News
Prestige
Gongkan’s Latest Art Show, Entitled ‘No Heart Here’, Takes Over MOCA Bangkok
2024/9/19
Conceptually, ‘No Heart Here’ delves into the emotional intricacies of modern life, illustrating the divide between body and mind and the inner dialogues that often go unspoken. Physically, it’s divided into four specific zones, and each one offers something very different for viewers.
Prestige
Encounters at Art Basel Hong Kong 2024: A Space For Conversation
2024/3/1
A highlight of Encounters is the installation Once Upon a Time by Chinese artist Lí Wei (pictured), featuring six hyper-real mannequins of world leaders as seven-year-olds and a stirring commentary on the relationship between child’s play and global politics...
ARTOMITY
Chow Chun Fai 周俊輝
2024/10/19
Here Chow reiterates his recurring Hong Kong themes, but in a new incarnation. He creates an unusual, captivating tension between reality and cinematic imagination, and between different eras of the city that continue to coexist in our minds, clashing with the city’s ever-changing landscape.
Tatler Asia
Tatler - Hong Kong January Art Exhibition Recommendation: Jason Martin's Solo Exhibition "Eclipse"
2024/1/08
Painting for Martin is performative as both act and stage.
A life within is expected by the very execution of each canvas.
In the artist’s words, “Painting is a lust for the temperance of guile, grace and gravity.”
Korea Times
Yue Minjun's canvas evolves from laughing faces to blooming flowers
2023/9/13
Even just a cursory glance at Yue Minjun’s “self-portraits” reveals what has made the 61-year-old painter an enduring icon of Chinese contemporary art.
After all, a manic grin plastered on rows of cloned pinkish faces, all with their eyes squeezed shut, is not the kind of image that goes unremembered.
Artnet
7 Questions for Celebrated Portuguese Artist Joana Vasconcelos on the Surprising Symbolism Behind Her Multicolored Sculptures
2023/8/4
To start off with, it’s my first solo exhibition in China and that makes me very happy. I have taken part in collective shows before and special installations, but to be able to present a vast selection of artworks at Tang Contemporary feels extra special. It brings together textile sculptures and pieces using tiles or ceramic, it’s great to see their dialogue within the concept “Through Mountains and Seas.”
Bangkok Post
Filipina artist wants you to be strong
2023/6/14
The exhibition presents her spirited stance as she emerges out of the bubble. Her works speak of gathering and cultivating strength -- recognising both its internal and external sources -- and embedding cues on how to go beyond moments filled with self-doubt, anxiety or distress.
99Art
SKIRUA: The "realistic" dream of a girl from another dimension
2023/5/31
Colorful wigs, girl dolls with evil expressions on their faces, plastic diamonds shining with "blingbling", thin illusion patches, stacked plush dolls and different characters commonly seen in cartoons Toys - Doraemon, Ultraman, Pigman, Mario Brothers
South China Morning Post
A Hong Kong fantasy: colourful, moody paintings by two artists of factories and fast
2023/5/10
Hong Kong is a favourite subject matter for residents Chow Chun-fai and Stephen Wong Chun-hei, who have been friends since art school and have, between them, committed large swathes of their home to canvas. The two men, both born in the 1980s, are highly skilled painters who create intricate, realistic representations while adopting perspectives that allow their monumental canvases to capture more than the eyes – or camera lenses – can see...
Prestige
Asia’s Artists to Watch 2023: Gongkan
2023/3/25
Gongkan works in various mediums – sculpture, painting, video installations, and motion graphics – and he’s also collaborated with major brands, including Carnival, the Thai streetwear fashion line and, most recently, the South Korean automaker KIA. He is represented in Asia by Tang Contemporary Art, and in May he’ll be featured in their new gallery in Seoul.
Hypebeast
Hypebeast: Must-See Booths at Art Basel Hong Kong 2023
2023/3/20
With outposts in Beijing, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Seoul, Tang Contemporary Art has nestled its place as one of the premier art destinations in Asia. For Art Basel Hong Kong, the gallery will spotlight figurative works from an international list of artists, including Chen Yingjie, Diren Lee, Etsu Egami, Gongkan, Hao Zecheng, Jonas Burgert, Jigger Cruz, Kitti Narod, Luo Zhongli, Qin Qi, Rodel Tapaya, Wang Xiyao, Woo Kukwon, and Yue Minjun.
