Art Central is own until tomorrow… and I had a chance to visit it already yesterday. It is a new contemporary art fair showcasing new talent next to established artists and galleries, and it takes place in a huge tent on the new Central Harbourfront.
More than 75 international galleries are taking part and they are showcasing almost anything from paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures, installations, video works and even performances. Here are some of my favourites from the show.
Hwang Ran created a huge art work (more than 8m long) that is called Healing Blossoms. It depicts branches with blossoms, which are beautiful to look at. Once you get closer, you notice that it is all made out of paper buttons, beads and pins that sit on a wood panel. Like a meditative practice, Hwang repetitively arranged hundreds of beads and buttons in a floral composition – it is very beautiful and calming to look at. Here are some more pictures and articles about his work.
Next to Hwang’s piece is another artwork by a Korean artist. Bahk Seon-Ghi created a sculpture from pieces of charcoal suspended from nylon filaments. The use of charcoal is deeply rooted in the traditions of his home country, where it is used in daily purification rituals.
Tao Yang calls his work of wrapped up buddhas ‘Parallel meditation password’ and I just wish I knew why he used this title. All I know is that the buddhas are covered in beautiful textiles, set against a black backdrop. This must have been one of the most photographed spots of the whole show!
Zhongying Shi presents a sculpture called Dhyana, made out of stainless steel. In an artist’s statement Shi said “I use the grid as the symbol of emptiness and through it, I express my feeling about religion, philosophy – especially Buddhism – in relation to the spirit in modern life.” Here is more info about Shi on the Redgate Gallery website.
Also represented by the same gallery is Xiaofeng Li, who created phenomenal work using old porcelain shards. He created this artwork called Ocean Travels, which is a wearable suit made of Ming Period porcelain shards.
His other piece called whirling is made out of Qing period shards – crazy but stunning:
Can you guess what the next artwork is made out of? Denim. So Yong Choi created this fantastic piece by ripping up jeans and sewing them back together – zips and pockets included. Here are some similar pieces by the same artist.
Another creative use of such a day-to-day material: books on wood. Chung Doohwa creates pieces out of paper (well, out of book pages to be precise) that are three dimensional.
Finally, Impression of Hongren’s Landscape by Lu Zheng. Four islands made out of stainless steel and floating in mid-air. Difficult to tell but the islands are inscribed with Chinese symbols. I wonder what these mean…
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