Which Chinese artists are among the big names at Louis Vuitton Passion show in Hong Kong? NY Times review

HONG KONG ART SHOW CHINESE ARTISTS

“Admirably …the conservative, government-run museum goes beyond its usual comfort zone” says The New York Times in its review of the Hong Kong Museum of Art’s latest show: ‘Louis Vuitton: A Passion for Creation’ which runs until 9 August 2009.

Hong Kong Museum of Art wrapped for Louis Vuitton Passion show

In a generally positive review, the few criticisms are not sharp:

To hard-core followers of contemporary art, the exhibition can seem like a “greatest hits” compilation. But it is a rare opportunity to see in Asia — outside of Japan — some of the biggest names in global culture today. And offerings like the huge triptypch “Class war, militant, gateway” by the British duo Gilbert and George and the “Xanadu” installation by Robert Boyd, with an Olivia Newton-John soundtrack, can be fun.

The big name artists include Jean-Michel Basquiat, Gilbert and George, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Andreas Gursky, Pierre Huyghe, Jeff Koons, Bertrand Lavier, Christian Marclay and Richard Prince.

Also on show are Chinese artists: Paul Chan (a New Yorker) and two young new media artists Cao Fei and Yang Fudong. Though the latter two artists are making a name for themselves internationally — Melissa Chiu of the Asia Society identifies them as two of the most important emerging Chinese artists of the next generation — The New York Times review of their works was little more than a listing:

Ms. Pagé (the artistic director of the Louis Vuitton foundation) gives prominent spaces to three works by Chinese artists: “RMB City: A Second Life City Planning by China Tracy,” a 3-D animation by Cao Fei; “Seven Intellectuals in a Bamboo Forest,” an experimental black-and-white film by Yang Fudong; and the installation “no man is an island,” a contemplation of the Sept. 11 attacks by Paul Chan, a Hong Kong-born New Yorker.

Provoking more questions than answers, the piece was only a little more forthcoming about the lesser known but emerging Hong Kong artists (Nadim Abbas, Lee Kit, Leung Chi Wo, Pak Sheung Chuen, Tsang Kin Wah, Adrian Wong and Doris Wong) who were invited to participate in the show.

Hong Kong artists were recently showcased for the first time at the Sotheby’s Spring Auction in Hong Kong and Pak Sheung Chuen will be participating in the 53rd Venice Biennale. With growing interest in Hong Kong artists, we wondered what The New York Times had to say about them.

Commissioned works by seven Hong Kong artists are featured in an upstairs gallery. The toys of Naddim Abbas, word-based projection by Tsang Kin-wah and the squawking, duck-themed installation by Adrian Wong, stand out.

Not enough to sate us. Over to you…

How do you think their works stand up against the big international name artists? Which artists do you think stand out? If you are able to see the show why not leave a comment below.

More reviews: Redbox Review   – as always a meaty read over at Red Box

Images: Arrested Motion  – not titled but plenty of them

Profiles of Hong Kong artists – Time Out in Hong Kong has published interesting chatty profiles of each of the Hong Kong artists in the show

• Emerging Chinese artist Tozer Pak Sheung Chuen at Venice Biennale 2009 – Apr 2009
• Hong Kong artists showcased for first time at Sotheby’s – Apr 2009
• Who are emerging Generation Y artists from Asia? – Mar 2009
• The distinctive style of Hong Kong’s young Fine Line artists: What is it and who are they? – Feb 2009
• What are the latest trends in Chinese art? Who are the top two emerging artists? – Feb 2009

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4 Asian video artists make top 30 – Art Report’s international rankings

ASIAN VIDEO NEW MEDIA

Art-Report, a German art website, has published a list that ranks the top 30 living contemporary video artists globally. By video artist, it refers to artists whose works are based on video and film as their preferred medium. 

Although Asian artists are still in the minority, four artists – Yoko Ono, Paul Chan, Kutlug Ataman and Yang Fudong – are included in the rankings. Find below links and video clips for the three artists who have East Asian roots.

Ranked 3^rd place is Yoko Ono. The Japanese avant-garde artist is dedicated to the formulation of conceptual and performance art. One of her representative performances is Cut Piece, in which Yoko Ono asked members of the audience to cut away her clothing piece by piece until she was almost naked.

 On 6 June 2009, her achievements were once again recognized as she received a Venice Biennale Accolade –the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.

Link: Article on Golden Lion Award

At the 16^th rank finds Paul Chan’s name. Paul Chan is Hong Kong-born but New York-based artist. Chan defines himself with a dual identity as an artist and activist. His works are characterized by the amalgamation of political, age-old, cutting-edge, religious and erotic elements.

Light and Drawings is Chan’s first major museum presentation in Europe in Stedelijk Museum. According to AbsoluteArts, Chan intended to make a group of works that delivers a physical experience and simultaneously provides a commentary on a world on the edge of disintegration. With one exception, the Lights are projected from the ceiling onto the floor, or partly on the floor and wall. The works are structured as a cycle of day and night, sunrise to sunset.

More on Paul Chan’s Work.             

The last Asian video artist in the list- Yang Fudong- stands at the 26^th place. Carnegie International describes this Chinese artist’s films as psychologically dense, visually beautiful meditations on the philosophical questions of existence as they are played out in the exterior world and the interior lives of his subjects.

Below is a link to an article about his best-known work -“Seven Intellectuals in a Bamboo Forest”. The work depicts the journey of seven poets and artists as they move through various phases of experience in their quest to transcend their earthly lives.

Link:   Article – New York Times review 

LLH/KCE

Related Posts:

• Bani Abidi on Indian video art, a medium on the rise – interview Tehelka Magazine August 2009
• Questioning “Made in China” – Interview Avant-Garde Beijing Artist: Huang Rui October 2009
• Shahzia Sikander questions authority with new video art medium at Para/Site Hong Kong September 2009
• First of its kind in Asia – Taiwan’s Digital Art Center officially opens July 2009
• MOMA acquires Israeli artist Guy Ben-Ner’s video Moby Dick April 2009

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