Dream Community – Art Center in Taipei, Taiwan

Posted on May 4, 2016 by Ray

Recently, I took a trip to the Republic of China — also known as Taiwan — to visit the great city of Taipei. There comes a time when we all need a break from the mainland.

My girlfriend was invited to participate in a workshop at 夢想社區 // the Dream Community, and do check out the link. So I tagged along for the holiday weekend. She is a glass-blower, and relished the opportunity to use their studio for which to work on various creative projects. I was very lucky to be there to observe.

The Dream Community is a fascinating place, inspired by the aesthetics of Burning Man (recall I’ve been there) and full of amazing structures. The have a camp called Burning Mazu at the festival and it was quite cool to see how it gets built all the way on the other side of the world. The models, the building of parts, the planning and the labor. It sure takes a lot of work.

The entire space was filled with glorious wonders…

The space consists of several buildings with workshops inside. You can go there to explore, soak in the atmosphere, and even drop by while people working on projects.

A lot was going on. From the glass furnaces to feats of art car engineering. For one thing, here’s a tile project:

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798 Arts District – Beijing

Posted on April 6, 2016 by Ray

Thanks for waiting. Haven’t posted about art in a while, but rest assured I am still here and still writing sparse art blogs to encourage visits. Don’t ever forget the arts.

While I usually post art about Shenzhen, but recently I went to Beijing (trip went very well) and decided to check out their very esteemed art scene.

Of course, I speak of the 798 art district, the original Chinese-former-factory art district!

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While I have heard around that it isn’t what it once was — is anything ever? — I did have a great time wandering the coffee shops and observing the various outdoor sculptures.

As for specific shows at specific galleries, UCCA was recommended to me and I’m glad it was.

The show was Elmgreen & Dragset: The Well Fair, which frankly blew me away. I rarely say that about exhibitions. In extremely postmodern terms, the art was about the nature of art galleries more than anything else. There was much question about whether things were “real” or not, whether the rooms and paths were art or part of the regular building. A broken staircase leading to the emergency exit, a donation box, signs pointing to a VIP room, even a fake washroom. It was quite an experience. And, some sculptures just plain melancholic.

Please check out the above links for more information, and my slideshow below though hardly doing justice:

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I wandered around a bit more afterwards. Yang Gallery, a showcase of “Abstraction Geometry”, and general wanderings come to mind…

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There’s a lot to see at 798. Do check it out if ever in Beijing.

Oh, and I got a caricature drawn. Looks like me?

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2015 Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture

Posted on December 28, 2015 by Ray

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I recently went to see an exhibition at the 2015 Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture in Shenzhen. Formerly a flour factory, the reapproriated factory space (which is often a thing in China) was amazing. Who knew the Shekou Ferry area, ala 蛇口客运码头 Exit D1, could host such brilliant works?

Mary Ann O’Donnell of Shenzhen Noted and Handshake 302 Art Space (located in my neighborhood of Baishizhou) introduced the “n=distortion” exhibit — produced by several young artists around the Pearl River Delta who came together for an ensemble piece to represent the region…

It was very interesting to see how artists from Hong Kong, Dong’guan, Zhuhai, Foshan, and other nearby cities took their budgets to create unique representations of their respective locales. From Shenzhen’s shallow barber pole — all about money — to Macau’s small but flashy attempt to seek attention, each came together to form a whole which one artist could never come up with his or herself. I particualrly enjoyed Guangzhou’s bamboo construction made out of chopsticks. In the end they were presented upon a boat in the main hall.

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The main building hall was massive in scale, multiple floors, dynamic installations, and herein it’s difficult to express in pictures. The theme being “Re-living the City,” many of these pieces are meant to be interactive, with audience members walking through and even adding to the experience by way of turning musical knobs or drawing in chalk. Do put aside a lot of time to absorb the full experience when you come on by.

I hope the following slideshow inspires further interest:

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The exhibition will continue until February 28th, full of many workshops and talks scheduled. I will make the time to visit again, and if you’re in the area I highly recommend that you do too!

See official link for more details – http://en.szhkbiennale.org/

(Related: n=distortion web page)

(Shenzhen Daily article)

SZ-based expat artist wins Hong Kong award

Posted on August 13, 2015 by Ray

http://szdaily.sznews.com/html/2015-08/13/content_3308964.htm

THE Asia Society in Hong Kong recently held an exhibition featuring the works of Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara entitled “Life Is Only One.” Famed for his haunting portraits of large-eyed children juxtaposed against dangerous scenarios, the oil painter has inspired artists all around the world to challenge themselves and forge new connections.

