Exhibition Opens to Public: 18 July 2018 – 5 August 2018, 11.00am – 10.00pm
iPRECIATION will hold a solo exhibition titled Wonderful World of Color by Tse Yim On《謝炎安的彩⾊美好世界》featuring around 15 works between 2011 – 2018 by Hong Kong contemporary artist Tse Yim On 謝炎安, on July 18 2018 to August 5 2018 at the Gallery by the Harbour, Harbour City, Hong Kong. Featured works include acrylic paintings on canvas from Tse’s Mongkok Library series, Hong Kong Seals Series in 2011, 2012 as well as latest paintings.
In late 2012, Tse gained significant recognition for his Mongkok Library series when it previewed in Hong Kong. Not only was his choice of colour combination refreshing to the local crowd, the familiar subject matters also spoke to them. Named after the “Mongkok” district in Hong Kong, known to be a melting pot for subcultures, the series of acrylic paintings models a library and invites the audience to discover the various subcultures in Hong Kong. Works such as Anita – 艷芳 (2011) and Ann – 愛芳 (2011) shows acclaimed Hong Kong media icon, Anita Mui and her sister Ann Mui as Japanese manga-like characters looking fixedly ahead at children’s classics. While the paintings seek to remember and commemorate the pair’s sisterly love, Tse’s multi-layered compositions often invite his audiences to interpret his works on many levels. His skillful proficiency in referencing popular culture references then synthesising them into colourful, quirky narratives of his own is a distinctive quality of the artist.
Tse’s colourful repertoire continues to evolve in this solo exhibition. A portion of Hong Kong Seals Series that will be exhibited reveals a specific and striking shade of red and blue that Tse has used. Particularly inspired by the 1970s era when Tse was born, he considers subject matters such as cultural figures, visual style during the time, landmarks like public housing, even imagined memories as a child, as foundation for his creation. Tse manipulates these images of collective memories and reassembles them to mimic a Seal Carving composition. This can be seen in works such as Wonderful World (1974)《美好世界》 (1974) (2016) and Wonderful World (1997)《美好世界》 (1997) (2016). In his own way, Tse uses his highly colored lens of cartoonic visuals and pop culture aesthetics to express a one-of-a-kind visual narrative in Hong Kong.
About Artist :
Born in Hong Kong, in 1974, Tse is a contemporary artist who is known for his bold and fanatically colored tongue-in-cheek works. Like the majority of Generation X in Hong Kong, Tse grew up in an environment culturally influenced by local and foreign popular culture, particularly Japanese animation, games and manga; apparent in the caricatured characters and bold text that appear in his paintings. Working primarily with acrylic on canvas, Tse’s vividly colored paintings depict familiar imagery derived from Hong Kong and speaks strongly of identity and culture from the perspective of a Hong Kong citizen through his uniquely quirky perspective.
Tse studied at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he received his Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts in 1998 and a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts in 2001. Besides his practice in art, he also serves as an educator and advisor in various institutions, including the Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre and the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. In 1998, Tse received the Hong Kong Urban Council Fine Arts Award and was given the opportunity to showcase his works in the Contemporary Hong Kong Art Biennial Exhibition at the Hong Kong Museum of Art. Tse has participated in many group exhibitions worldwide including “ARTscope Hong Kong 2000” (Spica Museum, Aoyama, Tokyo, Japan, 2000), “Mapping Asia — The 18th Asia International Art Exhibition (AIAE)” (Hong Kong Heritage Museum, 2004), “Asia Art Archive New Open Exhibition” (Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong, 2007), “Art Taipei 2” (Taipei Show (former Taipei World Trade Center II), Taiwan, 2007), “CHiE! – Culture sieges Politics” (Osage Kwun Tong Gallery, Hong Kong, 2008), “Painting On and On – The Repository of Coherent Babbles” (Southsite, Hong Kong, 2012), “From longing to belonging” (Laznia Centre for Contemporary Art, Poland, 2014), “Art Paris” (Grand Palais, Avenue Winston Churchill, Paris, 2015) and “Evolving Images: Modern Hong Kong Printmaking” (Sun Museum, Hong Kong, 2017). His works have been collected by the Hong Kong Museum of Art and are also in several private collections.