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Aug 2014

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Aug 29 2014

Thailand

Trailing Madness: Interview With Nattapon “Gaow” Nukulkan

by Helen Morgan

Motorcycling gangs—often unapproachable and intimidating to an outsider—carry with them an air of mystery. Emerging photographer Nattapon “Gaow” Nukulkam, who wanted to delve into this closed world to explore the reality of life in a gang, came across Madness MC, a group based in the hills outside of Chiang Mai, Thailand. Over the course of six months, Gaow integrated himself within this community by following them closely, and was invited to participate in intimate celebrations reserved for the gang’s inner circle. What emerged was a photojournalistic series for his undergraduate thesis that gives a unique insight into an ostensibly impenetrable club. Made up of around 20 members, Madness practices motorcycle gang traditions such as initiation rituals and community values. But Gaow’s project breaks through the typical stereotypes and preconceptions that surround motorcycle gangs. At 22 years old, the young photographer was an unlikely candidate to end up in the midst of such a group, yet he brought sensitivity and perception to the photographs that could only have come from his position as an onlooker. He enables the audience to see past the solid, outer layers of the gang—beneath the tattoos and initiation ceremonies—and into the humanizing aspects that show the members as unique individuals. Gaow documents how they connect and interact with each other by playing with different perspectives. In May, the artist showed ArtAsiaPacific around his debut solo exhibition at Documentary Arts Asia in Chiang Mai, which featured his motorcycle gang series, and talked about his experience of making this striking collection of images.

Aug 28 2014

Iran

Untitled Selection: Mohammad Ghazali

by Ann Woo

Aug 21 2014

Hong Kong

Concrete Love

by Jen Kwok

Aug 20 2014

Australia

Film Blog: The Turning

by Susanna Chen

From Forrest Gump (1994) to Hugo (2011), countless novels have been adapted as screenplays, ending up as successful movies adored by millions. The Turning (2013), one of the films shown at the 38th Hong Kong International Film Festival earlier this year, belongs in this category—the original book, written by Australian author Tim Winton and published in 2005, is a collection of linked short stories illustrating the lives of people along the coast of Western Australia. Yet, at times, the experimental yet mesmerizing collage-film that results seems closer to a piece of video art.

Aug 19 2014

Australia

Report: Melbourne Art Fair

by Michael Young

Now in its 25th year, the Melbourne Art Fair (MAF) was still eager to shake off the perception that it is a somewhat dowdy old lady. Even Barry Keldoulis, CEO of Art Fairs Australia, which now manages the event, was circumspect when talking about the new performance art and emerging artists programs that was tucked upstairs on the fair’s mezzanine level. He later confessed to ArtAsiaPacific of the need to tread wearily when dealing with the current owners of the fair, the Melbourne Art Foundation. “We have adopted a collegiate approach,” he said.

Aug 15 2014

China

Yang Zhichao’s Love Story

by Michael Young

There are sure to be both prurient reactions and voyeuristic interest when details of Chinese artist Yang Zhichao’s Love Story become public in 2016. Originally a collection of punch cards, it has grown over the years, and now takes the form of a diary, with individual pages embellished with drawings.

Aug 14 2014

Iran

Untitled Selection: Mohammadreza Mirzaei

by Ann Woo

Aug 13 2014

Japan USA China

ArtCrush 2014 And The Opening Of The Shigeru Ban-Designed Aspen Art Museum

by Paul Laster

Colorado’s Aspen Art Museum (AAM) kicked off a four-day celebration last week for it’s new USD 45 million, 33,000-square-foot Shigeru Ban-designed building, which opened to the public on August 9, with its tenth annual ArtCrush Summer Benefit.

Aug 08 2014

China

Field Trip: Huang Jue Ping Art Hive, Chongqing

by Oliver Gosling

Huang Jue Ping is the locus of a small, busy, thriving arts hub within the massive and fast-developing municipality of Chongqing, the capital of southwest China. Chongqing has a rich atmosphere that is village-like, and it roots itself along its eponymous main street that leads to an omnipresent coal plant.

Aug 07 2014

Hong Kong

Concrete Love

by Jen Kwok

Aug 06 2014

Hong Kong China UK

Drifting Emotions: Interview with James Richards

by Tom Baxter

The young British artist James Richards, known for his atmospheric collages of grainy analogue video, recently made headlines as one of the four shortlisted nominees for the prestigious Turner Prize, an annual award presented by the Tate gallery in London. Just a few days after the announcement, Richards was in China to attend the opening of his first exhibition in the country, “Of Disturbance,” at Magician Space in Beijing’s 798 art district. His visit to China also included a series of screenings and symposia, co-organized by Magician Space and London-based arts organization Electra, at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, as well as at OCAT Xi’an, OCAT Shenzhen and the Asia Society in Hong Kong. ArtAsiaPacific caught up with Richards to chat about his work, his experiences in China and his thoughts on the 2014 Turner Prize.

Aug 05 2014

Switzerland Hong Kong

A League of Their Own: Conversation with Mai-Thu Perret

by Sylvia Tsai

For the past 15 years, Swiss artist Mai-Thu Perret has been building on the ongoing project “Crystal Frontier” (1999– ), based on a multidisciplinary narrative featuring a group of women who move away from the mainstream society to create a feminist commune, which they call New Ponderosa Year Zero, in the desert of southwest New Mexico. Inspired by various selections of literature, the fiction behind “Crystal Frontier” has resulted in a multitude of objects—from letters and diary entries to ceramics, textiles and furniture—that chronicle the women’s experiences in their colony. Over a cup of hot water, Perret’s preferred drink of choice, ArtAsiaPacific sat down with the artist before her debut at Simon Lee gallery, Hong Kong, to talk about the notion of utopia, her latest work inspired by Enzo Mari—one of the greatest Italian designers of the late 20th century—and the current state of “Crystal Frontier.”

Aug 01 2014

China

Interview with James Elaine

by Jennifer S. Li

Curator James Elaine has been seeking out emerging artists for over 25 years—first on behalf of the Drawing Center in New York and then for the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, where he implemented the highly respected Hammer Projects series, focusing on emerging international and local talent.