《大世界》杜海銓個展2024

是次在SC Gallery的展覽《大世界》將展出十四幅全新的工筆畫作品。經過一年時間的沉澱,杜氏充滿野心和熱情,嘗試以現實和幻境交互的構圖進行敍事,與當下社會的現象連結。
藝術家以廣告屏幕作為載體,貫穿香港人日常生活與經典畫面。他以扎實的線描工夫,把經典文學與電影、賽馬故事、流行文化等連接到公共場域,從個人到社會,由微觀到宏觀,在宣紙上營造出取於真實卻異於日常現實觀看的陌生視角,以毛筆展現他對本土社會現象獨特的「世界觀」。
在《壯麗明天》裡,藝術家以一架駛往機場的巴士為媒介,將上帝指示挪亞建造方舟的聖經故事與近年香港人移民應對社會變遷的現狀連結起來。機場巴士窗外都是在翻山越嶺的動物,因為社會環境轉變的不安,決定選擇到新的地方重新出發。畫面中不僅傳遞著離港民眾最後一次乘坐陪伴他們成長的交通工具,也承載著複雜的情感,既有對新生活的期盼,也有離鄉背井的依依不捨。
賽馬是是次展覽中另一個常見的符號。在藝術家眼中它不僅是競技運動,而是一種對香港社會恆久不變的象徵。八十年代初,鄧小平為了安撫香港人的情緒,以「馬照跑,舞照跳」來承諾香港回歸中國後五十年不變,因此香港在回歸後,也一直保持住這個源於英國傳統的運動,它成為香港一個活力和西化的象徵。然而,藝術家認為到在今天急速變化的香港,已經沒有什麼是不變的,包括我們由小就認識的一一「叮叮」也可能終有一天被淘汰。因此,杜氏便以「叮叮」作為媒介,將可能消失的事物與永恆的象徵並置。他相信,即使這些「經典」有一天會消失,但香港人的對過去的回憶和懷念還是存在的。
藝術家最後由社會回歸到自己身上,在這個瞬息萬變的大時代中,他反問自己:究竟會選擇隨遇而安?還是無懼一切堅守自我?杜氏把自己力爭上游的渴望寄託在作品中,在大世界中,他以拼命地找自己的位置,找自己的方向,他以周星馳電影”回魂夜”中一句對為這次展覽作總結:「只要有信念,鬼都耐你唔何!」
這是杜氏的信念,也寄予香港人”共勉之”。

The upcoming exhibition “Have A Nice Day” at SC Gallery will showcase 14 brand-new Gongbi paintings by Jacky Tao. After a year of reflexivity and preparation, Tao, filled with ambition and passion, attempts to develop a pictorial narrative that intertwines reality and fantasy through the compositions in his paintings, while establishing a connection with the current social phenomena and context.
The artist uses advertising display screens as a medium to weave together the daily lives of Hong Kong people and iconic scenes from pop culture. Through his solid line drawing skills, Tao connects a wide range of themes, including classic literature and films, horse racing stories, pop culture and public spaces. They span across from personal to societal level, and from micro view to macro view. In those paintings, he creates a perspective that resembles reality, but feels different from what we see in our everyday lives, and uses calligraphy brush to present his unique “worldview” of his keen observations of the local community in Hong Kong.
In “Magnificent Tomorrow,” the artist uses a bus heading to the airport as a medium, to link the biblical story of God instructing Noah to build an ark with the recent phenomenon of Hong Kong people emigrating other countries due to recent social changes. Outside of the bus windows, there are animals traveling through the mountains, symbolizing the decision to start anew in an unfamiliar place, due to the unease caused by the unpredictable shifts in the society. This work not only portrays the last ride of departing citizens on a vehicle that accompanied them when they were growing up, but also carries an array of complex emotions, including anticipation for a new life ahead, as well as reluctance to leave their homeland behind.
Horse racing is another common symbol in this exhibition. In the artist’s perspective, horse racing is not just a competitive sport, but rather a symbol representing an everlasting Hong Kong society. In the early 1980s, Deng Xiaoping promised that the “running of horses and dancing of people will go on,” to reassure Hong Kong people that nothing would change for fifty years after its return to China. Thus, Hong Kong has preserved the popularity this sport originated from British tradition, which also acts as a symbol for vitality and Westernization. However, the artist believes that today’s Hong Kong is rapidly changing, and nothing remains the same, including the iconic “Ding Ding” trams that might be phased out one day. Therefore, Tao uses the “Ding Ding” as a medium, juxtaposing elements that would likely disappear in the near future with eternal symbols. He believes that even if these “classics” perish one day, the memories and nostalgia that Hong Kong people hold will persist.
In the end, the artist returns his examining eye away from the society and towards himself, questioning, in this rapidly changing era, will he choose to go with the flow? Or fearlessly uphold his beliefs? Tao’s answer is clear, as his desire to always strive for the best is demonstrated through his works. In this world, he desperately seeks his own place and sense of direction, and to summarize this exhibition, he ends with a line from Stephen Chow’s movie “Out of the Dark”- “As long as you have faith, even ghosts won’t be able to do anything to you!”
This is Tao’s belief, and he shares it with Hong Kong people as mutual encouragement.

