7 of the best Hong Kong art shows in 2020, from the Italian Renaissance to a Wan Chai pop-up
- ‘Botticelli and His Times’ took art lovers to another time and place with 42 paintings from the Renaissance era – and will still be around until February 24
- Conceptual artist Francis Alÿs was one of few international names to make it to Hong Kong this year, putting on a show of past works and custom commissions
Ever since Hong Kong became a global art hub, industry insiders have pondered the designation of the city, considering it more of a marketplace for art and doorway to Asia than a true hotbed of creativity.
In 2020, the pandemic all but eradicated travel and a packed art fair calendar saw events cancelled one after another. It’s been an interesting time to watch how Hong Kong’s art industry coped and pivoted. Here, we highlight seven of the best shows we saw this year.
“Botticelli and His Times – Masterworks from the Uffizi”, Hong Kong Museum of Art
Featuring 42 paintings from the Renaissance era, the show not only shines light on the Italian artist Sandro Botticelli but also features portraits and religious depictions by the likes of Filippo Lippi, Cosimo Rosselli, Pietro Perugino, Luca Signorelli and Biagio d’Antonio. Among the highlights is The Adoration of the Magi (1474-75), one of Botticelli’s most important paintings.
Nothing could stop these Hong Kong artists from creating
“Unconstrained Textiles: Stitching Methods, Crossing Ideas”, Chat (Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile)
This group show brought together the works of seven contemporary artists to explore in broad terms the meaning of textiles: a raw material with rich cultural, historical and political associations. In this proposal to expand the definition of textile art beyond a craft pursuit, the likes of Byron Kim, Samson Young and Izumi Kato showcased a myriad of interpretations, from performative body work to video pieces to hanging sculptures.
This was an exhibition that not only provided a reframing of key definitions in our cultural vocabulary, but cemented Chat’s own status as a space to be reckoned with and an important institutional voice.
Exhibition dates: March 21-July 26, 2020
“A’fair”, 65 Hennessy Road
In a shining example of Hong Kong’s ability to adapt to challenges, a group of local artists descended upon a defunct Japanese restaurant in Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island and transformed it into a short-lived pop-up exhibition called “A’fair”.
Exhibition dates: November 19-22, 2020
“Swampland: Ho Sin-tung”, Hanart TZ Gallery
As always, Ho was influenced by tropes from film and literature, with such diverse cultural references as Greek mythology, director Alfred Hitchcock, manga/anime series Sailor Moon and philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, as she mused on concepts of systems and power, a popular topic among local artists following the 2019 mass political protests.
Alongside her signature pencil drawings (including a room of archival fantasy movie posters) were installations ranging from comical, flag-covered sheet ghosts to decaying love tokens bottled in glass vessels. It was a thought-provoking exploration of an artist’s vivid and fantastic imagination.
Exhibition dates: January 9-29, 2020
“William Eggleston”, David Zwirner
The bad-boy photographer of his day, 81-year-old William Eggleston is best known for shaking up the world of art photography and colouring it wild – literally. In an age during which black-and-white was the dominant and sole accepted format for serious artists, Eggleston polarised the community by taking photos of everyday scenes in lurid hues (think petrol stations and Coca-Cola signs galore) and calling it art.
Exhibition dates: September 10-October 17, 2020
Theatre’s back on Broadway – one actor, on a stage, cameras rolling
“Garden of Six Seasons”, Para Site
With nearly every artist in the latter half of 2020 contemplating the effects of solitude on their practices and the aftershocks of the pandemic upon all of society, artistic themes across the globe began to dovetail.
While many of the works were created before Covid-19 became a part of our collective consciousness, this feat of curation brought together a mind-expanding and timely narrative of man’s relationship to nature, juxtaposing names ranging from locals Trevor Yeung and Wing Po-so to Balinese artist Citra Sasmita and Guatemalan Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa.
Exhibition dates: May 16-August 30, 2020
“Wet Feet_Dry Feet, Borders and Games: Francis Alÿs”, Tai Kwun Contemporary
Conceptual artist Francis Alÿs was one of few international names to actually make it to Hong Kong this year, mounting his show after the customary two-week quarantine with a survey of past works alongside custom commissions, with footage filmed in the city.
The title of the exhibition is taken from a 1995 US policy on Cuban immigrants, with the show straddling formats as the artist explored his favoured topics of migration, identity and geopolitical boundaries through whimsical, nostalgic childhood renderings and motifs.
Exhibition dates: October 28, 2020 to February 16, 2021
Which stories mattered most to you in 2020? Find out with our Year In Review 2020 retrospective.
