Curating solo exhibition of Josh Hon: Dead Water Convulsion–Hong Kong–1980s

In "Dead Water Convulsion–Hong Kong–1980’s", Josh Hon looks back at the art and political scene of Hong Kong in the 1980s. Hon, as a pioneering artist of the 1980s left Hong Kong at the peak of his career to move to Hope, British Columbia, after the Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989. Historically, many other Hong Kong citizens also left Hong Kong for North America at this time.

This exhibition, curated by leading Hong Kong contemporary artist Leung Chi Wo, presents a small selection of Hon’s works from the 1980s. It begins chronologically with an oversized oil and pastel painting, Where a Gentleman Won’t Stand Under (1981), one of the last pieces he created in the US before his return to Hong Kong in 1982. It also includes some of his video, installation and performance work from the late 80s, with Out of Context, an important experimental art project in Hong Kong during the 80s, along with other theatre and dance collectives that he worked with.

Hon developed his artistic practice alongside the socio-political change of Hong Kong during the 80s. His paintings, installations, video and performance translated forms, materials, text and gestures into enthusiastic expressions that reflected Hong Kong’s fraught socio-political climate and burgeoning art scene during the pre-handover years.