Inflatable Stonehenge travels to Hong Kong for Mobile M+: Inflation

Jeremy Deller, Sacrilege, Greenwich, 2012 

Courtesy of Art Concept, Paris and The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow.  Photo: Jeremy Deller

West Kowloon Cultural District Authority 

Full size inflatable Stonehenge arrives in West Kowloon for Mobile M+: Inflation! 

23 April 2013, Hong Kong: M+ announced today that Sacrilege, a full size inflatable replica of one of the world’s most famous monuments, Stonehenge, will be unveiled in Hong Kong as part of Mobile M+: Inflation!, opening 25th April 2013 (Press Preview 10.30am 24th April 2013). The interactive work, which visitors can bounce on, was created by Turner Prize-winning British artist Jeremy Deller. A co-commission between Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art and the Mayor of London, Sacrilege first appeared in Glasgow before touring major cities across Britain as part of London 2012 Festival. 

 Sacrilege will be placed alongside five other giant inflatable sculptures by local and international artists, including two new commissions created especially for the exhibition by Hong Kong based artist Tam Wai Ping and Chinese artist Cao Fei. The six works will be accompanied by a performance piece by Tomás Saraceno (Argentina) which will be staged on 4 and 25 May and 8 June 2013. 

 Alongside the five other works, Sacrilege will take advantage of the promenade on West Kowloon, the future site of the West Kowloon Cultural District, with an iconic view out over Victoria Harbour. The installation, with inflatable moss covered slabs at over 7m high, and a 35m wide fake green grass base will offer a stark contrast to Hong Kong’s heavily urbanized environment. It’s placement on the site of The Park, creates a fantasy landscape within the city upon the evolving site of West Kowloon. 

By re-presenting one of the world’s most famous existing prehistoric monuments and sites of cultural 

significance as an inflatable sculpture Deller allows audiences to reacquaint themselves with history in a high-spirited and entertaining manner, whilst exploring cultural heritage. 

Monumental artworks of this scale have never been presented alongside one another in Hong Kong, making “Mobile M+: Inflation!” one of the largest contemporary art exhibitions ever mounted in the city to date. The exhibition will be presented on the site of the Park at West Kowloon Cultural District - a fourteen hectare site devoted to arts programming next to M+, Hong Kong’s future museum for visual culture. 

 Inflation! is a part of Mobile M+, a series of pre-opening ‘nomadic’ exhibitions curated by M+ that aim to engage the public ahead of the opening of the museum, scheduled for completion in late 2017. By initiating and realising projects that would not be possible in a single museum building, Mobile M+ seeks to turn the perceived disadvantage of being “rootless” into a strategic advantage by organizing events that embrace a multi-

The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of on-site events ranging from artist talks, workshops, guided tours to performances. 

Lars Nittve said, “I am delighted that the M+ team have been able to secure this incredibly important piece of contemporary art for Hong Kong residents to enjoy. The work was enormously popular when it toured the UK last year, and I can’t wait to see the Hong Kong public’s response. Sacrilege will offer residents a unique experience of interactive public sculpture - hopefully stimulating debate about the kind of works which might be on show in The Park once it opens in 2014. Sacrilege challenges ideas about how art should be displayed and experienced, aligning with M+’s commitment to presenting art in a new dynamic way. Works of art can no longer be classified into fixed genre; which is why M+ will be a museum for visual culture in all its forms. This piece also reflects our commitment to bringing groundbreaking artworks to Hong Kong, as well as supporting local artists.” 

Mobile M+: INFLATION! 

Tues – Thurs: 12pm to 7pm 

Press Preview: Wednesday 24th April, 10.30am 

Fri – Sun: 11am to 8pm 

Closed Mondays 

During Art Basel Hong Kong: 10am – 8pm 

Free of charge 

Venue: West Kowloon Cultural District Promenade 

Sutton PR Asia 

Email: tamsin@suttonprasia.com / phoebe@suttonprasia.com 

M+ 

A centrepiece of Hong Kong's future West Kowloon Cultural District, M+ is the new museum for visual culture, encompassing 20th and 21st century art, design, architecture and the moving image from Hong Kong, China, Asia and beyond. From its vantage point in one of the world's most dynamic regions, M+ seeks, through its exhibitions, programming and permanent collection, to document the past, inform the present and contribute to the future of visual culture within an ever more interconnected global landscape. With the ultimate aim of exploring new ways of seeing, the museum will take a multidisciplinary approach that both challenges and respects existing boundaries while creating a meeting point for a diversity of perspectives, narratives and audiences. M+ has already embarked on a number of public programs and exhibitions, and has begun to assemble its permanent collection, in the run-up to the planned 2017 opening of its 62,000 square-meter (670,000 square-feet) building overlooking Victoria Harbour. M+ will be responsible for integrating and curating art within the park design. 

British artist Jim Lambie takes over Pearl Lam Galleries Hong Kong

Image: Pearl Lam Galleries

Image: Pearl Lam Galleries

HONG KONG, 16 April 2013 

Internationally acclaimed Scottish artist Jim Lambie takes over Pearl Lam Galleries Hong Kong with a major exhibition, The Flowers of Romance opens to the public tomorrow. The exhibition showcases site-specific installations, which give an overview of Lambie’s creative output over the last decade, displaying a mixture of dynamic new works alongside iconic masterpieces from his oeuvre. Lambie’s work is a charged synthesis of colour, line and space, which he employs to challenge viewers’ perceptions. The Flowers of Romance, titled after an early British punk band from the 1970s and studio album by Public Image Ltd released in 1981, represents a unique opportunity to see a number of key works from Lambie’s career which reference popular culture and music. 

....

