Art Central HK 2022

Wong Sze Wai, The missing operator, Water-based color, ink, color pigments and clay on canvas, 120 x 220 cm, 2021

Contemporary by Angela Li is proud to participate in Art Central 2022 from 25th to 29th May (preview on 25th May), presenting a group exhibition at Booth #A1 showing the artworks of Kurt Chan, Chan Wai Lap, Cheung Tsz Hin, Fatina Kong, Kwong Man Chun, Lv Shanchuan, Ng Chung, Jacky Tsai, Wu Didi and Angela Yuen, as well as a solo project The Missing Operator by the young Hong Kong artist Wong Sze Wai at Booth #B14. The project debuts Wong’s latest paintings created in the past year. Incorporating Eastern and Western mediums in her oeuvre, Wong explores the infinite visual elements and undiscovered corners in Hong Kong.

Fascinated by the untrodden areas of the city, Wong Sze Wai exercises her powerful imagination to construct an idiosyncratic “wonderland of daydream” transcending time and space on her canvases. In Wong’s recent body of works, she envisages the history and by-gone tales of Hong Kong by depicting the overlooked quadrants of the metropolis, aiming to explore the intimate relationship between memory and imagination. Drawing inspirations from the ancient Chinese murals in the Dunhuang Caves and the Medieval murals in Eastern Europe, Wong deploys mineral colors and delicate brushstrokes to render a sense of nostalgia in her artworks, evoking the ruminations of the possible past.

Wong’s artworks are closely related to Hong Kong's modern livelihood. Various daily objects, such as blue and white tarpaulin, discarded fences, bricks and plastic chairs, are seen scattered on the undulating hills in the paintings, reminiscent of mystical treasures hidden in the woods to be excavated. Layers of clay applied on the canvases reveal a touch of rawness, which reinforce the otherworldliness and whimsicality of the hidden city spots. Wong's paintings, in this sense, turn into tranquil yet spirited lands of wonder, bursting with the vitality of human lives. By exhibiting the untrodden haven of mysteries with a futuristic vision, the artist invites her audience to leave behind the complications of society, view the material world with a peaceful mind and roam the intersecting realms of reality and imagination. In turn, Wong brings us onto a soul-searching journey that allows us to reflect upon ourselves, and ponder on our relationships with the greater spectacle.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Wong Sze Wai (b. 1990, Hong Kong) was born and based in Hong Kong. She graduated from The Chinese University of Hong Kong with a Master of Fine Arts in 2020 and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2013. She has participated in exhibitions in Hong Kong, Italy, Amsterdam and Bulgaria. Her exhibitions include duo exhibition Invisible Border of Memories (Art Projects Gallery, Hong Kong, 2021), group exhibition Celebrating Our 40 Years, Friends of Art Museum, CUHK (Sotheby’s Hong Kong Gallery, Hong Kong, 2021), Feature of the Past (Contemporary by Angela Li, Hong Kong, 2021), Shining Moment (TANG Art Foundation, Hong Kong, 2021), HKFOREWORD20 (10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong, 2020), Make art Not War [T/F] organized by MFA Graduates 2020 in CUHK (Osage, Hong Kong, 2020), Line In Motions – East meets West (CBK Zuidoost, Amsterdam, 2018), Word of Co. Open Studio Day (Място 167, Bulgaria), Elements -From Space to Space (Palazzo Ca’Zanardi, Italy, 2017), Amsterdam Art Exhibition of CUHK AAFAA 2015 (Dokzaal, Amsterdam, 2015).