Michael Wolf @ Flowers Gallery, Hong Kong - Inaugural Exhibition

Spotlight on Michael Wolf
Flowers Gallery, Hong Kong
Through 8 August, 2020

Flowers Gallery announces a new gallery space in Hong Kong, its first location in Asia. The new gallery opens in the city’s Sheung Wan district, with a spotlight exhibition of works by the celebrated German photographer Michael Wolf (1954 - 2019), who lived and worked in Hong Kong.

Established in 1970 in London by Angela Flowers, Flowers Gallery is one of the longest-running international contemporary art galleries, celebrating its 50th Anniversary throughout 2020. The gallery currently represents more than 50 international artists and artist's estates. The Hong Kong space complements the global programme of exhibitions with a dedicated series of Spotlight exhibitions to introduce international gallery artists to the region. 

MICHAEL WOLF

Industrial #26, 2015

Chromogenic Print, 177 x 251 cm

© The Estate of Michael Wolf, Courtesy of Flowers Gallery

The inaugural exhibition Spotlight on Michael Wolf showcases examples of his extensive investigation of the lives of ordinary Hong Kong inhabitants. Michael Wolf devoted his career to exploring the complexity of life in megacities, focusing in particular on the dense urban environment of Hong Kong. The exhibition presents examples of iconic works, including the internationally renowned series Architecture of Density, presenting an abstracted view of Hong Kong’s seemingly endless residential and industrial facades. Alongside the large-scale photographs are works from Informal Solutions, a series of photographic typologies and vernacular sculptures that show an intimate perspective of the city from within its hidden network of back alleys. 

The exhibition also includes Cheung Chau Sunrises, Michael Wolf's last project before his death in 2019. Marking the end of his intensive focus on the confined metropolis, in which the sky was conspicuously absent, Michael Wolf's discovery of the horizon in this contemplative series can be understood as a gesture of liberation from the modern city, representing the hopeful prospect of peace and renewal. Every morning over two years, Michael Wolf photographed the rising sun from his home above the Cheung Chau shore, capturing the transient daily spectacle in a state of boundless transformation.

MICHAEL WOLF

Cheung Chau Sunrises 17, 2018

Archival Pigment Print, 101.6 x 76.2 cm

© The Estate of Michael Wolf, Courtesy of Flowers Gallery

MICHAEL WOLF

Cheung Chau Sunrises 57, 2018

Archival Pigment Print, 101.6 x 76.2 cm

© The Estate of Michael Wolf, Courtesy of Flowers Gallery

Managing Director Matthew Flowers says: "Our expansion into a permanent location in Asia reflects the development of strong relationships with artists, collectors, curators and Museums in the region. Hong Kong is an extremely vibrant and influential global hub, connecting collectors with art from around the world. Timing this opening with the gallery's 50th anniversary demonstrates our commitment to build a new and exciting future while celebrating the achievements of the past."

ABOUT MICHAEL WOLF

Michael Wolf is known for capturing the hyper-density of cities, such as Hong Kong, Tokyo and Chicago in his large-scale photographs of high-rise architecture and intimate studies of the lives of city dwellers. Michael Wolf’s work on life in cities was always driven by a profound concern for the people living in these environments and for the consequences of massive urbanization on contemporary civilization. This commitment and engagement remained central throughout his career, first as a photojournalist and then as an artist. Born in Munich in 1954, Michael Wolf grew up in Canada, Europe, and the United States, studying at University of California, Berkeley and under Otto Steinert at the Folkwang School in Essen, Germany. He moved to Hong Kong in 1994, where he worked for eight years as a contract photographer for Stern Magazine, before moving on from photojournalism in 2003 to focus on his personal work. Michael Wolf published over 30 books, including the critically acclaimed titles Tokyo Compression and Architecture of Density.

Michael Wolf won first prize in the World Press Photo competition in 2005 and 2010 and received an honourable mention in 2011. In 2010 and 2016 he was nominated for the Prix Pictet photography award. His work features in many permanent collections, including those of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago; Museum Folkwang, Essen; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam and Gemeentemuseum, Den Haag and M+ Museum, Hong Kong. Wolf’s first major retrospective, Michael Wolf - Life in Cities, was held in 2017, premiering at the prestigious Rencontres de la Photographie festival in Arles, then moving on to The Hague Museum of Photography (2018), the Fondazione Stelline in Milan (2018), Deichtorhallen Hamburg (2018 - 2019), and Urania, Berlin (2019). His work has also been exhibited at the bienal de arquitetura, Sáo Paulo, Brazil; Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago; Gallery of the Goethe Institute, Hong Kong, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

FLOWERS GALLERY HONG KONG
49, Tung Street, G/F - Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
www.flowersgallery.com