For the end of the exhibition, the Asia Society decided to host a competition in which artists could submit work based on Nara’s aesthetics. The contest received hundreds of entries. Entries were divided into three sections: a child division for children aged 6-11, a youth division for teenage artists aged 12-17 and an open division for anyone 18 and over.

The competition’s champion was South African Shenzhen resident Bronwen Shelwell, an art lecturer at the OCT campus of Shenzhen Polytechnic’s International Foundation College, for her glass nest sculpture entitled “Home.”

“Inspiration for this artwork came from my own interpretation of Nara’s process, an artist I have admired for years,” said Shelwell. “I wanted to find a way to express a similar innocence, as he does with his childlike imagery, with a subconscious, violent twist. I took the familiar form of a nest — a symbol of home, safety and innocence — but constructed it out of the fragile, delicate, but also dangerous material of glass. In line with Nara’s process, the base of the glass nest was made out of found material — the broken glass of a car window scattered on the side of a road. I collected the shards and then made a mold, which I melted the glass into. On this base, I assembled glass rods, each one worked into a natural shape over a gas flame. I then built the nest piece by piece, as a child or bird would do.

“The nest is empty. I wanted there to be something read in its vacancy, something familiar, as with Nara’s imagery, but unnerving at the same time. I took an object always associated with warmth and safety but displayed it with a palpable loss.”

Shelwell has lived in Shenzhen for several years and frequently contributes to the Hong Kong art scene. “I go to Hong Kong often to see the latest exhibitions at contemporary art galleries. I feel this keeps me up to date with current trends, gives me inspiration. It also helps me be a better lecturer for my students and a better artist. I have worked with a few galleries, mostly behind the scenes in curating or writing about exhibitions and preparing for Art Basel, which was recently launched in Hong Kong.”

On Sunday the Asia Society hosted an awards ceremony — also presented by the Hong Kong Jockey Club — and finalists got to exhibit their pieces in a new show.

Shelwell was excited when she heard the news that she won the championship in the adult division. “I felt incredibly happy! It is my first time actually exhibiting one of my pieces in Hong Kong. I’ve exhibited in other countries and I have a few clients that I make artwork for in Hong Kong, but this is the first time I’ve had my art displayed in a gallery here. It was so overwhelming that the exhibition theme was based on an artist I love, and the space was the Asia Society, one of the most beautiful gallery spaces in Hong Kong.”

Shelwell also believes this is good news for Shenzhen. “I think it is a wonderful thing that artwork from Shenzhen was admitted and did well in a Hong Kong exhibition. I think this was a wonderful opportunity for the Shenzhen art community as a whole to be recognized in Hong Kong.”

The exhibition will be held at the Asia Society until Aug. 16. More information can be found at their website http://asiasociety.org/hong-kong.

Asia Society arts award ceremony – an insider’s take

Posted on August 10, 2015 by Ray

Sunday was a very special day for me and the very beautiful and very talented South African artist Bronwen Shelwell.

(Hope this blog isn’t a conflict of interest, but I think the story is worth sharing! The subsequent proper article might be, but that’s okay)

You see, over at the Asia Society in Hong Kong there happened to be an exhibition of Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara’s works, “Life is Only One.” To complement the show, the society also hosted an art competition.

So Bronwen decided to produce one of her signature glass nests, one which incorporates Nara’s themes of childish characters hinting at darkness and danger. She submitted the pitch, and we were pleasantly surprised when they quickly emailed back that she was a finalist and needed to come to HK to drop off the piece (Well, I wasn’t surprised; I was sure she would do well).

When they emailed soon after to say she was selected as champion of the open division, it was very exciting!

Sunday came and I was honored to be Ms. Shelwell’s “plus one” for the awards ceremony. We made a day of entertaining Hong Kong and enjoying the space.

Then the ceremony began. It was rather quick, going through the child and youth divisions with various runners up. As champion, Bronwen was the last. There was even a ribbon cutting.

Afterwards, we were free to go up to the gallery to observe all the interesting works. It was amazing how people can take inspiration from Nara and have such original takes. Glad to see a lot of creativity is happening in Hong Kong today, especially among young people.

