Arts preview: visual artist Lee Kit is a man in constant motion

YOU.
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Visual artist Lee Kit, known for his paintings and preoccupation with the passage of time, returns to Hong Kong with "You". The solo exhibition expands upon his 2013 Venice Bienniale show, "You [you].", both of which were co-curated by Lars Nittve, M+ executive director, and Yung Ma, M+ assistant curator.

Lee, a Hongkonger who is based in Taiwan, will be showing painting, video, installation and readymades.

He says that his latest work is more candid and political than before.

"I want to deal with Hong Kong's current climate," he says. "The society is angry and it's even more important to me now that I'm not often in Hong Kong. This exhibition isn't going to be like my previous ones, which were slight in comparison. I think parts of this will be more extreme."

Since showing in Venice, Lee says that his work has veered towards the use of narrative.

"It's not because I've used video that the work becomes narrative. It's more that there is a storytelling aspect. I made a very short video about a guy who misses the floor in a supermarket. He doesn't have time to go and see the floor so he sends it a postcard that says, 'I miss you a lot'. It's stories like this."

Where does Lee get inspiration for this new work? "Sometimes the stories just pop into my head," he says. "It may be because I'm flying a lot. I'll be on the plane or in a hotel room and suddenly these stories come to me."

And the travelling isn't going to stop any time soon. Lee is highly sought after on the international art circuit so the stories will continue. "I really haven't stopped working over the past two years," he says.

"Before Venice I was busy. After Venice, I didn't stop. This year, on the third of January, I was in Japan for a solo show. After that I travelled to Germany. Then I was in Taiwan for a few days before going on to Shanghai."

After Hong Kong, Lee will be showing in the US, China, England, Germany and Ukraine.

"I miss my bed," he says.

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Cattle Depot Artist Village, 63 Ma Tau Kok Road, To Kwa Wan, Tuesday-Sunday, 11am-7pm. Ends April 13. Inquiries: 2200 0204