Basquiat, Haring, Scharf, Opera Gallery
Jean-Michael Basquiat, Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf in one room? Yes, please! Dubbed “the three musketeers” of New York’s East Village, Basquiat, Haring and Scharf have become three of the most revered names in contemporary art by virtue of their distinctive styles that reflect their personal and shared struggles against different societal ideals. The unique artistic dialogue these idiosyncratic talents have created during their friendly rivalry has been translated into a large-scale group exhibition by Opera Gallery Hong Kong, celebrating the trio’s vision and creativity through a curated display of more than 30 works across three floors at their Central location. Let your imagination soar while looking up at Scharf’s Tondos, lose yourself in Basquiat’s world of anatomy and travel back to ‘80s New York while walking through a replica of Haring’s Pop Shop.
When: until April 30, 2022
Where: G08-09, The Galleria, 9 Queen’s Road Central
I Know What You Did Last Summer, Over The Influence
Escape into Hyangmok Baik’s utopia at Over The Influence. Bold and fantastic, I Know What You Did Last Summer is the South Korean artist’s paradisical, pleasure-centric deception of our pre-pandemic world. From tigers in flower fields and unicorns in the night to raw and uncanny depictions of colourful nude human figures, Baik weaves together the alluring and the absurd to capture our yearning for liberation and gratification through a fresh lens.
When: until May 7, 2022
Where: G/F & 1/F, 159 Hollywood Road Central
WHODUNNIT “フーダニット“ at AISHONANZUKA
French artist Jean Julien brings a playful splash of colour to Hong Kong this spring with his first solo exhibition at AISHONANZUKA. Featured in the likes of Vogue, The New York Times and National Geographic, his work re-imagines the ordinary with wit and vibrance, taking inspiration from a myriad of cultures, whether it be Japanese comics such as Dragon Ball and City Hunter or children’s book illustrations by Tomi Ungerer and cartoons by Jean-Jacques Sempé. His 14 works on canvas pay homage to life in his hometown of Brittany and piece together a beautiful and timely reminder of the small, simple delights that make up our everyday life.
When: until April 30, 2022
Where: Room 101, 1/F, Chinachem Hollywood Center, 1-13 Hollywood Road Central
Smile at the Flower Sermon, Tang Contemporary Art
Even if you are unfamiliar with the name Yue Minjun, you will most likely recognise the laughing male figures in his paintings. After a 10-year-hiatus, the Chinese contemporary artist is back with his first collaboration with Tang Contemporary Smile at the Flower Sermon, a solo exhibition comprising 20 works that feature his signature smiling men alongside his new Flowerseries created in 2020 at Chuncheng, Yunan, where he was inspired and given hope by the province’s vibrant florals that bloomed against the backdrop of the pandemic.
When: until April 30, 2022
Where: 10/F H Queen’s, 80 Queen’s Road Central
Romancing Relevance, WOAW Gallery
A nod to Romanticism, Romancing Relevance is a celebration of the infinite possibilities offered by painting. Curated by Kevin Poon, this thematic group exhibition features works by Zoe McGuire, Evgen Čopi Gorišek, Sean Gannon and more for a boundary-breaking display that explores imagination through expanding upon notions of nature, myth-making, the self and the psyche.
When: until April 14, 2022
Where: G07, The Galleria, 9 Queen’s Road Central
Pure Heart Shopping Street, Blindspot Gallery
Immerse yourself in the shopping streets of late 80s and early 90s Japan at Blindspot Gallery. Through a collection of lightboxes, videos, and paintings inspired by vintage digital media archives, Sarah Lai brings together her upbringing in Hong Kong and the influence of Japanese pop culture for a nostalgic and nuanced reflection on our relationship with the all-consuming virtual world, which is often saturated with visual stimuli.
When: until May 7, 2022
Where: 15/F, Po Chai Industrial Building, 28 Wong Chuk Hang Road
Zao Wou-Ki: The Eternal Return to China, Villepin Gallery
After their inaugural exhibition with Zao Wou-Ki last year, Villepin Gallery returns with another presentation with the Chinese-French master painter. Zao Wou-Ki: The Eternal Return to China is an exploration of the artist’s relationship with his native homeland, China, a place he left behind for over twenty years to pursue his career in Paris. Through a careful curation of rarely seen works and research based on newly discovered archive interviews with Zao, the new exhibition peels back the complex layers that comprise his works to shed light on the influence of Chinese culture and history that lies at the core of his art.
When: until May 22, 2022
Where: 53-55 Hollywood Road, Central
Editor
Kaitlyn LaiCredit
Lead Image: Courtesy of Opera Gallery
