How the vibrant, nostalgic Hong Kong paintings of Yeung Hok-tak belie a sense of loss
Exhibiting at Kiang Malingue gallery, Yeung Hok-tak’s paintings depict a Hong Kong both surreal and recognisable, full of intense colours
Yeung Hok-tak is an artist who has steadily been exploring themes of nostalgia, identity and the passing of time as Hong Kong’s cityscape changes at full speed and societal transformation creates new, unfamiliar rhythms.
In his solo exhibition “I See You There”, at Kiang Malingue gallery’s Aberdeen location, 19 new acrylic paintings depict a city both surreal and recognisable, full of contrasts and intense colours.
Yeung’s past as an illustrator shines through, each picture brimming with details, demanding you take the time to look closely.
His Hong Kong is populated by a strange bunch of characters. There is the gorilla in The Boss Is Not Human, certain to bring a wry smile to every worker, while a man with a gun pulls off a female mask covering his face in the sinister Undercover.
In Friendly Match, the tone is lighter. Two young men are preparing to fight inside a small park. One strikes a kung fu pose, his back heavily tattooed and a lit cigarette in his mouth. The other, a Bruce Lee lookalike in yellow trousers and a tank top, is spinning his nunchaku, one hand raised that obstructs his face.