Art Basel
While the West wasn’t looking, Asian galleries have expanded globally
2023/2/15
Asian galleries have been playing the same game as their Western counterparts, if to less splashy notice in the media: Manila dealers have expanded to New York; Tokyo galleries have opened in Shanghai; Shanghai dealers have spread to Singapore.
Ming Pao
Gallery Hopping on SouthsideSaturday - Intersection of Monsoons
2023/11/21
Tang Contemporary Art, located in the same building as the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, is currently hosting a group exhibition titled "Intersection of Monsoons" featuring six Japanese artists Ai Makita, Kazuki Umezawa, Meguru Yamaguchi, TIDE, Yukari Nishi, and Yuna Ogino.
Ocula
Shen Ling Records the Psychology of the Times
2022/9
Juxtaposing the artist's seminal oil paintings with her enduring experiments with paper and mixed media, Void Flowers, Yearly Portrait at Tang Contemporary Art, Beijing (5 November–8 December 2022) traces Shen Ling's artistic practice since the late 1980s.
99Art
Wang Zhongjie: Using art as a gateway to conciousness
2022/8/6
Although Wang Zhongjie is quiet and reserved, he eloquently conveys the deeply personal feelings that reside within his heart through his art. During the lengthy and complex process of self-exploration, he manages to escape the grim haze that enclosed him, leaving behind the obsolete realities of life.
Rockbund Art Museum
RAM INTERVIEW|A Conversation with curator Larys Frogier “Adel Abdessemed’s art is like an invitation”
2022/8/5
Three weeks after the opening of Adel Abdessemed’s solo show “An Imperial Message”, RAM had the special opportunity to interview the curator of this exhibition, Larys Frogier, the director of Rockbund Art Museum Shanghai. Inspired by Franz Kaftka’s short parable “An Imperial Message”, the artist carves out an introspective journey while integrating his own thoughts, creativity and trauma into his exhibition. He invites the audience to come up with their own unique interpretations, prompting their journey of self-exploration.
Artron
Galleries under the pandemic - The process of recovery in different environments
2022/7/25
Under the pressures created by the pandemic, Artron has noticed a substantial difference between the development of local and overseas galleries and their responses to the capricious and unpredictable nature of the art market. Whether it be exhibitions or art fairs, galleries overseas have managed to return to the state they were in before the pandemic. On the contrary, the situation of local galleries seem to worsen as they face their toughest times under this year’s hardships.
artnow
Adel Abdessemed: The world unfolds itself as we wait for the imperial message
2022/7/22
Adel Abdessemed’s art is elusive and evokes a sense of ambiguity. He does not limit himself to a fixed medium nor artistic style. Instead, he manipulates, stretches and reinvents in a wide variety of approaches, whether that is through films, photography, sculptures, installations, or performances, all while developing a visual language that is unique to him. In some way, Adel Abdessemed’s art is like a Kafkaesque autobiography that documents the violent yet dream-like events that he encountered throughout his life. As a self-proclaimed “action painter”, Adel Abdessemed uses performance art to capture specific moments in time, expressing his strong disapproval of the oppression of individuals by religious and political systems. As the artist said, “the world is the one that is violent, not me.”
Tatler Asia
Why the ‘Laughing Man’ Yue Minjun isn’t Laughing Anymore
2022/3/17
The Beijing contemporary artist, who is celebrated for his “laughing man” self-portraits, returns to the art scene after a ten-year hiatus. Here’s what to expect from his Hong Kong solo exhibition opening on March 24, where his new pieces are a dramatic departure from his signature aesthetic
#legend
Artist Zhao Zhao’s symbolic journey to his solo exhibition
2022/3/16
Zhao Zhao has come a long way from his humble beginnings in Xinjiang, China, to his current status as an internationally acclaimed artist. He takes Zaneta Cheng and Stephenie Gee on a symbolic journey from the Jurassic period through to modern-day New York by way of his latest solo exhibition.
