The Hong Kong Museum of Art's latest contemporary art exhibition is a showcase of works by seven local artists from different generations and media disciplines. However, there's more to Made in Hong Kong than first meets the eye.
The work of Kwok Mang-ho, aka Frog King, for instance, is not shown with the rest of the artists. His collection of 'junk art' clutters the public space outside the Contemporary Hong Kong Art Gallery, creating a slight sense of chaos and calamity - just as his art should - in the open.
Works by installation artist Kum Chi-keung are also outside: his ivy vines creep all the way to nearby restroom cubicle walls. The message is clear: art can be anywhere and everywhere. Art is about living.
Made in Hong Kong is the museum's latest effort to bring art closer to the people. 'Exhibitions are, in fact, sites of life encounters and energy exchanges,' says curator Eve Tam Mei-yee. 'More often than not, 'good art' doesn't start with art history. It starts with life. To appreciate art, it doesn't matter if we know little about art or its history.'
Art is also about people, she says. This exhibition is as much about the art as it is about the artists. Hence the publicity materials for the show include slick portrait shots and a series of Q&As that introduce the artists, who also include Chow Chun-fai, Chu Hing-wah, Kevin Fung Lik-yan, Wan Qingli and Vincent Yu Wai-kin.
'These artists are uniquely Hong Kong because they're shaped by this city's culture while, on the other side of the coin, their works reflect this 'Hongkongness' that gives this place its identity. There is a reciprocal relationship between the two. You can't take people out of the equation,' Tam says.