效果。實驗性的繪畫為其工筆創作帶來一種更隨意、更可變和有機的視覺效果。
馮凱珊的繪畫創作則主要集中於工筆走獸題材，畫面以城市建築配合工筆動物繪畫反思人類，動物和城市之間的關係。馮凱珊的作品具備一種超現實的氣氛，融合都市景物與不同動物的場景，使到馮凱珊的繪畫帶有一種疑幻似真的詩意。同時藝術家挪用香港文學作為主題亦為作品賦與多一重意義。
杜海銓創作主要探討工筆人物與傳統中國畫多視點構圖的關係。以工筆人物繪畫都市人的日常生活。受傳統書畫理論影響，杜海銓的作品嘗試以畫論的概念框架套用在工筆人物繪畫當中。通過繪畫都市人的日常生活來抒發對於城市人生活的疏離，其筆下的賽馬系列作品同時反映著都市人的風俗生活。受攝影寫實主義繪畫的影響，杜海銓的作品傾向具像，同時又不失書畫筆墨的平淡氣質。題材同時傾向寫實地呈現一種香港人的生活面貌。
《細雨中漫步》將於2022年2月12日至3月5日在藝途畫廊展出。
關於藝術家
賴韋林
賴韋林生於1990年，在2012年和2018年先後於香港中文大學藝術系獲學士及藝術碩士學位，並於2018年獲得大華銀行年度水墨藝術大獎，得獎作品同時捐贈于大華銀行收藏。
賴氏主要以水墨為創作媒介，對於工筆畫創作過程中的程序性尤感興趣，同時他以水墨層層疊加的暈染技法擁有一種他安靜執著的氣質。他的創作概念多以常見事物的細節元素重新組合並呈現，希望從不同角度及技法詮釋水墨創作的可能性。作品主題圍繞著城市、人和大自然的關係，表現城市化的急促與自然環境裡的悠閒之間的對比及衝突。在農村長大的他，大自然給予他的是內心的自由和寧靜，作品正正表現他慢慢步入社會，對快速、人工的發展與其成長環境形成鮮明對比的內心感受。
馮凱珊
1993年生於香港，馮凱珊於2016年畢業於香港中文大學藝術系(文學士)，並於2020年取得香港中文大學藝術碩士學位。馮氏運用傳統中國畫技法，創作專注於幽暗畫面的氣氛營造以及細膩的工筆絲毛勾勒。其作品從自身生活經歷及感悟出發，透過繪畫城市及野生動物，反思人與動物之間的情感關連。善用金、銀色豐富畫面層次，表現虛實交錯的視覺效果。
杜海銓
杜海銓，1996年生於香港。2018年於香港中文大學文學學士畢業，曾於北京、台灣等地留學，主修藝術。現就讀香港中文大學藝術碩士（研究院）。
杜氏聚焦工筆人物畫的創作，研究二維與三維空間之間的呈現和觀看方式，思考傳統水墨的平面性在當代藝術語境中的新意義。
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