UCCA
UCCA Edge | City on the Edge: Art and Shanghai at the Turn of the Millennium
2021/5/22
SHANGHAI, China — UCCA Edge opens in Shanghai with the inaugural exhibition “City on the Edge: Art and Shanghai at the Turn of the Millennium,” on view May 22, 2021 to July 11, 2021. This exhibition looks to the city UCCA Edge calls home at the juncture when China’s art world came to envision itself as part of a global contemporary, bringing together new and important works by 26 major Chinese and international artists, many with deep connections to UCCA and the development of contemporary art in China. Participating artists include Matthew Barney, Birdhead, Ding Yi, Fang Fang, Greg Girard, Andreas Gursky, He Yunchang, Hu Jieming, Huang Yong Ping, William Kentridge, Lee Bul, Liang Yue, Ni Jun, Shi Yong, Xu Zhen, Yan Lei, Yang Fudong, Yang Zhenzhong, Yu Youhan, Zhang Enli, Zhang Peili, Yung Ho Chang, Zhao Bandi, Zheng Guogu, Zhou Tiehai, Zhou Xiaohu. “City on the Edge: Art and Shanghai at the Turn of the Millennium” is curated by UCCA Director Philip Tinari.
Artomity
Rodel Tapaya - Artomity Magazine
2021
Random Numbers, the new exhibition by Filipino artist Rodel Tapaya, depicts a chaotic, dense reality where a multitude of fragmented objects and living creatures entwine and decompose. Inspired by Filipino and Mexican mural painters, but also by surrealist artists, Tapaya draws a carnivalesque portrait of the Philippines and, beyond, of our contemporary societies driven by excesses and never-ending consumption.
Bangkok Post
Asian artfest at Iconsiam
2021
A curated selection of outstanding artworks by renowned local and international contemporary artists is exhibited during the pop-up exhibition "The Space Between Us II" which is running at Iconluxe, 1st floor of Iconsiam, Charoen Nakhon Road, until March 3.
This is the second instalment of a collaboration between Tang Contemporary Art and Iconsiam, which presents two dozen artworks, mostly acrylic and oil on canvas paintings, as well as some fine art prints and sculptures by a total of 19 artists.
Ocula
Rodel Tapaya’s Random Numbers
2021
Over the past two decades, Rodel Tapaya has become one of the leading Filipino artists of his generation, gaining international recognition in 2002 when he was awarded the Top Prize at the Nokia Art Awards Asia, followed by the APB Foundation Signature Art Prize in 2011.
Art Basel
The Resilient Evolution of Bangkok’s Art Ecosystem
2021
The capital of Thailand’s name, Bangkok, hints at the city’s organic nature: Some scholars have suggested that it stems from the contraction of bang (บาง), meaning village, and makok (มะกอก), referring to a plant bearing olive-like fruit. With its rhizomatic structure and bottom-to-top dynamic, Bangkok’s art ecosystem epitomizes this characteristic perfectly.
Chaotic and energetic, the city showcases a genuine contemporary identity, thanks to its juxtapositions and contrasts – tradition and modernity, lushness and urbanity, glamour and rougher edges. With its Buddhist temples surrounded by luxury malls and advertising billboards, the city embodies the contemporary reconciliation between high and low art. Thus, the main characteristic of Bangkok’s art ecosystem is probably its hybrid and syncretic nature, blending traditions with today’s popular culture. Its hectic street culture and intangible cultural heritage – from monks’ chants to traditional tattoo art – have inspired many internationally established artists.
Art Front
“Clouds Gathering and Unfolding: Paper” a contemporary Chinese art exhibition An Interview with Guest Curator Zheng Yan
2020
“Clouds Gather and Unfolding: Paper” an Exhibition of Modern Chinese Art on Paper” reopened at the Ichihara Lakeside Museum, which had been temporarily closed since April as a preventative measure against the spread of the novel coronavirus infection. Organized as one of the main programs of “Boso-Satoyama Art Festival: ICHIHARA ART x MIX” postponed until March next year, the exhibition was prepared via remote instructions from the participating artists and guest curator who were unable to travel to Japan from China. What did they feel, and under what kind of mindset did they send off their works? What did they wish to communicate? We spoke with guest curator Zheng Yan online, and asked her to share her thoughts.