Pearl Lam Galleries is dedicated to encouraging cultural exchange between the East and West, bringing important Western artists to a new audience in Asia as part of its exciting programme. Jim Lambie’s installation works directly engage with the exhibition space whilst demanding the participation of the audience. As the phenomenon of interactive installation art grows in Hong Kong, Pearl Lam Galleries is once more at the forefront of breaking new boundaries in the Hong Kong art scene.  

“We are delighted to have Jim Lambie’s first solo exhibition in Hong Kong. He is a dynamic and inspiring artist whose energy is pure creativity. I look forward to exposing this artist to the recognition he deserves in Hong Kong and hope that his vision will inspire our visitors as it has done me over the last decade.” Althea Viafora-Kress, International Gallery Director of Pearl Lam Galleries, April 2013

Extract from press release: Erica Siu and Veronica Chu / Sutton PR Asia 

http://www.pearllam.com/

Blue Cockatoo Traveller: Ragley Hall Artist In Residence

Blue Cockatoo Traveller: Ragley Hall Artist In Residence: Dawn Harris, Artist in Residence, Ragley Hall, UK Ragley Hall has announced that Dawn Harris will be its ‘Artist in Resi...

Ragley Hall Artist In Residence

Dawn Harris, Artist in Residence, Ragley Hall, UK

Ragley Hall has announced that Dawn Harris will be its ‘Artist in Residence’ during 2013. On select days between Easter and October, Dawn will be based in the Ragley Gallery & Studio, within the Grade I listed stables and will use the residency for reflection, research, presentation and production of work that responds to the Ragley environment.  Dawn, who was born in Birmingham, was previously in partnership with the National Trust as Artist in Residence.

The residency will enable visitors, local schools, universities and community groups to explore contemporary art through discussion, workshops and exhibitions within this valued heritage site. Dawn's residency will enable her to explore her practice within a different community; meeting new people, using new materials and experiencing life in a new location. This year Dawn will be considering why 'Heritage' is important to the community.

Dawn Harris stated ‘I am delighted to be Artist in Residence at Ragley and I am looking forward to developing the residency entitled: ‘Negotiating Heritage’. Through negotiation I plan to begin a dialogue that services my interpretation of the heritage of Ragley”.

Dawn will be engaging with visitors between 11am and 4pm on selected dates which can be found on the Ragley website. Engagement with Dawn is included in the Ragley Park & Gardens admission rates.

For more information on Ragley please visit the website at www.ragleyhall.com.

Where in the world?

©Alison Plummer

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BVLGARI ART AWARD winner, Jon Cappatan.

The Art Gallery of NSW and Bulgari announced today that Jon Cattapan is the 2013 recipient of THE BVLGARI ART AWARD.

The Bulgari Art Award consists of a $50,000 painting acquisition for the Art Gallery of NSW and a residency in Italy valued at $30,000. The total award of $80,000 is one of the most valuable art awards in Australia. The award-winner has been selected by the Art Gallery of NSW Trustees and the head curator of Australian art. 

Jon Cattapan is a highly regarded artist and one of Australia’s finest contemporary painters. Cattapan’s subject is often contemporary cities, both their architecture and organisation and how we inhabit them. He overlays specific imagery with an abstract patterning that recalls the digital matrixes through which information circulates, extending local references into more global concerns. 

Cattapan’s winning painting Imagine a Raft (Hard Rubbish 4+5) 2012 is a triptych painted over a five year period. Images of a city and abstract digital grids are juxtaposed with an image based on humble discards, a pile of disused furniture waiting for the council collection trucks at the end of Cattapan’s street in Melbourne’s St Kilda. The discarded objects resembled a marooned vessel and started Cattapan thinking about broader issues of what we value and what we discard. How do simple belongings shape our sense of identity? And how, by extension, can global preoccupations with territories and surveillance inform the creative zeitgeist of our times? These questions are a part of the artist’s thinking and aesthetic. 

Jon Cattapan’s parents were born in the Veneto region of Italy and this award will enable him to reconnect with his family origins as well as experience the rich contemporary and historic cultural life of Rome and Italy.

Wayne Tunnicliffe, head curator of Australian art, said:

'The Gallery has looked to acquire a major painting by Jon Cattapan for several years now and we are thrilled that the Bulgari Art Award will enable us to have Imagine a Raft (Hard Rubbish 4+5) 2012 for our permanent collection. It is a tough but also lyrical painting, which finds a form of beauty in an unlikely subject matter. This winning painting veers between abstraction and representation and is a superb addition to our contemporary Australian collection.’

Julie Ann Morrison, managing director of Bulgari Australia and UK, said:

'We are delighted that the Art Gallery New South Wales has selected Jon Cattapan as the recipient of the Bulgari Art Award 2013. Jon’s work acquired for the state collection is highly distinctive in the context of Australian painting, combining a contemporary sensibility with a mythical and vivid depiction of the “city” as cast out from the landscape. Throughout his extensive career, Jon has challenged the conceptual boundaries of Australian art, bringing new questions and allusive associations to realisation with particular force, expressed with the tradition and timeless skill of a fine painter.’ 

Bulgari was founded in Rome in 1884 as a single jewellery shop, whose magnificent jewellery creations soon became emblems of Italian excellence. Throughout the last few decades Bulgari developed into a global luxury brand renowned for its highly creative design in jewels, watches and accessories, and retailing in the major luxury retail precincts of the world. Up until 2011 Bulgari was majority-owned by the Bulgari family and, though it is now part of the LVMH Group, the Bulgari family are still instrumental in the management of the Bulgari brand and the design of jewellery. International success has carried the distinctive Bulgari design into a diversified portfolio of products and services and, increasingly, hotels.