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The Art World in Focus
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Group Exhibition

GROUP EXHIBITION

The Loss of Human Face? Villepin 2 June–15 October 2022 Hong Kong
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Press Release

Throughout art history, from the works of Rembrandt to Modigliani, Van Gogh and Freud, the human face has long been both a source of attraction and repulsion, an expression of humanity and fraternity but also portrayed with primitive violence and savagery. Across all its figurative and abstract representations, the portrait has been used as a mirror to the world.

Igniting a conversation between the past and the present, The Loss of Human Face? explores the significance of human faces as seen through these five artists Francis Bacon, Adrian Ghenie, Zeng Fanzhi, George Condo, and Yukimasa Ida. Showcasing twenty major works in a transformed gallery space, visitors will be confronted with the bold canvases of these artists displayed in dialogue with each other. As one of the most influential portrait painters of the early 20th century, Francis Bacon sets the scene for the exhibition as his raw and unsettling canvases distort his subject’s faces while unveiling their inner psychologies. Ghenie’s portraits are likewise contorted in gestural brushstrokes to reexamine our collective history and memory, while works from Zeng’s ‘Mask’ series depict the social tensions and anxieties the artist observed in modern China. Conversely, Condo’s characters are rendered flat on the picture plane in grotesque and whimsical configurations, and Ida’s thickly painted canvases continue the historic medium with a futurist perspective. This exhibition will also be the first presentation of Ida’s work in Hong Kong. All these artists bring their contribution to the global understanding of what humanity means. Through their diversity and varied backgrounds, they reveal the intense rage, anxiety, passion, and ambition of our current time through their own unique visions.

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Artists Exhibiting

Francis Bacon contemporary artist
Francis Bacon 1909-1992 Follow +
Zeng Fanzhi contemporary artist
Zeng Fanzhi b. 1964 Follow +
George Condo contemporary artist
George Condo b. 1957 Follow +
Yukimasa Ida contemporary artist
Yukimasa Ida b. 1990 Follow +
About the Gallery
Shaped by Dominique and Arthur de Villepin’s passion for art, Villepin is a new gallery model created by collectors for collectors. Founded in 2019 in Hong Kong, Villepin is specialized in selected important artists, estates and foundations, advocating their work through carefully curated exhibitions while bridging them with the leading collectors and institutions in the Asia-Pacific region and around the world. Beyond its gallery walls, Villepin also acts as curator for exhibitions in museums and institutions.

Each exhibition at Villepin is based on in-depth scholarship and offers a unique experience to immerse visitors in the life and art of each artist. Previous exhibitions have also produced special bilingual publications that include original essays and curatorial research. Artists presented by Villepin include Zao Wou-Ki, Myonghi Kang, Pierre Soulages, Georges Mathieu and Hans Hartung among others.

As curator and advisor to a close community of collectors, Villepin is focused on education and promoting scholarship of its artists through intimate salons and collaborations with leading institutions, foundations, universities and museums. Through their extensive experience in building close friendships with artists, the father-son partnership aims to share their expertise, encourage dialogue, and support collectors in building long-lasting relationships with artists, who are at the heart of Villepin’s initiatives.
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Address
53-55 Hollywood Road
Central
Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Opening Hours
Tuesday - Sunday (By appointment only)
11am - 7pm
(1)
Hong Kong 53-55 Hollywood Road, Central
Villepin contemporary art gallery in Hong Kong
Villepin
53-55 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
+852 3709 0913
http://www.villepinart.com

Opening hours
Tuesday - Sunday (By appointment only)
11am - 7pm
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