Exhibition Introduction

Art Projects Gallery is proud to introduce Hong Kong artists Lai Wai Lam, Fung Hoi Shan and Tao Hoi Chuen in the group exhibition “Wandering in the rain”.

The title of the exhibition “Wandering in the rain”, is a metaphor illustrating the key characteristics of the “Gongbi traditional chinese painting technique”. Gongbi requires drawing with fine lines first to represent the exaggerated likenesses of the objects, and then adding washes of ink and color layer by layer, so as to approach the perfection of exquisiteness and fine art.

In their respective ways, the three artists uses Gongbi to express unique narratives and interpretations of the city.

Ink medium plays a pivotal role in the Chinese painting system while cities, as subject matters and scene settings, are often depicted in the traditional academic paintings. Painters usually use ordered compositions and fine lines to create elegant visuals in traditional Chinese academic paintings. These paintings were traditionally used as a documentary of life and the city.

For contemporary Gongbi paintings, the function of Gongbi is not just a documentation of the city but as a means for the artists to express themselves visually, using their own perception and sensitivity to portray the impressions of the city, while advancing the traditional ingenuity of the Gongbi painting.

Lai Wai Lam’s works focus on the Gongbi flowers and birds genre, seamlessly integrating with experimental ink art. His abstract and poetic works describe subtle relationships between man, nature and the built world. Lam’s experimental ink painting technique adds a more casual, flexible and organic visual quality to the traditional Gongbi paintings.

Fung Hoi Shan’s works re-investigates the relationships between human, animals and the city. She constructs surrealistic settings in her works, placing cityscapes and different wild animals together, creating a sublime and poetic atmosphere that wanders between reality and imagination. Her use of Hong Kong literature as themes further elevates and deepens the meaning in her works.

Tao Hoi Chuen’s practice explores the possibilities of multiple-perspectives in Chinese Landscape Painting and Gongbi Portraiture. Influenced by the traditional theories of Chinese Painting. Tao’s works reflects the idea of “Qi” in his work, which he combines with his fascination with Photorealism to create his unique expression. The subject matter depicted in Tao’s paintings reflects the daily life of Hong Kong people realistically, in which he expresses the sense of alienation and numbness among the city dwellers.

Exhibition Details

• Wandering in the Rain | Lai Wai Lam x Fung Hoi Shan x Tao Hoi Chuen
• Date: 12 Feb 2022 - 5 Mar 2022
• Time: 10:00-19:00 (Tue - Sat)
• Venue: Art Projects Gallery
• Address: Unit A2, 14/F, Vita Tower, 29 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Hong Kong

About the Artists

LAI WAI LAM

Lai Wai Lam (b.1990) received his B.A. in Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2012 and 2018 respectively. In 2018, he was awarded the Bronze Award – Established Artist Category (Landscape or Figurative) in the annual art competition in Hong Kong – The 2018 UOB Art in Ink Awards. The winning artwork is now donated to United Overseas Bank’s collection.

Lai mainly focuses on ink as a medium of creation and is especially interested in the procedure of delineative painting. At the same time, his shading and smudge technique of superimposed ink layers retains a quiet and persistent temperament, much like the artist himself. Visual details of objects encountered in daily life is always reorganised and presented in his artworks as he makes use of different technique and perspective to explore other possibilities of expressions in ink painting. Lai grew up in the countryside which gives him spiritual freedom and peace. As he starts his career in the city, he begins to feel the pace of the rapid and artificial urban development. As a result, he focuses on expressing his inner feeling through his paintings depicting the relationship between the city, human and nature such as the contrast between urban bustle and leisure in the natural environment.

FUNG HOI SHAN

FUNG Hoi-Shan (b.1993 Hong Kong) graduated from the Fine Arts Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2016 and finished her Master programme of Fine Arts in 2020. Applying the techniques of traditional Chinese painting, FUNG works primarily with fine brushes and uses deep coloured shades which create a dusky ambiance within her works. Inspired by her own life experiences and perceptions, she reflects the emotional linkages between human-animals through depiction of the cities and wildlifes. The tension between animals and cities also shown in her paintings. She is especially skilled in using gold and silver colours to build rich layers that intertwine the reality and fantasy.

TAO HOI CHUEN

Jacky Tao Hoi Chuen (b.1996 Hong Kong) obtained his BA in Fine Arts from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2018 and is currently an MFA degree candidate at the same university.

Focusing on the creation of the Gong-bi figurative painting, Tao investigates the presentation and the way of viewing between two-dimensional and three-dimensional spaces, exploring and redefining the significance of “flatness” in traditional ink art in the context of contemporary art.

Resource from: PR