Abstract
Hidden Space is delighted to present Chan Sai-lok’s solo exhibition Everyday Practice at 20, the culmination of a series of experiments and exhibitions that began in 2018 and have continued evolving across time and spaces between New York, Hong Kong, Denmark and back home in Hong Kong again.
Chan began his “red” series during a 2018 residency in New York. Experiencing a culture and history so remote from his own, he used the residency as an opportunity to unlearn his artistic ideology and creative trajectory; to explore states of flux and connection where nobody knows where the changes will take us. As Chan explored the relationships between painting, text, words, and identity, works have emerged that fuse colour, culturally specific materials, found objects from Hong Kong and the US, and intertwined texts in English and Cantonese. His text – fragmented, layered, overlapping, printed, painted, cut from acrylic sheet - range from his own poetry, lines from the American Declaration of Independence (taken from the information package given to new immigrants by the US government), to seminal Cantonese song lyrics and graffiti.
What initially appear to be ‘straightforward’ paintings, on closer inspection are translucent coloured silk layered over painted rice paper, flags, over 3D acrylic Chinese characters taken apart into individual phonemes, the silk itself printed with digital photographs taken on the streets. With their unique materiality and cultural significance, exercise books, silk, flags, rice paper, and joss paper have become painting material for Chan, while the exhibition site itself has become a key locale of painting.
In 2019, as Hong Kong was hit by unprecedented turmoil, as more and more graffiti appeared in the streets, erased, re-written, painted over, Chan’s work had already mirrored it and grew to incorporate it. In his notes he writes, “The history of a place moves forwards slowly as it sinks and floats during the process of writing and being erased. The true face of history is formed during the resonance of struggle and contradiction.” Chan contemplates his own and his city’s linked identities. In questioning how he should act, and his future during artistic creation, it has become increasingly important to him to persevere in his way of life through daily art practice as a means to engage with constantly changing environments.
This exhibition marks the finale of the “red” series… and the beginning of a new stage.
Chan began his “red” series during a 2018 residency in New York. Experiencing a culture and history so remote from his own, he used the residency as an opportunity to unlearn his artistic ideology and creative trajectory; to explore states of flux and connection where nobody knows where the changes will take us. As Chan explored the relationships between painting, text, words, and identity, works have emerged that fuse colour, culturally specific materials, found objects from Hong Kong and the US, and intertwined texts in English and Cantonese. His text – fragmented, layered, overlapping, printed, painted, cut from acrylic sheet - range from his own poetry, lines from the American Declaration of Independence (taken from the information package given to new immigrants by the US government), to seminal Cantonese song lyrics and graffiti.
What initially appear to be ‘straightforward’ paintings, on closer inspection are translucent coloured silk layered over painted rice paper, flags, over 3D acrylic Chinese characters taken apart into individual phonemes, the silk itself printed with digital photographs taken on the streets. With their unique materiality and cultural significance, exercise books, silk, flags, rice paper, and joss paper have become painting material for Chan, while the exhibition site itself has become a key locale of painting.
In 2019, as Hong Kong was hit by unprecedented turmoil, as more and more graffiti appeared in the streets, erased, re-written, painted over, Chan’s work had already mirrored it and grew to incorporate it. In his notes he writes, “The history of a place moves forwards slowly as it sinks and floats during the process of writing and being erased. The true face of history is formed during the resonance of struggle and contradiction.” Chan contemplates his own and his city’s linked identities. In questioning how he should act, and his future during artistic creation, it has become increasingly important to him to persevere in his way of life through daily art practice as a means to engage with constantly changing environments.
This exhibition marks the finale of the “red” series… and the beginning of a new stage.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published - 28 May 2020 |
| Event | Everyday Practice at 20: Chan Sai-lok Solo Exhibition - Hidden Space, Hong Kong, China Duration: 28 May 2020 → 21 Jun 2020 https://www.hiddenspace.land/coming-soon |