Your interpretation or mine? Hong Kong artist Chow Chun Fai reflects in video interview

HONG KONG FOTANIAN ARTIST VIDEO INTERVIEW

In the four-minute video, Chow Chun Fai [art]attack 6, Hong Kong-born artist Chow Chun Fai shares his views on the ever-evolving interpretation of art and his own role as an artist.

A graduate of the Chinese University of Hong Kong‘s Department of Fine Arts, Chow is currently an active member of the Fotan art community, working primarily in Hong Kong and Beijing.

His works have been exhibited in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore, Manchester, Munich, Salzburg, Vienna, Palermo, and Verona.

In his “Painting on Movie” series, Chow appropriates stills from popular cinema. Through the remaking process, the artist explores the differences between his own understanding and the audience’s interpretation.

…everyone has his or her own interpretation of things. Sometimes even the artist’s interpretation of his or her own artwork can change over time.

Chow Chun Fai, 'Infernal Affairs, “I want my identity back”', 2007, enamel paint on canvas.

While everyone’s interpretations may not be exactly the same, Chow believes the messages of culture and identity can easily transcend borders. On his first movie painting depicting a scene from the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, he remarks:

There are many scenes in this movie that cannot be translated, but you would still understand the movie regardless of your cultural background.

Despite being a well-established artist and winning multiple awards such as the Hong Kong Arts Centre 30th Anniversary Award Grand Prize and the Sovereign Asian Art Prize, Chow says being a Hong Kong artist remains a considerable challenge:

…your work needs to involve more than just creativity. You might also need to be your own agent and writer, etc.

The road of creativity can make for a bumpy ride, but Chow maintains a firm belief in himself:

Sometimes you can love what you do. Sometimes you get confused… I believe in everything I do.

Watch the video on the ChooChooTV show [art]attack (length of video, 4:09 mins).

VL/KN

Related Topics: Hong Kong artists, Fotanian artists, videos

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Kwan Sheung Chi reveals how to survive as an artist in Hong Kong in telling video

HONG KONG FOTANIAN ARTIST VIDEO INTERVIEW

“Kwan Sheung Chi [art]attack 29” (length of video, 5:12 mins), features the Hong Kong artist Kwan Sheung Chi (b. 1980). In the video, Kwan describes the issues he explored in two of his exhibitions, as well as providing insight into his lifestyle. He emphasizes that creating art forms only a part of his activities. The video shows Kwan as he is interviewed in his studio in Fotan, Hong Kong, alongside examples of his work.

Kwan Sheung Chi's 'in situ', part of the exhibition "No Matter, Try Again, Fail Again" held at gallery EXIT (Hong Kong) in 2009.

Kwan Sheung Chi graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2003, with a Third Honor Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts. He has been recognized in Hong Kong from as early as 2000 when he was named the King of Hong Kong New Artist while still a student. His 2002 exhibition “Kwan Sheung Chi Touring Series Exhibitions, Hong Kong” toured ten major exhibition venues in Hong Kong.

He set up a studio in Fotan, Hong Kong where he creates art when he is not working at his part time job.

My studio looks more like a home. I spend most of my time in the kitchen. Since I’ve moved into this studio, I’ve cooked more than actually creating.

Kwan comments on the importance of trying different mediums for his work. He comes up with an appropriate medium for his work after he has explored many ways of expressing a certain concept or idea.

The medium of creating a piece of art is not my priority; rather it’s what I want to express and what I feel about a certain subject matter, then I will choose a suitable medium for the artwork.

He comments that his first solo exhibition, “A Retrospective of Kwan Sheung Chi”, was meant to be a “reverse” logic, an exploration of what a new artist needs to do to prepare himself for his own “retrospective”.  He says that it is due to this exhibition, held at the Hong Kong Arts Centre, that he is now so well-known in Hong Kong.

My intention of the retrospective is to ’reverse’ the logic of a new artist preparing for a retrospective. The artwork in the exhibition mainly reflects my ideas on how to survive as an artist in Hong Kong.

Kwan also discusses his 2009 exhibition “No Matter. Try Again. Fail Again.”, which consisted of about ten videos, small sculptures, and installations, and in which he explored the idea of failure. He explains that we encounter failure in many aspects of life, and it is impossible to avoid the negative feelings it causes.

One of the videos is about suicide, it’s called ‘Plan A To Z To End My Life’. I tried to think of 26 ways from A-Z to commit suicide.

Watch the video on the ChooChooTV show [art]attack (length of video, 5:12 mins).

MM/KN

Related Topics: Hong Kong artists, videos, profiles

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Subscribe to Art Radar Asia for more on Fotanian artists

Fotan 2010 – a growing cluster of art studios in Hong Kong

HONG KONG ART STUDIOS

Fo Tan is a place that you might not be able to name straight away when speaking of Hong Kong’s local art. However, this fading industrial district is home to more than 50 art studios and 180 artists. Each year in January many of Fo Tan’s artists invite outsiders into their studios to show their work as well as to exchange ideas and dialogue.

Fotanian Open Studio Programme 2010  which showcases artwork of a multitude of media, including paintings, sculptures, ceramics, mixed media, printmaking, installations, photographic and video works, is the eighth incarnation of the event.

This year CNNGo takes a peek inside some of the studios and interviews the artists about their experience of Fotan.

Chow Chun Fai at Studio 1023: “Fotanian follows no rules. It’s a natural process. People come and go. It renews itself.”

Homan Ho at G16: “Fotanian is coming together to be able to dream together, even if we still need that day job.”

Sculpture and furniture designer Homan Ho is sitting in front of the bookshelf he made for G16, the unofficial café of this year’s Fotanian event.

Installation artist Samuel Adam Swope (left) and painter Sarah Lai share the studio “just like honey.”

Swope: “People think Fotanian is a festival. I think it’s more like a carnival. You know, more casual. For all walks of life to have fun.”
Lai: “Fotanian is like your private space within a family.”

For more, please visit CCNGo

If you were not able to visit during the open studio event  and CNN’s report is not enough for you, you can arrange your own visit at any time during the year by taking a look at the website Fotanian.com. Here you will find a map and a complete list of artists, the location of their studios and contact details.

 LLH

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