In his enamel paintings of movie frames, Chow Chun-fai transfers onto canvas memorable scenes from celluloid classics such as Infernal Affairs and Love in a Fallen City. His recreations are so faithful that they include the films' English and Chinese subtitles. But the images are not just slavish imitations. The 28-year-old says his movie paintings series probes sociopolitical issues such as identity, the definition and role of art and public space in Hong Kong. To delve into that subtext is not as simple as it looks.
'It's actually more difficult, yet more interesting, not to alter the image and the subtitles,' he says, adding that it would be much easier to create an impression by manipulatively matching images to text out of context.
'We can easily imagine the impact of juxtaposing an image of [Chief Executive] Donald Tsang [Yam-kuen] giving a speech next to a quote taken from [TV drama] Heart of Greed, can't we?
'I'm not making changes to the originals, so I'm not rewriting history. I just uncover what's there.'
Chow thinks art should function as a reflection of society. 'Art records the culture of a certain place at a certain time - not only the life of the artist.'
It's this conceptual approach that has won Chow much critical acclaim, making him one of the most sought after Hong Kong artists working today. The mild mannered fine arts graduate has just won this year's Sovereign Asian Art Prize and the Hong Kong Arts Centre 30th Anniversary Award Grand Prize for his works Once a Thief, 'Any Self-respecting Thief would be Proud to Steal this Painting' and Shaolin Soccer, 'If We Don't Have Any Dream in Life' respectively.