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Jun 2014

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Jun 30 2014

Taiwan USA

Life as Performance Art: Tehching Hsieh at Carriageworks

by Michael Young

The 63-year-old Taiwanese-American artist Tehching Hsieh is best known for his series of yearlong endurance performances that took place during the late 1970s to mid-1980s. One of these works, One Year Performance – Time Clock Piece (1980–81), is the subject of an exhibition currently taking place at Sydney’s Carriageworks. There, ArtAsiaPacific had a conversation with the artist, who discussed the concept behind his monumental performances."

Jun 27 2014

USA Korea, South

Fragmentation and Unification: Interview with Michael Joo

by Paul Laster

A conceptual artist that works in a variety of media, Michael Joo has been making artworks that blur the boundaries between art and science, nature and technology, and history and perception for more than 20 years. The subject of two current solo shows—“Transparency Engine” at SCAD Hong Kong and “Drift” at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut—Joo recently took time out of his demanding schedule to discuss these enigmatic exhibitions with ArtAsiaPacific’s New York desk editor Paul Laster.

Jun 26 2014

Hong Kong

Concrete Love

by Jen Kwok

Jun 23 2014

Azerbaijan

Field Trip: Baku

by Hanae Ko

Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, is an urban city of two million people along the shores of the Caspian Sea. The oil-rich city is the scientific, cultural and industrial center of Azerbaijan, where ancient architecture and historic sites can be found alongside modern skyscrapers and multimillion-dollar highrises.

Jun 20 2014

Hong Kong

Roundup: Pedder Building

by Siobhan Bent

In May, Art Basel in Hong Kong brought with it the many collectors, curators, journalists and art enthusiasts who follow in its wake. Galleries across the city—some participating in the fair, some not—strove to rise to the occasion. The Pedder Building was no exception, with all six galleries putting forth shows to mark the occasion. With the exception of two, they are on through the end of the month.

Jun 16 2014

China France Hong Kong

“Life is Sweet, Sour, Bitter and Spicy”: An Interview with Ma Desheng

by Sylvia Tsai

Jun 16 2014

Japan USA

Out of the Mist: Fujiko Nakaya at the Glass House

by Diego Hadis

Just as we arrived at the Glass House, the late architect Philip Johnson’s country home in New Canaan, Connecticut, the leaden sky opened up and threatened to drench us. We were there for “Night Sounds #4,” which featured a live performance by the avant garde–electronic duo Lucky Dragons and the unveiling of a sculpture by Vincent Fecteau—as well as a more ephemeral work by the Japanese artist Fujiko Nakaya.

Jun 13 2014

Palestine

The Art of Resistance: Interview with Rana Bishara

by Helen Morgan

Throughout extended periods of political conflict in Palestine, artistic practice has emerged as a critical tool. In the face of cultural annihilation, art helps bring the fight for survival to the world’s attention, offering a unique perspective of military occupation. Artist Rana Bishara explores the complex issues that have emerged in the region following decades of hostility and injustice. Drawing from both collective memory and individual stories, Bishara makes works that explore irrevocable trauma and distress, yet simultaneously encourage strength, hope and resistance. Her paintings, installation art, sculpture and performance, constantly employ symbolic materials and imagery and while highly political, are thought provoking and sensitive. These works reflect the range of emotions interwoven in the fabric of the Palestinian experience and are threaded with the recurrent themes of displacement, home and exile. ArtAsiaPacific met with Bishara to discuss symbolism and the role of art in resistance.

Jun 11 2014

Hong Kong

Concrete Love

by Jen Kwok

Jun 06 2014

Hong Kong Nigeria

Material World: Interview with El Anatsui

by Ming Lin

Sustainability is a catch phrase in today’s hyper-consumerist world. Similarly, terms such as recycling, re-using and up-cycling have been absorbed into both political and marketing rhetoric, making their interpretations even more obscure. With his scintillating textiles composed of bottle caps and other metal refuse, it is tempting to pin one of these coinages onto the work of Nigeria-based Ghanaian artist El Anatsui, but to do so would be to miss the point entirely. Selected as the inaugural artist to exhibit at Belgian gallery Axel Vervoordt’s Hong Kong debut this past May, several specially commissioned pieces by Anatsui undulated from floor to ceiling, transforming the former office space on the fifteenth floor of the Entertainment center building in central, into a small richly hued arena. Rather than seeing each rich tapestry as an assemblage of disparate pieces, Anatsui urges the viewer instead to acknowledge their human provenance; many hands have gone into its production both during and after the creation of the art object. Speaking to ArtAsiaPacific, the 70-year-old artist explains that matter has meaning only after people have interacted with it.

Jun 05 2014

Hong Kong

Let’s Get Personal: Interview With Xenia Hausner

by Sylvia Tsai

Austrian painter Xenia Hausner is obsessed with people. Captivated by the interpersonal relationships she observes in the everyday, the Austrian artist absorbs these vignettes only to reclaim them in her own imagined narratives. Ordinary people are models for her large-scale paintings, which using bold, vivid colors, depict her these figures in an often exaggerated and theatrical manner. The women that make up the main subjects of her paintings are at times challenging and defiant, while at others seductive, aloof or vulnerable. ArtAsiaPacific met up with the 63-year-old artist a few days before her first solo exhibition in Hong Kong opened at the Hong Kong Arts Centre, to discuss her background in stage design, her working process and her innate infatuation with exploring the lives of those around her.

Jun 04 2014

China USA Taiwan

Untitled Selection: Chang Chien-Chi

by Ann Woo

Untitled Selection is a bi-weekly post of photography from ArtAsiaPacific’s areas of coverage. Created by photo editor, Ann Woo.

Jun 03 2014

Hong Kong Singapore

Mind Matters: An Interview with Photographer John Clang

by Kitty van Leeuwen

Singaporean-born New York-based photographer John Clang is known for his low-tech style; resisting the temptations of Photoshop, he prefers instead to hand-cut and paste images together. Working mainly with the idea of accessibility, challenging the barriers between the artist and the audience, his ongoing series “(Re)Contextualizing My Mind,” (1996–?), now on show at Pékin Fine Arts in Hong Kong, brings forth a different side of the artist. The photographs here show poetic translations of Clang’s thoughts, and the images featured are equally abstract. Though he declines to identify them this way, the works feel like a walk through the artist’s visual diary. On the occasion of the exhibition, ArtAsiaPacific spoke with Clang briefly about his work and his passion for archiving.