Viewfinder

Photo by South Ho

When I manage to look up from my smartphone while walking around the streets of Hong Kong I often find myself looking up, looking way up to catch a glimpse of the sky. With both of these activities I risk bumping into someone but it's worth the risk. Not only have Sim's paintings inspired me to examine the broader physical world above me but they have caused me to pause to think about my life. We voluntarily surround ourselves with gadgets, and buildings, and immerse ourselves in our self made prisons. The sky offers us a glimpse of hope, an alternative to the congested, claustrophobic existence of many Hong Kongers.

Sim himself is inspirational. He has dedicated himself to his art and foregone the perceived comforts of a steady job. His technique and conceptualization continue to transform a simple idea into amazing works of art that operate on multiple levels. A closer examination of his paintings will reveal detailed brushstrokes and textures and with a few steps back, the image will open to the viewer.

Young great artists have our support and we hope you will join us in supporting their search for the heavens.

Clifford Louie

Red Elation Gallery

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ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Looking at artist via his viewfinder

Viewfinder is a little window on camera which people looks through to compose their photograph. It is always fixed in size where people can prescribe what they prefer within a given shape by lensing. The process of imaging and the applied technology reflect the boundaries that we have imposed and we face. The distance shown within viewfinder also addresses viewer on one side and objects on the other side. After all, our subjectivity in interpreting this viewer-object relationship is implied through the little image captured. 

These changing interpretations are always Chan's interest. Like looking through the viewfinder of camera, Chan's painting series - "SimCity" and "SimSky" - capture images of the sky surrounded by crowded high-rises. On one hand, the delicate and conceptual depictions of ghetto-style city buildings unfold into an aggressive urban growth that we face; on the other hand, the painting's vanishing points converge high-up in the skies, reminding us how confined our urban dwelling lives can be. This confinement is actually man-made which synchronizes with Chan's self-crafted wooden frames for his canvases. These symbolic cut-out shapes of the sky are loaded with lots of calculation and effort, implying that the canvas and frame as the media of painting are not only surfaces to be painted, but also forms to be created. Here, Chan's work advise us of the need to question with a greater sense of engagement with life. 

Apart from the insider's worm-view angle which has been applied for a while, Chan's recent work demonstrates his other state of mind of seeing. His new "SimCity" series delineates a panoramic view of random edifices in an open environment. Unlike his previous painting, the canvas becomes the artist's window to the outside world which provides him with different vision, yet isolation. The sense of remoteness is further stressed in his new mix-media installation, which collects fragmented views of the sky at different moments captured by anonymous eyes. "We always hope there are wider spaces and sky to be looked at," said Chan, "indeed, they might be right there when you turn your head. However, it just seldom gets through people's busy minds."

This is an exhibition demonstrates Chan's ways of seeing; it is also a viewfinder for us to look at the sky on the other side.

Helen Ng

Guest Curator

關於展覽

觀景器內共睹的天空

觀景器是照相機上用以建構照片的一扇小窗，人們總在那小小的窗戶內窺探另一端的世界，並以焦距規劃了那瞬間光景。影像塑造的過程及種種技術的應用，反映了我們在不斷自我加諸又不禁面對的規限。狹小的觀景器把拍攝的主體及被攝的客體分解，最終，物我關係在不同的角度下被檢視，在主觀的意念下被解讀。

觀點與視覺素來是陳氏喜愛的題材。有如照相機的觀景器，陳氏的油畫系列 “SimCity” 和 “SimSky” 以蟲眼角度捕捉那瞬息萬變的天空色彩及四周擁擠扭曲的高樓形相。一方面，陳氏以其細膩及概念性筆觸描繪出印象中的城市建築 － 凌亂且不斷向天空蔓延的樓宇正是我們那過度發展城市之縮影；另一方面，陳氏畫中那開闊但高高在上的天空，反襯出城市人忽略了的生活局限。這些人為的藩籬不僅躍然紙上，更見於他那些代表各式各樣天空剪影的畫框中。這些經反覆計算及努力製成的畫框，標誌著藝術家對繪畫媒介的重新審視：畫布及框架不僅是顏料的載體，更是一種形式的創建。這些天空剪影代表了陳氏對繪畫及生活的提問，從而探索其箇中可能。

陳氏最新作品則表現了不同心理狀況下的不同觀點。兩幅作品以全景角度描繪一個開放環境中的城市建築。有別他以往的作品，畫布成為藝術家通往外面世界的一扇窗，一面為他提供不同的視點，另一面卻把他從外在世界隔離。陳氏新的混合媒介裝置進一步強調他那「只可遠觀」的心態，作品旨在收集不同眼睛同觀共睹的種種天空片段。「我們常希望看到一個更廣闊的空間和遼遠的天空，」陳說，「那是不同心境下觀點與角度的差異，但人們總是不以為然。」

是次展覽展示了陳的「觀景器」；它也是一扇窗，讓我們看到另一端的天空光景。

吳愷欣

客席策展人