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ReviewHong Kong artist Ellen Pau looks at political promises and cynicism in New York show

Ellen Pau’s New York exhibition ‘She Moves’ features 15 major pieces that document life, culture and unfulfilled political pledges

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A still from Pledge: Bik Lai Chu (1993/2018), a work by Ellen Pau on view at New York’s SculptureCenter as part of her solo exhibition “She Moves”. Photo: Charles Benton
A partial installation view of Where Have All the Flowers Gone (2026), a new work by Pau on view at New York’s SculptureCenter as part of “She Moves”. Photo: Charles Benton
An installation view of Pau’s solo exhibition “She Moves” at New York’s SculptureCenter. On the wall is the video Song of the Goddess (1992), with footages of Cantonese opera duo Yam Kim-fai and Pak Suet-sin. Photo: Charles Benton
Laura Luo
New Yorkers used to their city’s relentless noise and movement will find a familiar urban pace and intensity reflected in the works of Hong Kong video artist Ellen Pau.

At the video pioneer’s first North American survey, now on view at New York’s SculptureCenter, her poignant exploration of unfulfilled pledges also has resonance amid mounting cynicism about politics in the US and beyond.

“She Moves”, curated by Freya Chou, features 15 major works dating from 1988 to the present, and charts how Pau documents everyday urban life and Hong Kong’s shifting political and cultural landscape through an ambiguous yet poetic lens.

The 65-year-old artist’s stateside debut – accompanied by the screening of major works and a talk at the Museum of Modern Art in May – is long overdue. Born in British Hong Kong in 1961, Pau has been a tireless champion of the city’s experimental video art scene for decades, and continues to do so long after the 1997 handover to China.
Hong Kong artist Ellen Pau (right) and curator Freya Chou during their talk about Pau’s practice at the Museum of Modern Art in New York on May 18, 2026. Photo: courtesy of Ellen Pau
Hong Kong artist Ellen Pau (right) and curator Freya Chou during their talk about Pau’s practice at the Museum of Modern Art in New York on May 18, 2026. Photo: courtesy of Ellen Pau

A largely self-taught artist who produced her first Super 8 film in 1984, she co-founded Videotage, a pioneering media art collective, in 1986, and later established the Microwave International New Media Arts Festival in 1996. Alongside her prolific art career, she worked as a radiographer at Queen Mary Hospital for nearly 40 years. This background in medical imaging fundamentally shaped her sensitivity towards capturing, manipulating and interpreting electronic images.

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