HONG KONG.- Ora-Ora’s HalluciNation group show draws on the line-up of seven artists shown at March’s Art Basel Hong Kong, and includes digital art, installation, sculpture, ink and mixed media.
Artists included are as follows: Halley Cheng, Henry Chu, Huang Dan, Huang Yulong, Peng Jian, Nina Pryde and Xiao Xu.
The title is inspired by the phenomenon of hallucinations within the world of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Hallucinations involve AI system’s filling in gaps with false data, perceiving something that isn’t there and fabricating information and presenting it as fact.
Ora-Ora asked its artists to imagine that HalluciNation as a place, hence the accent on 'nation', suggesting a community of invention, but also shared beliefs and values. What could those values be? Primarily unlimited imagination, vivacity, colourful energy and limitless potential. It would be a place of joyous experimentation, and of unexpectedly cohesive and compelling narratives. HalluciNation is a realm of radical re-imaginings, of challenge and surprise, of new visions, apparitions, daydreams and understandings.
In the words of Ora-Ora co-founder and CEO, Henrietta Tsui-Leung, “As we embark on the AI era, our artists engage head on with the surprises and opportunities of a new physical and technological landscape, proving that imagination and invention are the defining traits of contemporary art. Visitors to Ora-Ora will become temporary citizens of the HalluciNation, navigating the new world around them with openness and curiosity.”
The group show builds on Ora-Ora’s recent showing at Art Basel Hong Kong 2026. Hong Kong-based tech artist Henry Chu will be presenting his created installation titled A(bsurd) and D(istortion (2026), which was shown at Art Basel Hong Kong in March. At a time of heightened international disquiet, his insightful data and music creation merge with the sinuously evocative form of the guitar, and a range of microphones. The work dissects international relations and the media cycle in a ground-breakingly interactive, dynamic format.
The line-up of artists spans Europe and Asia. Beijing-based Huang Yulong, whose sculptures convey lively riffs on street culture, presents the imposing Yo Bro !! -2 (2018), a dynamic, perfectly balanced bronze work with multiple perspectives on humanity, asserting the power of diverse points of view.
Another Beijing-based artist, Huang Dan, shows her acclaimed ink paintings of horses, which mirror the rhythm of the horse’s body in serene, rich shades of red and blue. Her aesthetic of ultra minimalism is uniquely Asian in style.
Following the first Art Basel appearance of Hong Kong-born ink artist and photographer Nina Pryde in 2026, her visionary integration techniques of ink and photography will feature, vividly underlining her deep love of Hong Kong landscapes.
Peng Jian, based in Hangzhou, works in both ink and acrylic, across the jiehua Chinese architectural style and curved natural form. Meanwhile, Chongqing-born Xiao Xu’s icy ink landscape flows through slow, dark spaces, tracing flickers of enlightenment in the gloom.
Acclaimed Hong Kong artist Halley Cheng presents his Kapok series. Reacting with a distinctive metallic surface, these paintings at times recall the aluminium texture of medical instruments, or echo the golden patina of ancient bronzeware. Against this shifting ground, the kapok floats, decomposes, and reconfigures, an organism full of life.
HalluciNation forms part of the celebratory programme marking the 20th anniversary of Ora-Ora, which was founded in Hong Kong in 2006.
