Review | Meet Andy Lau, artist. Actor and Cantopop star shows off a new string to his bow in an exhibition in Hong Kong of collaborations with other artists
- The Hong Kong movie star and singer turned to art during his enforced downtime amid the Covid-19 pandemic. It has led to collaborations with other artists
- The fruits of their labour is on show in Hong Kong. Lau admits to being a mere ‘student’ of art and ‘open to criticism’. Just as well – some of it is awful
Andy Lau Tak-wah, one of Asia’s biggest movie stars and one of the “Four Heavenly Kings” of Cantopop in the 1990s, turned to producing art in his downtime during the Covid-19 pandemic, when several of his projects were put on hold.
He has practised Chinese calligraphy since childhood, when he wrote the daily menus for his family’s dai pai dong open-air food stall. But during the pandemic, he decided to push himself further by collaborating with a group of visual artists, each of whom uses a different medium.
The result is “1/X Andy Lau X Art Exhibition”, a group exhibition which runs until September 9 in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District. Tickets to see the group show cost HK$298 (US$40) for a 45-minute visit.
This was good to hear, considering how much opportunity for sycophantic idolatry the exhibition provides.
Among the artists involved is Sticky Line, a Hong Kong duo best known for making huge, intricate polyhedral sculptures.
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Lau has stressed that he was involved in the making of every work in the exhibition, but it isn’t entirely clear what influence he had on the sculpture of his character – which is, after all, the creation of those who scripted the 2003 film.
Placed in this temple dedicated to Lau, the sculpture is also devoid of Sticky Line’s usual tongue-in-cheek, playful tone.
Another artist featured in the exhibition, Beijing-based Xu Zhuoer, uses glass crystals to cover up objects that appeared in one of Lau’s most famous films. In a room titled All Along With are items such as a denim jacket, a wedding dress and a model of a motorbike.
With the movie’s theme song playing in the background, the artist was almost tearful when talking about working with Lau, and how he had painstakingly helped her stick the crystals onto the objects.
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By far the worst section of the exhibition is All Along, an “immersive” room showing cheesy images that wouldn’t look out of place in a 1990s music video.
First, visitors are shown what it feels like to be Andy Lau when he is performing at one of his concerts, from the moment he rises from a substage to the sights and sounds of fans screaming and taking pictures.
The experience takes a strange turn when the stage turns black and visitors are transferred to a Mars-like planet complete with alien spaceships, followed by a frosted lake with blue butterflies that gather to form an image of a cathedral.
The exhibition isn’t all bad. Huang Yulong’s sculpture Be You depicts a hooded figure sat on a large hand. It is part of Huang’s “Buddha with Hoodies” collection and combines the artist’s love of hip hop and his interest in Eastern philosophies.
And Lau’s own calligraphy is more than competent. His work with ink painter Lin Yusi, titled Be There, is engaging.
While all the artists praised Lau for his friendly demeanour and work ethic, it doesn’t make up for the fact that the setting is not ideal for viewing their works.
It’s a display of fatherly love that hardcore fans of Andy Lau might appreciate. But will others feel like paying HK$298 to see it?
“1/X Andy Lau X Art Exhibition”, Freespace, Art Park, West Kowloon Cultural District, 11am-8pm, daily. Until Sept. 9.
