Press Release

In participation with French May Arts Festival 2021, Alisan Fine Arts is proud to present Chinese Surrealism at Alisan Aberdeen. This exhibitionis a response to the French Surrealist exhibition which will take placeat the Hong Kong Museum of Art in collaboration with the PompidouMuseum as part of French May Arts Festival this year.

Alisan's exhibition will feature the works of six artists, with a focuson young Hong Kong women artists. They include ink painters Cherie CheukKa-wai and Zhang Xiaoli; emerging artists Ant Ngai Wing-lam andCharlotte Mui, the latter who will be exhibiting her colourfulmythological works on paper for the first time in a commercial gallery.The other two artists are well known Hong Kong sculptor Mok Yat-San andinternational sculptor Wu Shaoxiang. These artists have been selectedspecifically because they are inspired and interested in Surrealistideas and imagery such as, dreamscapes and the exploration of theunconscious mind. Using a contemporary Chinese lens, they will portraysurrealism with their individual technique and media. The Westernsurrealist artists they are taking inspiration from include ReneMagritte, Salvador Dali, Man Ray, Alberto Giacometti, Giorgio Chiricoand Joan Miro.

Cherie Cheuk Ka-wai (b.1989) specialises in Chinese gongbi (fine-brush)painting. Her subject matters mainly revolve around memory, time,nature, laws of universe, emotions and thoughts. Her artwork alsointerrogates the development of gongbi after it reached its peak in SongDynasty, namely how to rejuvenate this traditional Chinese art form inthe contemporary world. She obtained a bachelor's degree of Fine Artswith first class honours at The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2012and she finished her Master Degree in Fine Arts in CUHK in 2017. AlisanFine Arts began exhibiting her works in 2015 and has included them in anumber of exhibitions, such as, Uniquely Hong Kong (2020); the inauguraledition of Taipei Dangdai Contemporary Art Fair (2019) ; Women Ink |China Hong Kong (2019); HOPE, a charity exhibition to benefit theAdventist Hospital Foundation (2018); and many more.

Mok Yat-san (b. 1968) graduated from the Department of Fine Arts, at theChinese University of Hong Kong in 1993, and obtained his Master ofFine Arts degree at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts in 2004. From2006-2011, he worked as the senior instructor at the Department of FineArts, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Recently, he works as apart-time lecturer and a full-time artist devoting himself to his artcreation. He is now the president of the Hong Kong Sculpture Society.Mok specialised in creating large-scale outdoor 'Ink Art' landscapes anda common motif in his work is a polar bear. He is inspired by natureand often incorporates elements of traditional ink painting, such asbutterflies, birds, clouds, mountains and trees. By depicting theseforms through contemporary interpretation, his sculptures aretransformed into surreal 3-D landscapes.

An emerging artist working mainly in watercolours and digitally,Charlotte Mui's (b.1996) work often reflects her own experiences,visions, and dreams while drawing inspiration from mythologies, arthistory, theatre, popular culture and home. While Mui did not receiveformal art training and instead, studied English Literature and ArtHistory at the University of Hong Kong, obtaining her BA in 2018, shehas always enjoyed painting and as a child has won numerousinternational and local awards for her works. After graduating, Mui iscurrently working full time at Asia Art Archive. However, after a decadeof painting competitively, Mui is currently searching for her own voiceand mode of expression. In 2020, she completed and created her own deckof Tarot cards, 'L'Œil de L'Âme Tarot', which she uses exclusively forher fortune-telling endeavours.

Ant Ngai Wing-lam's (b.1986) main medium is painting, and her work oftendepicts people with the head of a fish. These stories and charactersare inspired by her own dreams and surroundings. Having grown up in HongKong, her paintings often take place in the landscape of the city. Shegraduated with a BA from Hong Kong Baptist University Academy of VisualArts in 2008. This is Alisan Fine Art's first time working with her.

A pioneer in the modern abstract sculpture movement in China, WuShaoxiang (b.1957) is known for spearheading the incorporation ofWestern abstract forms into his oeuvre. Wu was born in Jiangxi in 1957.Following the Cultural Revolution, he studied sculpture at theJingdezhen Ceramics Institute and later moved to Beijing where he becameactively involved in the '85 Movement. There he was awarded the firstBeijing Art and Design Scholarship and completed a postgraduate degreeat the Central Academy of Arts and Design. His earlier works exhibitedelements of Western sculptural styles, due in part to his admiration forthe geometrical forms favoured by Brancusi and Henry Moore. The roundand sensuous shapes lent Wu's forms a more sexualized language, settinghim apart from his more conservative counterparts in China.

Zhang Xiaoli (b. 1989) was born in Guizhou China. In 2008, she received ascholarship which allowed her to move to Hong Kong and study at theChinese University of Hong Kong. She also studied as an exchange studentat the University of Berkeley in California, before receiving herBachelor Degree with a double major in Biology and Fine Art from CUHK.She gained her MA at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in2021. Her early works depicted surreal Chinese landscapes inside smallcontainers using traditional gongbi ink painting techniques. Her morerecent works incorporates her interest in biology and science withtraditional elements of Chinese landscapes, such as mountains, rocks andtrees. The result allows a window into the artist's memories andexperiences.

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Installation Views

Surrealism Out of Hong Kong Spotlight Surrealism Out of Hong Kong Chinese Surrealism is Alisan Fine Arts' take on Surrealism through the lens of six Hong Kong artists. Read the story

Artists Exhibiting

Also Exhibiting at Alisan Fine Arts

About the Gallery

Co-founded in the 1980s by Alice King, Alisan Fine Arts is Hong Kong’s longest-standing contemporary gallery, celebrated for its trailblazing promotion of Chinese contemporary art and New Ink art. The gallery has consistently championed artists from the Greater China region and Chinese diaspora, making an impact on cross-cultural dialogues and global appreciation of diverse artistic expressions.

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Alisan Fine Arts
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