Ocula Conversation Bani Abidi: ‘What you see in my films is what I know’ A group of voices accompanies me in the exhibition. They are singing words I cannot comprehend, yet the warm tunes are familiar: folk songs, love songs, songs of longing. There are letters, too. They speak of the quotidian details of a soldier's life: the hardness of the war, sending money to the family, and longing for familiar landscapes, food,...
Ocula Report Aichi to Okayama: Art in Japan Looks to the Future 11 Oct 2019 : Stephanie Bailey for Ocula There has been a flurry of triennial and biennial art activity in Japan this year. The Aichi Triennale opened in Nagoya this August, sparking a national debate about the shutting down of a display of formerly censored works—the result of public backlash against a burnt image of Emperor Hirohito and a statue commemorating the women forced into...
Ocula Insight | Video Hans Hartung and Art Informel at Mazzoleni London (1 October 2019-18 January 2020) presents key works by the French-German painter while highlighting his connection with artists active in Paris during the 50s and 60s. In this video, writer and historian Alan Montgomery discusses Hartung's practice and its legacy.Born in Leipzig in 1904, Hans...
Ocula Photolog Art Basel in Hong Kong 2019 31 March 2019 'Art Basel reinforces its ongoing commitment to showcasing exceptional art from Asia and the Asia Pacific, with over half of the participating galleries having exhibition spaces in the region. The main sector of the show features 196 of the world's leading galleries presenting the highest quality of painting, sculpture, drawings, installation,...
Ocula Report Taipei Dangdai: Art Fair as Ecosystem 25 Jan 2019 : Stephanie Bailey for Ocula There was a great connection between the first edition of Taipei Dangdai (18–20 January 2019), staged on the 4th floor of the Nangang Exhibition Center, and the 11th Taipei Biennial, Post Nature—A Museum as an Ecosystem (17 November 2018–10 March 2019). Installed at the fair's entrance was John Yuyi's live tree, I Tree to Call You (2018),...
Ocula Insight Christopher K Ho’s homecoming at De Sarthe: CX 888 7 September 2018 'Why cover the same ground again?' Odysseus asked in The Odyssey, one of literature's most lionised tales of homecoming. His question is echoed by New York and Telluride-based artist Christopher K Ho in the presentation CX 888 at de Sarthe Gallery, which explores the complexities of departure and arrival through a Hong Kong-specific lens.As the...
Ocula Photolog Art Basel in Hong Kong 2018 29 March 2018 'The sixth edition of Art Basel in Hong Kong brought together a uniquely global mix of galleries spanning six continents, outstanding artworks by established and new artists from across theworld and a singular gathering of international collectors and institutions.' –Art Basel in Hong Kong (29–31 March 2018).
Ocula Report The Lowdown: shows to see during Hong Kong Art Week 23 March 2018 Once again, the Hong Kong art machine is gearing up for Art Basel in Hong Kong (29–31 March 2018), now in its sixth edition. With surrounding art fairs like Art Central (27 March–1 April) opening alongside the main event, and an ever-expanding list of exhibitions and happenings taking place, here is a selection of things to see during the...
Ocula Conversation Adeline Ooi Director, Art Basel in Hong Kong Art Basel Hong Kong has started early this year. I don’t mean just the dates, which have been pushed forward from May to March. I mean inboxes are already flooded with invitations for previews and dinners taking place well ahead of the March 22 VIP preview. There are more events, more exhibitions, and certainly more collectors descending...
Ocula Insight Wang Guofeng at de Sarthe Gallery, Hong Kong By Katie Fallen Following the Chinese artist Wang Guofeng’s recent intervention in the gallery space at de Sarthe Beijing, the artist has just opened a new show at de Sarthe Gallery, Hong Kong. While for the Beijing show (entitled Probe) the artist presented a large site-specific installation, for the Hong Kong exhibition (entitled Probe II), he presents...
Ocula Report Ocula Report: ART021 27 Nov 2015 : Sam Gaskin for Ocula The opening of ART021 on Friday, 20 November ended at Shanghai Night Club (上海之夜), a four-storey karaoke bar run by Chinese collector Qiao Zhibing. Painter Ding Yi held a cigar in his hand and wore a bemused expression on his face as singer QT tottered around the venue’s main stage, watched over by several large Yang Fudong photographs,...
Ocula Report A report from ASIA NOW 30 Oct 2015 : Anna Dickie for Ocula When details of the new Parisian art fair, ASIA NOW, were announced only very shortly before its inaugural opening on 20th October 2015, it appeared as though the fair might be a last minute job. Yet, it has, according to numerous accounts, been a very successful fair: carefully planned and organised, and well attended by collectors genuinely...
Ocula Photolog Asia Now, Paris 2015 23 October 2015 Asia Now Paris Asian Art Fair is the first art fair in Paris dedicated to the Asian scene and designed with a human size format that makes its specificity : each selected gallery presents a curatorial proposition (less than 20 projects) in an environment that allows in-depth relations with the key players of the Asian contemporary art world.
Ocula Report Occupied With Art 25 Nov 2014 : Diana d'Arenberg for Ocula A hastily cobbled together barricade dissects Connaught Rd. It signals the beginning of the Occupy Central zone where for over eight weeks one of Hong Kong’s main CBD roads has been blocked to all traffic in a pro democracy protest that, in its first few weeks, brought the city to a stand still and captured international attention. A...
Ocula Conversation Pascal De Sarthe Director, de Sarthe Gallery, Hong Kong Pascal de Sarthe sits in his Hong Kong gallery office surrounded by art books – hundreds of them. They line the walls and they are piled up on his desk, and each book is thoroughly thumbed. In stark contrast to the looming bookshelves are three computer screens, which face de Sarthe at his desk – making him appear more a trader of...
