Ocula Conversation Jess Johnson: Worlds Within Worlds Geometric patterns, anthropomorphic characters, architectural spatial environments, and relics of the ancient world appear throughout Jess Johnson's artworks.Johnson's solo art-ventures began in drawing, but her long-term collaborative relationship with animator Simon Ward brings her drawings to life in videos and virtual reality. The animator has...
Ocula Conversation Melati Suryodarmo: Performance Art as Trigger In 2012, Melati Suryodarmo opened Studio Plesungan in her native Surakarta, also known as Solo, the historic royal capital of the Mataram Empire of Java in Indonesia. Suryodarmo had returned to Indonesia from Germany, where she studied Butoh and choreography with Butoh dancer and choreographer Anzu Furukawa, time-based media with avantgarde...
Ocula Report Lagos Biennial 2019: Stories from Africa’s most Populous City 15 Nov 2019 : Jareh Das for Ocula Under the direction of Folakunle Oshun, the second edition of the Lagos Biennial (26 October–23 November 2019) includes works by over 40 Lagos-based and international artists, architects, and collectives. Curated by architect Tosin Oshinowo, curator and producer Oyindamola Fakeye, and assistant curator of photography at the Art Institute of...
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...
Hanart TZ Gallery has been a pioneer in exploring the Chinese cultural map for over 30 years, and has represented and worked with numerous artists now internationally prominent. The Gallery opened in November in 1983 with the mission of introducing new Chinese contemporary art both to the Asia region and internationally. The Gallery soon became a magnet for both established and emerging artists from the Greater China areas of Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, as well as the international diaspora. As such the Gallery has served as a significant link with the international art world; its role in landmark exhibitions, such as The Stars 10 Years (1989) and China’s New Art Post-1989 (1993, toured until 1998), and Power of the Word (1999, toured until 2002) are iconic.
Other significant shows that Hanart TZ Gallery has organized include: international exhibitions of monumental sculptures by the celebrated Taiwanese sculptor Ju Ming at South Bank Centre in London (1991), Place Vendome in Paris (1997-1998) and Brandenburg Gate in Berlin (2003); A Strange Heaven, Photography from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong (Europe tour, 2003); Liu Guosong (Liu Kuo-sung) solo exhibition at the Palace Museum, Beijing (2007); and Zhang Xiaogang, Fang Lijun, Feng Mengbo joint exhibition at Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague (2008). In 2010, the Gallery opened a new exhibition space, Hanart Square, for featuring shows of experimental art and installations.
It is our belief that publication and intellectual discourse are critical to encouraging creativity and disseminating information, and over the years the Gallery has worked with many writers and curators, and has produced over a hundred catalogues. In 2015, Hanart TZ Gallery published a major book, 3 Parallel Artworlds: 100 Art Things from Chinese Modern History, featuring texts by fourteen international scholars and interpretations of one hundred Chinese artworks from the past century. In recent years the Gallery has extended its focus to building links and exchanges with artists and scholars of the Pan-Asia region.
Ocula Report China’s Post-Intranet Artists Get Personal 27 Apr 2019 : Sam Gaskin for Ocula China's post-80s artists are no longer all that 'young', nor do they much need that moniker. With the oldest of that generation fast approaching 40, to call them young would be misleading given how rapidly many of them rose to prominence during the tail-end of China's foreign collector-powered art boom and subsequent influx of domestic collectors....
Ocula Conversation Johnson Chang Johnson Chang, gallerist and curator, is a pioneer of the Hong Kong art scene. Through the establishment of Hanart TZ Gallery in 1983, Chang created a platform for new art from China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, redefining the market with his organisation of China's New Art, Post-1989, held at the Hong Kong Arts Centre in 1993. Over 200 works by...
Ocula Report Art Basel in Hong Kong: Exhibitions to See 23 Mar 2019 : Tessa Moldan for Ocula For those visiting during Art Basel in Hong Kong (29–31 March 2019), the smell of fresh paint may still be in the air at the latest heritage conservation project, The Mills, which opened on 16 March to encompass the Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textiles (CHAT), joining the ranks with ex-prison complex Tai Kwun, along with Eaton HK—a retro...
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),...
Related Press Legacy of colonialism: Singapore artist’s show on Malayan Emergency and its resonance for Hong Kong South China Morning Post : 22 June 2019 Singaporean artist Sim Chi Yin has brought her exhibition about Chinese communists to Hong Kong just when anti-Chinese Communist sentiment is running high in the semi-autonomous city. One Day We'll Understand is about the Malayan Emergency, the 1948-60 communist guerilla war fought in the Federation of Malaya before and after independence from...
Related Press Beer with a Painter: Emily Cheng Hyperallergic : 8 February 2019 I feel quieted in Emily Cheng's studio — to the point where I wondered, afterwards, if I'd even posed questions. A fountain is gurgling, and she has set out beer and snacks. The paintings invite reflection more than commentary. I had visited her studio more than 10 years ago, and at the time felt that she was a painter whose work fell outside...
Related Press Art Insider: Johnson Chang Hong Kong Tatler : 27 September 2018 With his thick-rimmed glasses, Mandarin-collar jacket and broad smile, Johnson Chang is an instantly recognisable figure at many of Hong Kong's art events—but he's famous for far more than his fashion sense.
Related Press Chinese artist fears ink painting tradition is being tarnished by need to stay relevant South China Morning Post : 17 July 2018 Luo Ying is a purist. The professor of traditional Chinese painting practises what she teaches: her classical ink landscape paintings borrow techniques and styles of brushwork used as far back as the Song dynasty (960 – 1279AD).
Related Video & Audio Illuminated Presence: Yeh Shih-Chiang + Yeh Wei-li Hong Kong Art Centre : 22 October 2015 In Illuminated Presence, Hong Kong Arts Centre presents a powerful and moving exhibition of works by the late Taiwan master painter and calligrapher YEH Shih-Chiang (1926-2012). The exhibition is accompanied by a new series of interpretative works by photography-based artist YEH Wei-Li from Taiwan, created in response to Yeh Shih-chiang’s...
Related Video & Audio Johnson Tsong-zung Chang, Curator, Director of Hanart TZ Gallery Artshare : 25 August 2015 In this video Artshare.com talks with leading expert and Chinese contemporary art pioneer, Johnson Chang Tsong-zung. We discuss his gallery, Hanart TZ, his views on the market, on the Hong Kong art scene and much more.
