HONG KONG.- Ora-Ora will be presenting the first solo show at Ora-Ora by Chinese contemporary artist Jiang Heng, titled: The Substance of Mirage.

The artist, native of Guangdong Province in southern China, invites us, at an individual and at a societal level, to question what is real and what we choose to value, probing the impermanence or durability of cultural norms in a world of speed and production. Cherished viewpoints, traditions and customs may evaporate in the hunt for material advancement and fleeting pleasure.

Jiang Heng has enjoyed a multi-decade career from his base in Guangzhou, narrating the rapid and continued ascent of the industrial powerhouse of southern China with his brush, and exploring its direction, tendencies, effects on the population and likely ramifications. Throughout this time of change, he has been uniquely positioned at the nexus of industry, consumer culture and tradition.

The Substance of Mirage will focus on two series of the artist’s works: “Artificial Hairs,” vividly coloured paintings, and “I Divided My Body Into Pixels For You,” his textured, layered, sculptural colour and wood installations.

Visitors to the gallery are invited to consider Jiang Heng’s “Artificial Hairs” series in the light of their own personal values, morals, judgments and lifestyles, deciding what truly matters, and what is likely to seem ephemeral or insignificant after the lapse of time.

Jiang Heng was born in Guangdong, China in 1972. He graduated with a BA from the Department of Fine Arts of South China Normal University in 1996, completing a Master’s at the same institution in 1998. He lives and works in Guangzhou.

Jiang Heng’s output spans painting and mixed media, navigating reflections on modern consumerism and consumption and how historically validated and treasured ideals are forfeited in the rush to superficial happiness. His home in the industrial powerhouse of Guangzhou affords him a unique vantage point into the nexus of mass production and shifting cultural sands.

Recent solo exhibitions include “Flowers Without Time, Spring Is Eternal” at the Xi'an Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts (2023) and “Cut, Unscattered Memories” at the Nanjing University of the Arts Museum, Guangdong Museum of Art, and Hubei Museum of Art (2021). He has taken part in major art platforms including Art Basel Hong Kong and the Venice Biennale (both most recently in 2026), and his artworks adorn the collections of international institutions including the Museo Nacional de las Culturas in Mexico, and the Museo Civico Belliniano in Italy. In China, his art is in the collections of the Guangdong Museum of Art, He Xiangning Art Museum, Mingyuan Art Museum, Shenzhen Art Museum and Nanjing Sifang Art Museum. In 2012, UNESCO in Paris collected his painting “Love of Asia, Flying Butterflies,” the first acquisition of Chinese contemporary art by the global body.