During Art Week, we’re exploring the best Hong Kong exhibitions in top-tier galleries by illustrious artists including Izumi Kato, John Armleder, Andy Warhol, Omar Ba, and Ouattara Watts.
IZUMI KATO at Perrotin
March 24 – May 18, 2024
Izumi Kato, “Untitled,” 2023, acrylic on wood, plastic model, stainless steel, 75 x 30 x 30 cm., ©2023 Izumi Kato, courtesy of the artist and Perrotin.
Artist Izumi Kato offers beaming new works at Perrotin this spring, revealing the debut of evocative, animalistic beings who survive peacefully alongside their humanlike counterparts in a tender utopia. Within dreamlike paintings and sculptures, the vibrant protagonists enhanced by vivid anatomies appear to befriend, comfort, or even lead the colorful humanoids through a myriad of graphic environments. Standing beside them, on top of them, or reclining next to them, the scintillating creations exude a sense of soulful and respectful companionship.
Ambiguous atmospheres that appear both primitive and post-apocalyptic are illustrated through fiery mountainsides and backgrounds ranging from gray and black to blue, orange, and red—an everlasting hope glitters on the horizon in each work.
The humanoid characters too have evolved, with limbs gracefully extending into branches with verdant leaves and blooming florals. In one captivating sculpture of wood, plastic, and stainless steel, the neon green glow of an alien-like visage is dotted with enormous black eyes and a red mouth, its arms wrapped in fluid embrace around its delicate knees; an array of helicopter or windmill-like structures arise from the top of his head conjuring themes of intergalactic communication, renewable energy, and intelligent growth.
John Armleder’s “On ne fait pas ça” at MASSIMODECARLO
March 21 – May 11, 2024
Installation view of John Armleder’s “On ne fait pas ça,” photo by Roberto Marossi, courtesy of MASSIMODECARLO.
MASSIMODECARLO presents a comprehensive solo show by Swiss luminary John Armleder, uniting dynamic works from 1994 to 2023 which illuminate the artist’s enduring exploration of the humorous, the serendipitous, and the laborious. Deeply energized by the Fluxus movement sparked during the 1960s, as well as visionary American composer and artist John Cage, Armleder’s legendary “furniture sculptures” and more recent “pour” and “puddle paintings” make way for new dialogues on the unplanned and the fortuitous in art and in life. Even the exhibition’s title, “we do not do this,” was arrived at by chance, paying homage to the precious fragments of media, conversation, songs, and books which have provoked riveting artistry throughout the icon’s shining career.
“I decided that it was ok to make works that looked like things that had been made before: If they were things that I liked, that was enough reason to make them,” explained Armleder in a 2011 interview with ARTFORUM. “After all, this is an age-old way of making art. You look at something you like, and you try to do the same thing in your own, possibly better way.”
“Andy Warhol’s Long Shadow” at Gagosian
March 25 – May 11, 2024
Nathaniel Mary Quinn, “The Athlete,” 2024, Oil paint, oil pastel, soft pastel, and gouache on linen canvas stretched over wood panel, 20 x 16 in.; © Nathaniel Mary Quinn, photo by Maris Hutchinson, courtesy of Gagosian.
Gagosian unveils the mesmerizing new exhibition “Andy Warhol’s Long Shadow” during Art Basel Hong Kong. Meticulously organized by Jessica Beck, previously with Pittsburgh’s Andy Warhol Museum, the vivacious show centers on the resounding influence of the enigmatic artist through his diverse creations as well as projects by fellow icons and friends such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Nan Goldin, Derrick Adams, Takashi Murakami, Richard Prince, and Nathaniel Mary Quinn. Captivating paintings, films, and photographs capture Warhol’s prismatic and evolving practice from the 1950s to the 80s, with powerful, complex gems including paintings Silver Liz [Studio Type] (1963) and Dollar Sign (1981), and Polaroid Self-Portrait in Fright Wig (1986).
The enchanted first meeting between Basquiat and Warhol is forever documented in Basquiat’s double portrait Dos Cabezas (1982), while their dazzling collaboration Sweet Pungent (1984–85) is just one of 160 mutual paintings. Urs Fischer’s Dew (2023) breathes new life to Warhol’s own brilliant revisioning of commercial motifs, and Nathaniel Mary Quinn’s The Athlete (2024) pays respect to the icon’s Athlete paintings of Muhammad Ali and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with his own poetic, contemporary insights.
“1-54 Presents: Coalescent Lights” at Christie’s Hong Kong
March 26 – 30, 2024
Zanele Muholi, “Labo V Torino,” 2019, Baryta print, 80 x 57 cm.; courtesy of the artist and Galerie Carole Kvanevski.
1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair debuts its much-anticipated inaugural exhibition in Asia with “1-54 Presents: Coalescent Lights” at the famed Christie’s Hong Kong. Celebrating the many facets of artistry of African and African diaspora creatives, the 1-54 Presents program was unveiled in London this past October and continues to travel the globe. Thoughtfully curated by Kami Gahiga, the latest show offers tremendous investigations by artists including Virginia Chihota, Abdoulaye Konaté, Wura-Natasha Ogunji, Omar Ba, Sanaa Gateja, Zanele Muholi, and Ouattara Watts. Energized by the intricate analysis of contemporary art French-Cameroonian curator Simon Njami, the presentation transcends time and form for a generously fluid, all-encompassing perspective.
“Coalescent Lights at Christie’s Hong Kong is a critical exploration embedded within a multilayered network of exchanges and approaches which resist generalization,” explained Gahiga. “It emphasizes the rich tapestry of ideas and concepts present and woven within the works by contemporary African artists. As our first presentation in Asia, it was vital to bring a deeply engaging set of artworks that showcase the diversity of thought, expression and medium within contemporary art practice across Africa and the African diaspora.”
“We are thrilled to offer a platform for many of the talented artists participating in Coalescent Lights to showcase their work in a new market for the first time,” added Touria El Glaoui, Founder of 1-54. This expansion into Asia marks an exciting milestone for 1-54, and we are eager to see how our collaboration with Christie’s evolves and shapes the future of contemporary African art in the region.”
