5 Art Exhibitions to Check Out This Month

Artists from around the world feature in thought-provoking exhibitions this month in Hong Kong.

Violent Voices

Podium Gallery in Wong Chuk Hang has been representing mid-career artists since it opened last year. Its group show Vitalis Violentia, which opens later this month, features aesthetic responses to violence and its impact on cultural discourse, and includes works by artists from Germany, China and Korea, such as Wang Pei, Dennis Scholl, and Hannah Woo.

Until November 23

Art of Survival

Breath and Crystal, which opens at Axel Vervoordt Gallery this month, brings together works by five contemporary Chinese artists. Curated by Shanghai-based Dr Shen Qilan, it explores the essence of art and life by presenting works in dialogue with each another. It’s arranged thematically into five rooms, each of which corresponds to a different rhythm of breath and explores the artists’ understanding of life through creation.

Until November 16

Taro’s Travelogue

New York-based Japanese artist Taro Masushio works with photography as a form of ontological research. In Pass, his solo show at Empty Gallery, he explores family memories and the male impulse to Travel by printing old Travel photographs taken by his father on the cardboard boxes once used for shipping Japanese goods.

Until November 30

Other Worlds

This month Hauser & Wirth hosts a solo exhibition by Los Angeles-based artist (and former Prestige cover star) Mark Bradford, known for his large- scale abstract paintings. Titled Exotica, the show brings together new 20 works to explore the lasting effects of colonialism and ideas of “otherness”, based on Bradford’s personal experiences. It also showcases the artist’s new signature staining technique using cauk, as well as works made from fabric dye, inked and oxidised paper.

Until March 1

Only Abstract

Curated by writer Antwaun Sargeant, Gagosian’s newest show Social Abstraction brings together experimental abstract works by black artists – many showing for the first time in Hong Kong – to address culture, perception and their place in the universe. Using a broad range of materials and mediums – from hair glue, wigs, ceramics and textiles – the works engage with themes of identity, sociability and lived experience.

Until November 2

(Hero Image: Social Abstraction, Gagosian (Image: Ringo Cheung)