Bronwen was able to show off her nest in person, entitled “Home,” and also took interviews.

Artist’s Statement:

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Shenzhen Art Museum

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Ray

Last weekend we went to the simply-named Shenzhen Art Museum, of which I am ashamed to say I had never yet been.

The museum is located deep in Luohu District’s Donghu park, a beautiful park indeed, but not particularly nearby any subway station and hence I rarely go. A simple museum, the day’s theme was “Thermomatter” concerning the nature of the city itself juxtaposed by village traditions with urban sprawl…

Notably featured in SZ Daily:

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I appreciated the photography, electrical grid, and particularly the piece entitled Mother.

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Redtory Art District in Guangzhou

Posted on June 8, 2015 by Ray

Despite the disappointing ‘comic con’, my little trip to Guangzhou wasn’t a total waste. In fact, I had a great time. It’s an amazing city, even bigger than the already-overwhelmingly mega cities of Shenzhen and Hong Kong. I recommend Turkish restaurants for example…

We decided to head to the Redtory/红专厂 art district, to showcase the lovely artistic side of the city. Like 798 in Beijing, it is made up of a former factory that has been refurnished into a space for galleries and hip little coffee shops. While Beijing’s version is far more successful and artistically valid, we make do with what we can in the Pearl River Delta.

http://www.redtory.com.cn/english

To get there, simply go to Yuancun station and right outside exit B there is a shuttle bus which only costs 2 yuan. Drive through an urban village area, it’s a little out there, but transportation is very convenient.

Open 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

And then we made it!

Looks like a lot going on:

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There was a quaint market, always fun to buy little trinkets and gifts.

Take a stroll to see the various shops.

Even some factory-themed readymades.

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With many galleries featuring powerful works of painting, photography, and sculpture

916 Studio: The Persistence of Images curated by Wang Chuan

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RMCA Hall: Black Birds exhibition by Israeli artist Avital Cnaani

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The Redtory Museum of Contemporary Art featured an exhibit on “Neo-Mororism”
Tickets only 10 yuan

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Lastly, I love this little mascot guy posted all over the place!

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Pedder Art Galleries in Hong Kong

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Ray

I recently went to Hong Kong to check out some art galleries.

I highly recommend going to the Pedder Building on Pedder Street in Central. It’s very easy to get to; simply take the MTR to Central and walk out of Exit D1 and you’re right there.

From up to down: The 1st floor contains Gagaosian Gallery – 2nd floor PearlLam Galleries – 4th floor Hanart TZ Gallery – 3rd floor Ben Brown Fine Arts

The Rudolph Stingel exhibition at Gagaosian contained some interesting golden and metallic prints, large abstract scratches made from audience participation. I found it poignant that if you look directly into the reflective material you see yourself..

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PearlLam exhibited ‘Perfection by Chance’ Yi Pai series, the space regularly presenting leading Chinese artists. Works by Qin Yufen, Su Xiaobai, Su Xinping, Tan Ping, Yang Zhilin, and Zhu Jinshi curated by Professor Gao Minglu.

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Hanart TZ Gallary with Roundsky: paintings by Emily Cheng. Very new agey, lots of religious symbolism incorporating text into the paintings. Read closely.

And, the space had personalized arcade console with a working game!

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Ben Brown presented Simon Birch: The Inevitable. I found these paintings very powerful. Large-scale, a painter with much talent in presenting the human form but choosing to cut up the figures, especially the faces. Seemed full of anger, almost violent, never still.

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Some fine work up there.

All in all, it was a great day.

SZ Art – Animation Biennial

Posted on December 24, 2014 by Ray

On Sunday afternoon I went to the B10 art hall for the “2nd Shenzhen Independent Animation Biennial” within the OCT Loft neighborhood.

I think it’s more a video art exhibition than animation. But semantics.

Let us enter.

Can you make out the artists? Somewhat international.

Make sure to click for more detail.

The cinema, times:

An avant-garde Japanese film, of which I honestly could not understand:

I quite liked this Taiwanese loop, critique of consumerism it must be:

And so on

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OCCUPY MORE!

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Ray

Another amazing experience in Admiralty. The movement is still going strong a month later, with no signs of letting up. Perhaps it will be a permanent fixture in Hong Kong, wouldn’t that be amazing!

