Hoo’s in the house?

Texas-based artist Matthew Bonifacio Rodriguez headlines a new show at the nomadic Apostrophe gallery. The exhibition, a group show titled CCTV, is being held in an abandoned office space high above Central.

In addition to traditional materials, Matthew Rodriguez’s art employs out-dated children’s toys, disregarded stuffed animals, found fabrics, and other expired materials.

Looking over his work I started to wonder - is there such a thing as a thrift store aesthetic? (more…)

Friday night I stopped by the opening of Partouze, a collaboration show between Taiwanese graffiti artist REACH, and Yasumasa Yonehara (aka Yone,) a Japanese photographer.

The exhibition is making its way around the region, with Shanghai hosting it last month, and Taipei following after Hong Kong.

Knowing little about the artists I was curious to see their work. (more…)

Takashi Murakami, Cherries, 2005

Here at Hong Kong Hustle we’ve previously discussed the fact that luxury brands are the new patrons of the arts. In the recently opened exhibition, “Louis Vuitton: a Passion for Creation,” the well known brand has created an exhibition worthy of its prominent name.

The large, multi-gallery show provides a rare glimpse at works from revered contemporary artists including Jean-Michel Basquait, Jeff Koons, Richard Prince, and Takashi Murakami, to name just a few. This is an opportunity that doesn’t frequently present itself in Hong Kong.

The exhibition is larger than I expected and is broken up into several sections. Marc Jacobs, who was once artistic director of Louis Vuitton, is credited with spearheading the brand’s collaborations with contemporary artists. This was a wise move - Takashi Murakami’s designs for Louis Vuitton alone sold over $300 million U.S. dollars worth of merchandise! (more…)

Friday night the Garage Works gallery in Sai Ying Pun opened a special exhibition featuring new works by SheOne, an old-school London graffiti artist.

Located in the Western part of Hong Kong Island, Garage Works is an art gallery with a unique twist. (more…)

The newest edition of Pecha Kucha night is set to take place at Hong Kong’s club Prive on Wednesday, February 25th. Not familiar with Pecha Kucha? Check out our post on the first one here.

In short, the serial event features an assortment of creative professionals talking about their projects and professions in a concise, yet casual setting. Pecha Kucha night is a great way to get the inside scoop on being involved in creative industries. (more…)

Tuesday night I checked out a solo exhibition of illustrations by artist Jonathan Jay Lee. The show was held at the Fringe Club, which actually houses two separate galleries on their ground floor. The first is just inside the entrance-way, and the second is through a narrow hallway that opens up into a live music venue. The show took place in the latter space.

Moving through the crowd to browse the artwork, one image in particular caught my eye. (more…)

A few weeks ago I stumbled into the PARA / Site gallery in Sheung Wan just as Japanese artist Tatsumi Orimoto, also known as “the bread man,” was introducing his work.

The artist gave a short talk that sounded almost apologetic. He seemed to say: hey, people recognize me for this, and give my work attention because of this, so I have to keep on doing it. What he does is tie baguettes to people’s heads and then parades them around in public. (more…)

2R in character… you don’t wanna mess with Nxy and Zia!

Singer-actor duo 2R, comprised of sisters Rosanne and Race, unveiled their latest project on Thursday night. In a move that’s sure to make a lot of people jealous, the two have been transformed into Sci-Fi comic-book heroines by celebrated artist Pat Lee! (more…)

The official name of the exhibition is Indigo Child, but calling it a wonderland is no exaggeration. The mega show created by artist Carrie Chau and put up by the Times Square shopping center represents a new triumph for Hong Kong artists. There isn’t a more high profile space in the city with the same foot-traffic. The fact that it’s up during the Christmas season, situated in front of and inside of the major shopping mall makes it unbeatable in scope.

Times Square should be commended for having the foresight to recognize the artist’s talent and the confidence to realize her appeal to ordinary Hong Kong citizens. Walking by Times Square at any time of day, you’re likely to see groups of people pausing to admire the work, or more likely snapping away with their cameras. This is a major attraction and I’m happy to see it so perfectly executed by a local artist. (It was also a smart business decision for Times Square - how many thousand Facebook photos, online galleries and blog posts have images of Times Square now in the background?) (more…)

Last week I attended the launch of Galleri Magazine’s fourth issue. I’ve written about the significance of Galleri before here. The magazine has been working hard to bring Hong Kong’s creative community together. The pages are loaded with work from local artists who, until recently, suffered from underexposure.

The event was held at a new lounge named Dada inside The Luxe Manor hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui. I’d never been to Luxe Manor or Dada before, and visiting them I discovered a few surprises! (more…)