“Always After Now” by Chow Chun Fai

Always After Now | Chow Chun Fai

Exhibition Dates: 8 February – 6 March, 2022

Opening Hours: Tuesday – Sunday 12:00nn – 6:00pm

Location: Shop 201-203, 2/F, Block 3 Barrack Block, Tai Kwun, 10 Hollywood Rd, Central, Hong Kong

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Chow Chun Fai began his Tarot Series in 2017. Using visual expressions with ambiguous meanings, he intentionally strays from his usual art practice. Despite the series’ preoccupation with a framework, one is simultaneously and arbitrarily permitted to enter a space detached from reality via the images of tarot cards selected. In a way, it is a continuous rational reorganisation and deconstruction of things out of our control. While the artist incorporates iconic elements from Hong Kong sceneries into his works, viewers are also invited to delve into the allegorical world he has constructed, which is composed of reminiscences and narrative. The open interpretation of the Tarot is, therefore, a portal that connects the past and the future, allowing us to reach into the realm of imagination.

{Before} and After

The works of Chow Chun Fai often bear traces of time. With this exhibition, he captures moments from the past, present, and future. The artist selects plots in the movie series that depict the people and events of a particular era to evoke collective memories for viewers. Fragments collected from current news are relevant to our present lives and address timely issues. These existing images, which also represent the social awareness of others, are like history that has happened.

{After} and Before

The works incorporate metaphors drawn from tarot card images, leading us into the unknown. Tarot cards serve as a bridge between anticipation and reality, and they are filled with a multitude of allusions and references. Chow Chun Fai’s series of work reflects his commentary on the current ever-evolving era. Through rational narrative and arbitrary assemblages, the motif of his works remains perpetually suspended. As we seek to be rational and sensitive simultaneously, we discover that we cannot take any stand apart from one another. In an era of uncertainty, the Tarot Series might prove a significant footnote left by the artist.

Creativity

With regard to technique and motif, Chow Chun Fai has a tendency towards realism. He is widely recognised for his skilful techniques and intuitive grasp, which aptly reflect Hong Kong’s rapid development.

Though the artist’s technique and media are derived from Western figurative paintings, his approach is profoundly postmodern. With his earlier movies and news series, he ingeniously solved the context-imitation problem, linking technology with traditional arts media.

In his Tarot series, he uses the concept of mixed collocation to interrupt the confusion and hybridity generated by messages of homogeneity. The audience is then given the authority to interpret the ever-changing era.

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About the Artist – Chow Chun Fai

Graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Department of Fine Arts (BA and MFA). In 2012 he ran in the Hong Kong Legislative Council elections, for the Sports, Performing Arts, Culture and Publication constituency. Most recently his work has been featured in the exhibitions: “Chow Chun Fai” (Eli Klein Gallery New York 2018); “Everything Comes With an Expiry Date” (Klein Sun Gallery New York 2016); “Venice Meeting Point” (Venice Biennale 2015); “Hong Kong Eye” (Saatchi Gallery London 2012), “The Liverpool Biennial” (Liverpool 2012). Chow is the recipient of the Grand Prize of the Hong Kong Arts Centre 30th Anniversary Awards, and the Sovereign Asian Art Prize.