Enigma. An exhibition to launch new photographic works by. Wing Chan

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forthcoming photography exhibition, Enigma by Wing Chan, will open with a cocktail reception on Tuesday 12 th November from 6pm to

1 Enigma An exhibition to launch new photographic works by Wing Chan at Picture This Gallery, 13 th Floor, 9 Queen s Road, Central, Hong Kong Tuesday 12 th to Saturday 30 th November 2013 RELEASED: 29th October 2013 Picture This Gallery is pleased to announce our forthcoming photography exhibition, Enigma by Wing Chan, will open with a cocktail reception on Tuesday 12 th November from 6pm to 9pm and will continue until Saturday 30 th November. Wing Chan will be present for the Opening Reception Lines No.002 Metamorphosis No.021

Inspiration for Wing Chan s Enigma Wing Chan s use of photomontage for a wide arc of artistic expression imbued with vibrant pop-street-graffiti iconography is more grounded in painting than in

Chan leverages photographic technology to capture reality precisely and then transform it into masterful works of Abstract Expressionism, a hugely influential art movement centred on New York and

2 Inspiration for Wing Chan s Enigma Wing Chan s use of photomontage for a wide arc of artistic expression imbued with vibrant pop-street-graffiti iconography is more grounded in painting than in photography. Chan leverages photographic technology to capture reality precisely and then transform it into masterful works of Abstract Expressionism, a hugely influential art movement centred on New York and developed shortly after World War II. Having lived in New York City for 25 years, it is no coincidence that Chan s work is so influenced by this movement. "My life's journey has afforded me opportunities to experience, absorb and express artistic creations on a global scale. While my introduction to the use of montage occurred in Hong Kong, my three decades in the United States provided access to Abstract Expressionist art that greatly impacted me. My travels to other cultures has also imprinted onto me and today I apply all of these influences to my photomontages," explains Chan. Metamorphosis No.009 Metamorphosis No.011 Chan s photomontages also reflect a fusion of street art and pop art, where we discover strands of the graffiti art of Jean-Michel Basquiat and the looping figures of Keith Haring. His work dances with the rhythms of bold colours and texture. Although his creations are in fact two-dimensional, their distortion transcends reality to lend a greater depth and movement to Chan s work.

Wing Chan s Hong Kong After living in the United States, Chan returned to Hong Kong in 2011. Rekindling his ties with the city, he has revelled in an outburst of creative inspiration.

My approach is to use my photography to steal the real texture and energy of the city of Hong Kong, often down narrow alleys and in densely populated neighbourhoods.

3 Wing Chan s Hong Kong After living in the United States, Chan returned to Hong Kong in Rekindling his ties with the city, he has revelled in an outburst of creative inspiration. In Chan s own words: I am entranced by the emotion and beauty that can be found in unlikely places. My approach is to use my photography to steal the real texture and energy of the city of Hong Kong, often down narrow alleys and in densely populated neighbourhoods. I am drawn back to the city of my childhood, culling the symbolism and expression buried deep in my memory, where I borrow neglected city images, paint, graffiti, bamboo scaffolding, styrofoam boxes, aged air-conditioners, shipping containers and the ubiquitous property agent s for sale signs. These neglected city images form the raw material for my free compositions; using my digital canvas I treat, distort and edit the images, adding and subtracting details, colours and aspects including facets of gestural abstraction. My images overtake and go beyond all concept of reality itself Urban-Tapestry No.001 Urban-type No.002 For Enigma, Chan gives us an unexpected energy and beauty from these transformations. He delivers the texture expected of paint on canvas, the energy of a street artist with his wild bursts of colour, a little humour and the realization that he has created something far beyond the prosaic nature of his subject and tools. He pours optimism and enthusiasm into every image elevating his work to a rarely found plateau. There is no little drama in his work. Chan s works exemplify the importance of artistic

This was a very different city to modern day Kowloon, and Chan s formative experiences were embedded in that hardened era.

4 sensibility and demonstrate how style can evolve to produce new extremes of creative spontaneity. Some Biographical Notes Wing Chan was born in Hong Kong in 1962 and grew up in the shadows of the old Kowloon Walled City. This was a very different city to modern day Kowloon, and Chan s formative experiences were embedded in that hardened era. At the age of five, he started out as a child labourer in a noodle factory, in what was then a rough neighbourhood near to Kai Tak airport. But diligence with his studies enabled Chan to excel at school, and at 18 he left Hong Kong to pursue his vocation for art in the United States. In 1985, Chan graduated from the internationally renowned Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, and began an award-winning career in commercial design, including operating his own graphic and branding firm in New York City with clients including Giorgio Armani, Emporio Armani, American Express Private Bank, and Standard Chartered Private Bank. Urban-Tapestry No.003 Urban-Tapestry No.004 During this time, Chan also served at an adjunct professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. Chan s graphic design and photomontage works have appeared in numerous publications worldwide, including in New York magazine, AIGA, Print magazine, HGTV (USA), l architecture d aujourd hui (France), Bangkok Post, Bangkok TV

5 (Thailand), Perspective magazine, City magazine (Hong Kong), pen magazine, World Corporate Profile Graphics, World Trademarks and Logotype (Japan). In 2011 Chan relocated to rediscover his roots in Hong Kong. Focusing on his photography and photomontage and inspired by the wealth of subject matter in Hong Kong he continues to apply his mastery of forms, shapes, colours and textures to the creation of his fine art photomontages. To me, New York City is for dreamers and doers. The city is an empty canvas with endless possibilities, the kind of city which embeds itself in you. Once you have lived there, you carry it with you forever. In many ways, Hong Kong is like that too. These are my towns, my homes and they always will be, explains Chan. Chan has held solo exhibitions of his photomontage work in Paris and Bangkok and Enigma is particularly significant and symbolic as it is his debut show in his home town of Hong Kong. The Historical Context of Photomontage and Abstract Expressionism: While followers of the Dada movement in Berlin towards the end of World War I coined the term photomontage, this art form has a long history dating to the very earliest days of photography. The earliest known and recorded piece is Two Ways of Life created by Oscar Rejlander in Photomontage is the process of creating a composite image from the dissection of two or more photographs, usually as an unreal illusion. Digital technology has unlocked a new world of photomontage as computer based creation permits illusions and complexity never previously attainable. This process, combined with Chan s fertile mind and classical graphic design background, catalysed his extraordinarily beautiful Abstract Expressionist work. From its roots in the late 1940 s, Abstract Expressionism, exemplified by leading American exponents including Jackson Pollack and Willem de Kooning, opened the floodgates to all the diversity and scope that followed and was one of the major reasons for New York to assume Paris mantle as the world s leading centre of the creative arts.

6 Exhibition Details The Opening Reception of Enigma will be held at Picture This Gallery, 13 th Floor, 9 Queen s Road Central, Hong Kong, on Tuesday 12 th November 2013 with a cocktail reception from 6pm to 9pm. The photographer will attend the opening reception. The exhibition will continue until Saturday 30 th November Requests for further information or for images which can be used for editorial purposes should be directed to Picture This. The photographer will also be available for media interviews in the run up to the exhibition and until 18 th November. Christopher Bailey or Judith Siu Tel: chris@picturethiscollection.com or judith@picturethiscollection.com

Grade 7 - Visual Arts Term 4. Life Drawing

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