Advertisement
Advertisement

Some Rooms

Some Rooms

Osage Kwun Tong

Ends May 24

Part of an annual series of shows mounted by Osage, Some Rooms is themed around dialogue and exchange between artist and curator. It's also a conversation between artist and viewer, as many of the works pose questions about the relationship of reality to representation.

But that's where the similarities end: the artists hail from half a dozen countries around the region, and their subject matter is diverse.

Tintin Wulia's Lure comprises a trail of handmade miniature passports that leads to a claw vending machine in which the prizes are life-size passports. It's understated in its cleverness, raising questions about the arbitrary barriers to freedom of movement erected by officialdom and the role of luck in determining where one has the right to reside. And, as the trail of passports bisects the gallery, it even hints at restricting the viewer's movement.

Wit Pimkanchanapong's Apple Apple is another deceptively simple piece, juxtaposing a rotating paper apple with a screensaver showing the same fruit going through the same rotations. It's a chicken-and-egg look at what constitutes originality in an age of Baudrillardian hyper-reality that's also rather mesmeric in its tantalising inedibility.

At the other end of the scale is Louie Cordero's roomful of psychedelic Philippine exploitation movie-inspired pieces. Taking a cue from his country's dwindling band of billboard painters, Cordero offers a nightmarish gorefest that takes the trashy aesthetic to an extreme in a riotous pop-culture nostalgia trip.

It's refreshing to see such a thoughtfully assembled body of work in a local gallery, and an encouraging reminder that, despite all the earnest daubs on display on Hollywood Road, there are some curators who aren't afraid of ideas.

5/F, Kian Dai Industrial Building, 73-75 Hung To Rd, Kwun Tong. Inquiries: 2793 4817

Post