HONG KONG.- Now in its 14th edition, the Asia Contemporary Art Show will take place March 29th – April 1st, 2019 at the Conrad Hong Kong, and will welcome more than 80 galleries from Asia and the world, including up-and-coming and mid-career artists. The show kicks off on Friday, March 29th with the exclusive UnionPay Private View and the UnionPay VIP Collectors Preview. General admission opens on Saturday, March 30th and continues until Monday, April 1st.

“Art is certainly closing out a solid year in Hong Kong, albeit in the past few weeks there has been distraction from trade issues and yo-yo stock indices. No one blinked this past Fall, when we saw record attendance and turnover at art fairs and solid auction results.” remarked Show Director Mark Saunderson, “On top of that, early benefits from the Greater Bay Area development - the economic hub made up of Hong Kong, Macau and nine mainland Chinese cities. So looking ahead to 2019, there’s certainly fresh opportunity to spur Hong Kong’s dynamic art market and its dominant role in Asia.”

Saunderson continues, “At the Asia Contemporary Art Show, it’s our mission to curate an intimate art experience and introduce a wide range of art and artists, both emerging and mid-career to our visitors. The show next Spring is no exception. Erica Hestu Wahyuni, for example, is a promising artist from Indonesia whose works have been sold at auction, including Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Bonhams and other reputable houses. Timofey Smirnov is a unique graphic artist from Russia who has won recognition from the Russian Academy of Arts. We are also excited to present a Gao Jiayu, a Chinese artist who works in porcelain. Her works explain the close interplay between humans and the universe.”

INTERSECTIONS: CHINA

A highlight of the Show, Intersections: China presents a series of dynamic and diverse works spanning more than 60 artists, that focus on the crossing of artistic ideas between the past and the present, the traditional and modern as well as East and West, and features works that embody the diversity and dynamism, as well as the conceptual “intersections” of contemporary Chinese art.

Ma Shuqing, China – SDF Gallery, Room 4219
For Ma Shuqing (b.1956), painting often entails simply waiting for opportunities. Ma applies fields of colors to his canvas by pressing and scraping off layers of oil paints. The traces of this simultaneously accumulative and subtractive process are present in the edges of these paintings where each individual layer is partially visible. Layers and textures manifesting a sense of rhythm and movement within the paintings are sculpted in his work.

Judy Wang, China – Ling Art, Room 4317
Using the power of letters, words, and sentences, Judy Wang (b.1969) expresses the fast-paced state of our existence in the contemporary society during a rapidly changing era. Wang addresses social and ethical issues in the information age that she observes are emerging in an unprecedented way. The artist uses the collision between language and art to make her work reflect a cross-border phenomenon in today's society.

Gao Jiayu, China – Yunyu Gallery, Room 4121
Gao Jiayu (b.1988) works with porcelain and expresses her thoughts and feelings of daily life from a unique perspective. Gao’s works mainly represent the macroscopic meaning of life, believing that porcelain is the material which can condense its inner power. Her works explain the close connection and interplay between human beings and the whole universe, based on the wisdom of old Chinese civilization.

GALLERIES AND ARTISTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Lara Scolari, Australia, Room 4004
An action/gestural painter, Lara Scolari (b.1972) produces work in an abstract expressionist style that explores the theme of capturing unseen life-force and emotion. Scolari is interested in how energy informs the painting and viewing process, exploring multilayered organic forms that create an enlivening space for contemplation and a resting place for thoughts. Her work is inspired by memory, meditation, music, and Australian culture.

Huang, Wan-Ling, Taiwan – Art Influence, Room 4212
The context of Huang, Wan-Ling’s (b.1980) "Meisho-e" series is radial and has no endpoint. Pondering the relationship between panorama view endpoints and the picture frame, Huang constructs a non-eye angle picture. Huang inspired new temporal imaginations by creating an alternative space with various paper, collage, and layered materials. Unlike traditional paintings, Huang aims to feature multiple points where the painter's perspective varies and there are several vanishing points.

Martin Lever, Hong Kong, Room 4323
Using striking contrasts of color and lighthearted observational touches, Martin Lever (b.1969) creates powerful impressionist images that celebrate the world around us through a new lens. His highly collectible work is mainly inspired by Hong Kong, his home for 40 years. Lever’s new series “Streets” aims to strip away pretension and clutter to expose the bold, graphic soul of Hong Kong’s human core.

Erica Hestu Wahyuni, Indonesia – BLINK Gallery, Room 4008
Erica Hestu Wahyuni (b.1971) is one of the most promising artists from Indonesia. Wahyuni depicts her own experiences in scenes that feature main characters within extremely busy environments. She takes interest in the scenes' surroundings, painting them with great detail. Her naive, playful renditions have ascertained her reputation as one of the most sought-after contemporary artists in South East Asia.

NOMA, South Korea – Kara’s Gallery, Room 4024
In a convenient and fast-changing era, Korean artist NOMA (b.1981) tries to convey basic human emotions and expressions in his works. To do that, NOMA makes a lot of changes, creating irregularities that are originally intended in using a material or expression just as human feelings and emotions are varied and unpredictable. The artist believes that through this process, his work could bring out the viewer’s honest self.

Timofey Smirnov, Russia – Red Square Gallery, Room 4104
Timofey Smirnov’s (b.1980) works are united by common techniques: graphics done in simple black-graphite pencil often combined with nontrivial design. In some cases, Smirnov’s artworks on canvas or paper are fixed on art objects created by the author. This "non-standard" framing is akin to the definition of the word "oxymoron", in the sense that mutually exclusive concepts form a stable phrase – a metaphor.

Priya Janghu, Canada, Room 4206
Priya Janghu (b.1979) creates unique and contemporary stainless steel bolts sculptures. With a knack for creating art forms that are original and beautiful in their design language, Janghu uses a laborious technique of welding every single bolt to one another using Argon gas. Taking inspiration from the society, people, and their behavioral patterns, Janghu is committed to creating sculptures that avow audiences.