Another amazing experience in Admiralty. The pro-democracy/Occupy movement is still going strong a month later, with no signs of letting up. A substantial community of sharing and donations, an authentic anarcho-commune collective in a modern metropolis. It is truly working. In some ways it actually reminded me of Burning Man, yet it is even less regulated and more organic. An inspiration. Perhaps it will be a permanent fixture in Hong Kong, wouldn’t that be amazing!

At 6:00 p.m. sharp I witnessed the umbrella-opening ceremony. I wandered and learned a lot. I saw tens of thousands of campers, infinite yellow ribbons, inspiring post-it’s along the Lennon Wall – You may call me a dreamer, but I’m not the only one – and recorded some more video which I hope to edit soon and share. I was blown away by the creativity. T-shirts, banners, sculptures Umbrella Man ad Spider-Man and more, with cute paper Totoros. Even a library. The KFC sign amused me. And I like the setup in the bathrooms, with toothpaste ad shaving cream and even has volunteers to clean up. Very nice. The most solemn moment was the ‘Dark Corner’ area where a recent incident of police brutality took place. Finally, the umbrella tree.

Recently, I’ve been reading the book “Why Nations Fail” and while I am not smart enough to understand economics on a complex level, the book explains in layman’s terms that civilizations tend to be extractive or inclusive economies. Extractive are always unsustainable and damage a country, but the elites prefer it because it is good for only them. It is very hard to change this. Throughout all of history, development in human rights (which in turn helps growth) never comes because elites politely give it away through their bureaucratic laws, but because the masses of people demand it. Period.

CY Leung’s recent comments about how democracy is bad because it will give poor people too much political power… That is straight out of the thesis of this book. Let me just say, in my own layman’s terms, fuck this guy and this system.

Meanwhile, the latest propaganda from the mainland purports that it is all a scheme from Western governments. I scoff at that, because if it was so easy for outsiders to start movements than why are the PRC-funded counterprotests so pathetic?! They keep coming up with new narratives, from it’s only bad for business to pretending it’s all about rule-of-law to now this. Of course, it is truly a matter of the elites…

Things will change. I know they will. It won’t be easy, and it’s always a struggle because an entrenched system cannot even comprehend positive change, but it does come eventually.

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Art – Ikea tunnel graffiti

Posted on October 6, 2014 by Ray

Dating in Guangzhou – The end… my humble ‘successes’

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Ray

206513_10150171831983411_5576_n See end

Dating in China, blah blah. I’m coming to an endpoint here. At least the end of my Guangzhou Year point.

Yes, I was getting sick of GZ. But not sick of China yet, not even close. I decided to go back to the familiarity of another city, my default locale. Shenzhen is just where I would’ve ended up eventually anyway, might as well surrender to my destiny. I sincerely like it better, somehow it works for me. I can’t believe I’m still here.

Guangzhou, in all its overwhelming epicness, was a place to study and a place to learn yet not a place for permanence.

In this final installment of the Provincial Capital’s memories, let me be a bit more positive. I may have complained too much in previous entries; I should be more grateful for the wonderful experiences I’ve had. It wasn’t all lonely nights in Canton…

There was Nellie, whom I met on POF. She had an exotic face, a cutesy style, and she invited me to her glamorous home to drink French wine. I spent a weekend there, she was so gracious. Regaled with tales of work and travel.

She visited me in Shenzhen once too.

Then there was Janey, whom I met on gzstuff.com. It was all so natural and easy, she added me or I added her (who remembers at this point?) and I simply suggested we go on a date and then we did and it ended nicely.

She was very attractive, thoroughly modern, and studied yoga. She didn’t mind coming out all the way to my place. But oddly shy. Like open in some ways, so reserved in others. We went to the cinema several, and window-shopped at Tianhe malls.

One day we had a fight when I went to her area in Taojin. I got bad directions and got lost and was late. No dinner even, only harsh words. It simply wasn’t meant to be long-term.

Most of all, there was Valerie, my then friend-with-benefit of choice. An office worker in glasses with a casual style. She was from Yunnan. She lived in deep Panyu, far away from downtown, and she was happy to visit me. We first met at a market in Shiqiao, the busiest area of the district and a world away from the city center.

I took her to dinner, went to parks, we enjoyed many weekends together lounging about my area. She liked me, she really liked me. Always cool, always happy, always there for me. Such an awesome person.

