Ocula Conversation Pierre Huyghe: The Artist as Director Pierre Huyghe is a producer of spectacular and memorable enigmas, with works that function more like mirages than as objects. Abyssal Plain (2015–ongoing), his contribution to the 2015 Istanbul Biennial, curated by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev , was installed on the seabed of the Marmara Sea, some 20 metres below the surface of the water and...
Ocula Report MoMA Expansion: Once the Modern, Always the Modern 29 Nov 2019 : Mohammad Salemy for Ocula In the early decades of its existence, New York 's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), founded in 1929, transformed from a philanthropic project modestly housed in a few rooms of the Heckscher Building on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street, to an alleged operating node in the United States' cultural struggle during the cold war, and one of the...
Ocula Insight 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 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...
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...
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 Insight The multidisciplinary artist Lee Wen passed away on 3 March 2019, in Singapore , after having suffered from Parkinson's Disease. He was a pioneer who defined and shaped performance art in Asia. He came of age at a time when Singapore was undergoing the turbulent and uncertain processes of nation-building—from a former British colony to a...
Ocula Conversation Nilima Sheikh Nilima Sheikh says it was a different time then. Though always true, what she is describing is the specificity of her life as an artist in India. Born in New Delhi in 1945, Sheikh trained in Baroda, where she now lives. Her paintings contain world lexicons, written in a language she has developed over the last four decades. Integrating source...
Ocula Conversation Verina Gfader A quick tally of the number of international art book fairs may be all that's required to quell any doubts as to the state of art publishing. This provides temporary respite from the steady stream of new tech gadgets and digital platforms that are nonetheless causing seismic shifts in the creation, production, distribution, and engagement of art...
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 week....
Ocula Report It Begins With A Story: Artists, writers, and periodicals in Asia 25 Jan 2018 : Tessa Moldan for Ocula Art periodicals are 'more than mere containers of memory, experience and knowledge,' explained Asia Art Archive researcher Chương-Đaì Võ in her introduction to It Begins With A Story: A symposium on artists, writers, and periodicals in Asia , the three-day symposium co-organised by AAA and the Department of Fine Arts at The University of Hong...
