A Backyard of Memories
Cheung Ka Yu, Heung Kin Fung Alex, Kwong Man Chun, Tang Kwong San
Contemporary by Angela Li, Hong Kong
18 November 2020 - 14 December 2020.
KWONG MAN CHUN
Hang Cen Ling and Tenement House-the Ming fiery sunset, 2020 (detailed)
Ink and oil on canvas, iron, projection, 137 x 195cm
© Kwong Man Chun, Courtesy Contemporary by Angela Li
Contemporary by Angela Li present joints exhibition A Backyard of Memories, featuring artworks of four Hong Kong artists – Cheung Ka Yu, Heung Kin Fung Alex, Kwong Man Chun and Tang Kwong San. This exhibition attempts to investigate our thoughts and ideologies on experiences, heritage and memories, from the past to present, life to death, and seasons and cycles.
With a background in design, Heung Kin Fung Alex specializes in vividly coloured paintings with unique compositions and powerful concepts, paying particular attention to the subject of nature. He investigates the balance and conflicts between nature, life and urban development. With cool-toned acrylic and charcoal on linen, his works The Garden of Mysteries and Storage of a Landscape explore the unknown in these topics, inviting the audience to join his adventure of an inner escape. Heung received his BA (Fine Art) & MFA degrees co-presented by the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University Australia and Hong Kong Art School. He is currently a lecturer at the Hong Kong Art School. He has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions, and his works have been collected by the Hong Kong Museum of Art.
Kwong Man Chun’s surreal paintings attempt to confuse the viewers’ perspective by mixing sceneries and people from the past with modern settings, creating an ambiguous and nostalgic yet playful atmosphere on his canvases. In his oil painting Hang Cen Ling and Tenement House – the Ming fiery sunset, the artist superimposes his former residence in Huang Cen Ling, China with his present home at a tenement house in Hong Kong, with the greenery of Huang Cen Ling blending seamlessly with the interior settings of the tenement house. Kwong’s creative process serves as a ritual for his gratitude towards his root, with each element in the painting echoing with one another and encapsulating the artist’s sentimentality and nostalgic reflections. Kwong holds a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts from the Hong Kong Baptist University. He has participated in exhibitions in Hong Kong, China, Australia and USA since 2013.
The trace of time evokes in Tang Kwong San’s monochromatic practices. The individual elements in his drawings were collected in different time periods and placed in the same work with a dramatic combination. By depicting scenes of flaming candles and soaked films in black and white, the artist has frozen his memories within a small frame. The composition of these objects is almost artificially constructed, combining with the use of colour it encases a tense atmosphere of melancholy. In his latest works, the candle has become a commonly used subject. Implying the ritual objects that catalysing the imagination of remembrance and memories. Tang was the recipient of the Contemporary by Angela Li Award of the Fresh Trend 2019 Art Graduates Joint Exhibition. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Fine Art, co-presented by The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University Australia and the Hong Kong Art School. He has earned several other outstanding awards, among others, Mr. Jerry Kwan Memorial Scholarship (2018/2019), Hidden Space Award (2018/2019), Hong Kong Art School Higher Diploma in Painting Best Artwork (Painting) (2016), the HKSAR Education Bureau Outstanding Performance Scholarship (2015/2016), and the Hong Kong Designers Association Designer Student of the Year (2014).
Cheung Ka Yu Yumi is the recipient of the Contemporary by Angela Li Award of the Fresh Trend 2020 Art Graduates Joint Exhibition. The award-winning work is a pair of diptych ink paintings titled Who Whisper Softly in My Ear. In her works, she examines the life cycles of the nature through the traditional art form of Chinese ink on silk. “Is it possible to explore brightness when living in a dark age which is full of disappointments, helplessness and limitations? Plants, in any stage of growth, whether they live or die, show the unique beauty of life. Drawing ‘death’ is also another expression of ‘life’”, Cheung explains. Her works question the referential relationship between life and death, brightness and darkness. With extra fine brushstroke and maintaining an oriental feel, Yumi presents us the beauty of the life cycle in a contemporary context. Born in 1997, Cheung graduated from the Fine Arts Department of The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2020.
CONTEMPORARY BY ANGELA LI
G/F, 248 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
