Hon Chi-fun: A Story of Light
Asia Society Hong Kong is honored to present A Story of Light, an exhibition of the groundbreaking Hong Kong artist Hon Chi-fun (1922–2019). A postal inspector by trade, Hon was a self-taught artist who rose to prominence in the 1960s with his radical artistic experiments that combined international influences as a response to Hong Kong’s multi-cultural context. A Story of Light re-contextualizes the evolution of Hon Chi-fun’s practice by contrasting his continual fascination with light as both a material and subject with his deployment of various media and cultural influences. The exhibition presents over thirty artworks spanning four decades of his trailblazing practices in painting, printmaking, and photography.
Through considering the different ways Hon focuses on light in his work, one can discern his desire to resist being labelled or historicized. While Hon was undoubtedly informed by various dominant art movements, including Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, and the New Ink Movement in Hong Kong, he created a visual language that uniquely expresses his multicultural influences and evolving viewpoints spanning multiple geographies and time periods. His diverse oeuvre, developed over years of experimentation and travel, addresses questions of cultural identity through a radical approach to materials and the use of new artistic techniques. For Hon, to be a Hong Kong artist was to remain porous and question boundaries between cultures, mediums, and within the self.
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Asia Society Hong Kong is honored to present A Story of Light, an exhibition of the groundbreaking Hong Kong artist Hon Chi-fun (1922–2019). A postal inspector by trade, Hon was a self-taught artist who rose to prominence in the 1960s with his radical artistic experiments that combined international influences as a response to Hong Kong’s multi-cultural context. A Story of Light re-contextualizes the evolution of Hon Chi-fun’s practice by contrasting his continual fascination with light as both a material and subject with his deployment of various media and cultural influences. The exhibition presents over thirty artworks spanning four decades of his trailblazing practices in painting, printmaking, and photography.
Through considering the different ways Hon focuses on light in his work, one can discern his desire to resist being labelled or historicized. While Hon was undoubtedly informed by various dominant art movements, including Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, and the New Ink Movement in Hong Kong, he created a visual language that uniquely expresses his multicultural influences and evolving viewpoints spanning multiple geographies and time periods. His diverse oeuvre, developed over years of experimentation and travel, addresses questions of cultural identity through a radical approach to materials and the use of new artistic techniques. For Hon, to be a Hong Kong artist was to remain porous and question boundaries between cultures, mediums, and within the self.
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Pioneering Hong Kong modernist and Circle Art Group co-founder Hon Chi Fun passed away in the early hours of February 24, according to a press release issued by Asia Society Hong Kong Center, dated February 26.
Over 30 works of the Hong Kong modernist artist, who recently died at the age of 96, are on show at the Asia Society Hong Kong Centre
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