〈Holiday〉Solo Exhibition of Tao Hoi Chuen Jacky

自序:

《大世界》這個展覽呈現了我把經典文學和通俗文化與當代社會連結所呈現的觀察和想像。起初我為展覽改了另一個相對俗套的名字「陳腔濫調」 ,原因是這個展覽的起點是關於對「經典」的思考。讀大學的時候,老師說藝術發展大約是十年為一代。每個時代有屬於自己的審美方式、創作觀念和表達方法。然而某些階段性成功的片段,在過份頻繁地被使用和出現,它很快會喪失了原本的意義而變得落伍。怎樣才能像莫內一樣,能夠捕捉到霎那的晨曦變成永恆的「經典」?

「工筆」本身是一種「經典」繪畫語言,它以圖像臨摹的方式被繼承著。習畫者在臨摹過程中不斷吸收,並轉化為自身的藝術修為。這些被反覆臨摹的圖像成為了煮湯剩下的湯料,內裡精華都轉移到新創作當中。在當代藝術語境中,我嘗試尋找這些經典素材再現的價値和方式。

放眼這個急速變化的數位時代,每一個曾經流行過的圖像和故事都如流星一閃而逝。然而歷史總是不斷重複。偉大的寓言,之所以永垂不朽,是因為它看破本性難移,書寫世間不變。在荒誕的社會,有人馬照跑、舞照跳;有人為改變世界的理念奉上汗水和生命;也有人離開熟知的家園,乘坐方舟擁抱新世界。無論歷史巨輪轉動到那個地方,這些似曾相識的故事和道理總是重覆又重覆地輪流上演。我發現「經典」總是恆久不變地流行著,歷久常新。

杜海銓
二〇二四年八月


Preface

In “Have a Nice Day”, it showcases my observations and imaginings of the contemporary society, while combining such reflections with classical literature and popular culture. At first, I named this exhibition, “Cliché”, a rather conventional title, as this my initial concept of this show is based on my reflection on what can be constituted as “classic.” During my university years, a professor mentioned that the evolution of art occurs roughly every decade. Each era has its own aesthetic, creative concepts, and methods of expression. However, certain content and interpretative styles that have achieved temporary success can quickly lose their original meaning and become outdated, when they are overused and reproduced excessively. How does one become like Monet, to be able to capture that fleeting morning light and turn it to something eternal, or even “classic”?

“Gongbi” itself is a “classic” visual language, inherited through the meticulous copying of images. As the artist practices and copies others’ works, they continuously absorb and transform these techniques into their own artistic abilities. The images they would copy repeatedly are similar to the leftover ingredients from making broth - as the essence has already been transferred into their new creations. Therefore, within the context of contemporary art, I am trying to explore the value and methods of reinterpreting these classic artistic materials.

In this rapidly changing digital age, every once-popular image and story flashes by like a meteor. Yet, history constantly repeats itself. Great parables are still applicable today because they reveal unchanging human nature and its relation to the world. Living in this absurd society, some people continue their routines as if nothing has changed, as “running of horses and dancing of people will go on”; some may dedicate their sweat and tears to make changes in the world; others may leave their homes to embrace a new world ahead. The wheel of history turns, and these familiar stories and truths keep reappearing, over and over again.

I find that “classic” always changes, and it is ever-renewing.

Jacky Tao
August, 2024