And no drama. I thank her for this. Today, as I think back and compare, I could not be more grateful for her positivity and good times.

I hope she thinks well of me now. I don’t even know why we didn’t become boyfriend and girlfriend. Didn’t seem in the cards, didn’t seem we had that kind of thing going. She wasn’t really who I pictured myself with, to be honest. We never had any serious conversations. She never pressured me to take things further. She was perpetually chill. Who knows, perhaps something was going on in her personal life at the time.

Still, I wonder…

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Shenzhen Sculpture Biennale

Posted on June 30, 2014 by Ray

I recently went to a ‘post-participation’ sculpture exhibition in Shenzhen’s OCT (Overseas Chinese Town) neighborhood, at the great halls of B10 and OCAT, to check ot the SZ Sculpture Biennale.

More information can be found at: http://www.biennialfoundation.org/biennials/shenzhen-sculpture-biennale-china/

Pictures:

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Tattoos

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Ray

I have six tattoos. It’s a hobby of mine, albeit it’s an expensive hobby that I don’t get to indulge in often enough.

Each one is meaningful to me. I put a lot of thought into them and I have no regrets.

For a while, I was doing one per year. Then I stopped for several years. In anticipation of my big travel plans coming up, I want to get some new ink! What to choose, what to choose…

Let’s discuss. But first, the background on my present state.

I got my first tattoo when I was 21. It was the Disinformation logo:

A little out of order, keep in mind

That’s Disinformation Press, the counter-cultural alternative media publishers. I was very into them at the time. Read all their books, such as EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG and YOU ARE BEING LIED TO among others. See the website Disinfo.com, which is unfortunately not what it used to be. The logo is supposed to be red on white, but I was told black is better and I do think that works.

The only disappointing part was that people would always ask my why I tattooed the Napster logo. So annoying. Thankfully nobody says that anymore, because Napster is no longer a thing. These days, occasionally someone says it looks like a cat not a devil’s head, but I’m still for it.

Next, I got a simple Icthys, otherwise known as the Jesus Fish. Why would I get this, you ask? Well there’s more to this fish than you know. One theory I enjoyed purports that it is a map of three-dimensional holographic reality by superimposing two flat circles which are Gnostic meta-universes (perhaps Heaven and Hell). Thank Grant Morrison’s the Invisibles graphic comics series for that. However, that interesting theory doesn’t hold up to further research. In truth, historical records show that various ancient pre-Christian civilizations used this symbol as a female fertility symbol. Turn it sideways, clockwise. Get it? It’s the most graphic of female parts, right there!

I decided to keep going with that pattern, I wanted to cover my body with various occultic logos from all over. Next stop, that most meditative of endocrine system metaphors, the chakras.

You might think I regret it how it turned out, but I don’t. Yes I’ve been accused of having a tramp stamp.

Damn I was so thin back then

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Sketches of girls

Posted on April 2, 2014 by Ray

Here’s a hobby of mine, I like to draw. I know I’m not quite good enough to ‘dream’ to become an artist (I have other unrealistic dreams thank you very much), but it’s something I like to do for fun.

Perhaps I do have a bit of talent, you be the judge. Yet, I’m too lazy. I don’t like rulers, dull backgrounds, or even color. If you contrast with my cartoon style that stems directly from the imagination–which to me is more about story-telling over purely visual craft–it’s a quite different style than with these live models whom I’ve been lucky enough to sketch. Well, I generally like drawing pretty girls… especially faces…

The materials are charcoal pencils, pens, sketch pads and bristol board. Please allow me to share a few of my drawings through the years:

	Anonymous on Guest blogger and author Ray H…
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Ray-Comics

Drawings and Writings

Tag Archives: art

Dream Community – Art Center in Taipei, Taiwan

798 Arts District – Beijing

2015 Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture

SZ-based expat artist wins Hong Kong award

Asia Society arts award ceremony – an insider’s take

Shenzhen Art Museum

Redtory Art District in Guangzhou

Pedder Art Galleries in Hong Kong

SZ Art – Animation Biennial

OCCUPY MORE!

Art – Ikea tunnel graffiti

Dating in Guangzhou – The end… my humble ‘successes’

Shenzhen Sculpture Biennale

Tattoos

Sketches of girls

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