Smart Museum of Art
The Allure of Matter: Material Art from China
2020
Since the 1980s, Chinese contemporary artists have cultivated intimate relationships with their materials, establishing a framework of interpretation revolving around materiality. Their media range from the commonplace to the unconventional, the natural to the synthetic, the elemental to the composite: from plastic, water, and wood, to hair, tobacco, and Coca-Cola. Artists continue to explore and develop this creative mode, with some devoting decades of their practice to experiments with a single material. The Allure of Matter: Material Art from China brings together works from the past four decades in which conscious material choice has become a symbol of the artists’ expression, representing this unique trend throughout recent history. Some of the most influential Chinese contemporary artists today are featured in this exhibition, including Xu Bing, Cai Guo-Qiang, Lin Tianmiao, and Ai Weiwei. The Allure of Matter premieres at LACMA before traveling to the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago, the Seattle Art Museum, and finally the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts.
South China Morning Post
Hong Kong art galleries open for business despite coronavirus and Art Basel cancellation
2020
Several art galleries continue to hold planned exhibitions despite the health emergency in Hong Kong. ‘We want to support our artists,’ one gallery says.
In some cases viewing is by appointment only, and others have shorter opening hours. Meanwhile, government-run museums are set to reopen in March.
Macau Lifestyle
Chen Tianzhuo: Meshing Visual & Performance Art
2020
Born in 1985, Beijing, China, artist Chen Tianzhuo received his Master’s in Fine Arts degree from the Chelsea College of Art and Design in London. Drawing from his experiences in London, Chen began synthesizing the artistic disciplines of installation, performance, video, drawing, and photography. Adopting an eclectic and multidisciplinary practice, it blurs the boundaries between visual and performative art.
Macau Lifestyle
Top 5 Asian Artists to Look Out for This Summer
2020
Another summer is here, and another amazing number of artistic offerings and exhibitions from Asian artists are made known. Here is a list of Asian artists we think will make waves this summer who is a must to watch out for over the warmer months. Hailing from across the region these artists represent the great works coming out of this continent. From the more established works of artists from mainland China to the exciting works coming out of South East Asia, this list is sure to pique any art lover’s interest.
Neocha
Neocha | Recollection Pierces the Heart
2020
Much of our cultural vocabulary is rooted in belief systems that have constantly evolved throughout the centuries. In the Chinese language, the term used to describe the cause-and-effect of events is encapsulated in the Buddhist phrase, yīnguǒ (因果). The good fortune of making acquaintance with a like-minded person is regarded as yuánfèn (缘分), another expression borrowed from Buddhism. Such language, despite being derived from religion, is at the fundamentals of a secular society.
Macau Lifestyle
Top 5 Asian Artists to Look Out for This Summer
2020
Another summer is here, and another amazing number of artistic offerings and exhibitions from Asian artists are made known. Here is a list of Asian artists we think will make waves this summer who is a must to watch out for over the warmer months. Hailing from across the region these artists represent the great works coming out of this continent. From the more established works of artists from mainland China to the exciting works coming out of South East Asia, this list is sure to pique any art lover’s interest.
Art Busan
Busan Museum of Art | The Scar
2020
The Chinese Economic Reform (改革開放 gaige kaifang, or ‘reform and opening up’) that began in the 1980s has led to China’s rapid growth, but this advancement has not come without the darker side of capitalism. Public outcry demanding democratization led to demonstrations, while income bipolarization was exacerbated. While the first generation of Chinese contemporary artists manifested a critical attitude towards the system and the government, the most recent trends have involved increasingly diverse responses to the Western modernism that young artists have been exposed to since the opening. Against this backdrop, we have invited three leading Chinese artists reflecting the latest trends in contemporary Chinese art: Zhu Jinshi, a first-generation artist after the beginning of the Chinese Economic Reform; Song Dong, a leading proponent of the resistance art movement of the 1990s known as ‘Apartment Art’; and Liu Wei, who is known for remarkable inter-media approaches. In particular, we seek to not merely show a few important historical moments and their representative artistic styles, but provide a condensed overview of chronological developments starting from the 4th June incident of late 80s, which represented an indelible turning point in modern Chinese history...
Ocula
Art Jakarta Drops Anchor in a Stormy Southeast Asian Art Market
2020
Jakarta may be sinking, prompting the announcement last month that Indonesia will create a new capital on the island of Borneo, but the city's longest-running art fair is on the rise. Founded by the license holder of Harper's Bazaar Indonesia, the fair began as Bazaar Art Jakarta in 2008. While it's still owned by the same holding company, MRA Media Group, which owns Harper's Bazaar in Indonesia, it changed names to Art Jakarta in 2017, and received a further rebrand this year. The new logo (perhaps too cutely) adds bold to the middle syllable of Jakarta.