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...
Through collecting, preserving, and making information on the recent history of contemporary art in Asia easily accessible, AAA aims to facilitate understanding, research, and writing in the field and challenge existing global narratives. AAA is a proactive platform, instigating critical thinking and dialogue, bringing people together, and organising diverse public, educational, and residential programmes for a wide range of audiences. At the core of its mission is AAA's commitment to create a collection belonging to the public, a collection that exists not in an enclosed space, but in a space that is open and productive, generating new ideas and works that continually reshape the Archive itself.
Asia Art Archive is a young and dynamic organisation initiated in 2000 as a direct response to the increasing number of Asian contemporary art exhibitions and events world wide. Based in Hong Kong, AAA, a non-profit organisation and registered charity, is dedicated to documenting the recent history of visual art from the region within an international context. Its first Executive Director, Claire Hsu, founded the Asia Art Archive in collaboration with Chang Tsong-zung and Ronald Arculli. The current chair of the board is Jane DeBevoise.
The first art education centre and library of its kind, AAA boasts one of the most comprehensive collections of primary and secondary source material on contemporary Asian art in the world, with over 32,000 titles accessible to the public, free of charge, via its physical 4,000-square-foot space and searchable from its website.
From its inception, AAA has acknowledged its position in the field as more than a static collection of material waiting to be discovered. Through the regular initiation of educational and public programs by the Research+ Department, AAA endeavours to be pro-active in instigating dialogue and critical thinking, and in introducing as wide an audience as possible to this rich resource through its education program.
Ocula Insight At first glance, Gao Weigang's International Standard (2018) looks like a regular wooden frame—rectilinear, with a cross bisecting each of its four sides, almost resembling the generic windows from children's drawings—except that it has been coated in 24-karat gold leaf. International Standard belongs to 'The International Standard', a...
Ocula Insight Small, circular mirrors glint from rings of colour—green, dark green, and pale pink from inside out—while sprightly brushstrokes of red, yellow, and green acrylic paint compose the background. This painted collage, titled Stained Glass (2000), is the work of the late Pacita Abad; it was donated by the artist's estate for Asia Art...
Ocula Insight 'Good Morning Hong Kong', read the layered calligraphic letters rendered in thick ink and acrylic brushstrokes on a work donated by contemporary artist Yang Jiechang for Asia Art Archive's upcoming annual fundraising auction. On view at Christie's in Hong Kong from 11, 14–17 October, the work has a sense of dynamic urgency about it: the ink has...
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...
Related Press Hong Kong: Asia's Cultural Capital? The Business Times : 5 April 2019 THIRTEEN YEARS AGO, when curator Tobias Berger arrived in Hong Kong, there were only two or three contemporary art galleries. Today, there are well over 100, including several renowned international galleries such as David Zwirner, Pace Gallery, Hauser & Wirth and Gagosian, each representing the biggest contemporary names.
Related Press Beyond Art Basel: 9 Non-Profit And Museum Shows To See In Hong Kong Hong Kong Tatler : 19 March 2019 Hong Kong artist Hon Chi-fun, now in his late 90s, and American artist James Turrell, are featured at the Asia Society. Hon is renowned for co-founding the Circle Art Group in the 1960s, a pioneering collective of artists hailed for bringing modern art to Hong Kong.
Related Press Nicholas Gamso considers Ren Hang’s engagement with urban space and queer body politics Asia Art Archive : 24 January 2019 Chinese wealth is everywhere—land, bonds, productive power, contemporary art. Its financial and cultural influence defines much of what we call globalisation. As the curator Philip Tinari recently suggested, the concept of 'Rushi,' or China's 'Entering the World' (a term used to describe the country's admission into the World Trade...
Related Press When Worlds Collide: Benjamin Cha's New Role At The Asia Art Archive Hong Kong Tatler : 27 December 2018 Like many people, Benjamin Cha found his first encounter with conceptual art a little bewildering.'I remember seeing On Kawara's work at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston in the mid '90s. I was a student at the time,' Cha recalls. 'It was a room full of over 100 of Kawara's date paintings. I walked in and had a moment where I thought,...
Related Video & Audio Lee Wen Archive Asia Art Archive : 5 March 2019 This archive covers the span of Lee Wen's practice as an artist, organiser, and writer, starting in the early 1980s: his solo and collaborative projects, his notebooks and sketchbooks, his formative period with The Artists Village, his writings and correspondences, and his extensive documentation of art collectives and festivals in Asia and Europe....
Related Video & Audio Ha Bik Chuen Archive Asia Art Archive : 13 July 2018 This archive consists of a continuously growing selection of the artist's collage books, exhibition documentation, and catalogues. It provides a singular window into Hong Kong's art history through international exchanges, exhibition history, and the circulation of artistic practices and reading materials.Primarily known as a sculptor and...
Related Video & Audio Salon Natasha Archive Asia Art Archive : 13 July 2018 This archive contains over 4988 records related to the Salon Natasha exhibitions and projects, collected over 20 years of activity. It includes exhibition invitations and catalogues; artist CVs and statements; project concept descriptions; and correspondence between curators and artists, press, and media reviews.Salon Natasha was a meeting place...
