Friday, February 22, 2008

Hong Kong Anarchitecture Bananas

MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Hong Kong, 10 Mar 2008

Buildings gone crazy!
Hong Kong Anarchitecture Bananas: Artists who reclaim space
Artist Commune, Hong Kong
29 Mar – 17 Apr 2008


Hong Kong Anarchitecture Bananas: Artists who reclaim space is a group exhibition exploring artists' humorous interpretations of urban planning, architecture and design. It will be held at Artist Commune, Hong Kong, during 29 Mar – 17 Apr 2008.

Curated by artists Lee Chun-fung and Michael Lee Hong-hwee, this exhibition aims to provide a platform for Hong Kong artists to explore their personal interpretations of space. Adding the prefix ‘An’ to the word ‘architecture’ yields the exhibition's keyword ‘Anarchitecture’, suggesting an ‘anarchic’ slant in the definition and use of public space. Amidst city living, such as in Hong Kong, where space is limited and also strictly defined, these artists offer alternative views of how one can think, feel and do with space in refreshing ways.

On show are works by over 30 established and emerging artists dealing with different subthemes including personal and collective memory, private and public space, studio space, voyeurism, destruction, discipline and disorder, graffiti, town planning, and familial relationship. These are explored through a diversity of approaches: drawing, collage, photography, sculpture, architectural model, installation, video, miniature, and paper art. The works include: Michael Wolf’s photographs of laundry stuck on different parts of buildings in Hong Kong; Chihoi’s drawings in which Central’s IFC (International Financial Centre) comes alive; Yeung Hok Tak’s comics of graffiti texts behind bus seats; Li Loi-yau’s super-realistic miniature of a wood workshop; Toser Pak’s group performance of crossing the street in a horizontal straight line; Andrew Guthrie’s multi-video installation peeping into people’s homes at night, and Frog King’s graffiti expressions.

This exhibition is co-organised by Artist Commune and Studio Bibliothèque, Hong Kong. It is the third installment in the Things Artists Do series.

Artists: Adrain Wong Ho-yin, Almond Chu, Andrew S Guthrie, Annie Wan, Au Wah Yan, Au Yeung Ping-chi, C&G, Chihoi, Dicky Tse, Doris Wong Wai-yin, Erdmann Cornelia, Frog King, Galen Tse Kin-wah, Ger (WAS), Homan Ho Man-chong, Jeff Leung Chin-fung, Justin Wong, Kacey Wong, Kady Fung Ka-yee, Kwan Sheung-chi, Lau Chi-chung, Lee Chun-fung, Li Loi-yau, Max Tsoi, Michael Lee Hong-hwee, Michael Wolf, Roy Ng Tin-ho, Suki Chan, Tozer Pak, Warren Leung Chi-wo, Yentl Tong Ying-tung, Yeung Hok-tak, Yeung yang, Yuen Kin-leung
Curators: Lee Chun-fung and Michael Lee Hong-hwee
Opening: 4pm, Sat, 29 Mar 2008
Curators’ & Artists’ Talk: 5-6pm, Sat, 29 Mar 2008
Exhibition continues till: Thu, 17 Apr 2008
Opening hours: 12pm – 8pm, Tue – Sun (closed on Mon)
Venue: Artist Commune, 12 Cattle Depot Artist Village, 63 Ma Tau Kok Rd, Kowloon, HK
Contact: Mr. Lee Chun-fung at (+852) 9558 9394
Email: m63@artist-commune.com
Url: http://anarchibananas.blogspot.com/

About the curators
Lee Chun-fungLee Chun Fung is the Programme Officer of Artist Commune, Hong Kong. He recently graduated from Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Fine Arts Department. In his art, he offers humourous takes on social issues through diverse media including painting, sculpture, video, installation and performance.
<lee_fung2002@yahoo.com.hk>

Michael Lee is a Singapore-born artist based in Hong Kong. He explores his concern about the relation between desire and space through model-making, book-making, photography, video, installation, writing and curating. He was a recipient of Young Artist Award (Visual Arts) 2005, awarded by National Arts Council, Singapore.
<http://www.michael.farm.sg/>

About Artist Commune
Taking on the perspective of Hong Kong artists, Artist Commune was established by the core members of Hong Kong Young Artists Association in July 1997. It became a non-profit organization funded by Hong Kong Arts Development Council (ADC) in the following November. As one of the yearly beneficiaries of ADC, Artist Commune registered as a non-profit limited company in December 1999. The establishment of Artist Commune strongly reflects the desire of some artists for a space of art making and exhibition. Since the beginning with artists workshops at Cheung Fat Industrial Building in Shek Tong Tsui, Artist Commune has attracted many local and foreign artists for gatherings and seminars in sharing of their different artistic experiences. Thereafter, in spite of many times of moving, Artist Commune remained to be the base for artists to create and exhibit artworks, and to exchange ideas and experiences. To date, Artist Commune has fledged to be a diversified civic art organization, providing not only exhibition venues for local visual artists but also opportunities for the development of various art forms and artistic collaborations.

About Studio Bibliothèque

Studio Bibliothèque facilitates experiments in making, writing, curating and learning. It is the Hong Kong-based working and living space of Singapore-born artist Michael Lee Hong Hwee. The studio has been featured in the media including in the regional lifestyle and design magazine iSh, Sunday Morning Post, Ming Pao Daily, Ming Pao Weekly, Weekend Weekly, and Take Me Home.
<http://www.studiobibliotheque.blogspot.com/>

About Things Artists Do series
Things Artists Do is an exhibition/publication series of Studio Bibliothèque. It aims to address the gap amidst the onslaught of survey, thematic art shows and books by focusing on the being, consumption and activities of artists. So far, two exhibitions in the series have been completed, respectively Autobibliophiles: Artists who make or use books, May/Jun 2007; and Eniminiminimos: Artists who make things small, Jan 2008, both held in Studio Bibliothèque. Two projects of the series are currently in progress: Hong Kong Anarchitecture Bananas: Artists who reclaim space, 29 Mar - 17 Apr 2008, Artist Commune; and Preoccupations: Things artists do anyway, a bookwork to be launched in Jul 2008.

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