From a Distance—Stephen Wong

Publisher: Galerie Ora-Ora – Sept 2011 (24 pages)
Designed by: Odetti Tse

Preface 前言

Henrietta Tsui 徐錦熹
Founder of Galerie Ora-Ora

Nowadays, collectors, art lovers and investors alike are focusing their attention on the next generation of contemporary art. Their interest is not only with understanding how contemporary art evolves and adjusts in a vacuum, but also how art interacts with and reflects on society and mass culture. As a result, artists are also increasingly introspective on how their works are perceived by the public and where their works will stand to integrate in the evolving community. In the endeavor to bring our friends the avant-garde aspects of art development, Galerie Ora-Ora is proud to present as part of our Art Futures – Stephen Wong and his latest series called “From a Distance”.

There is an old saying, “One’s personality determines his fate”. From that perspective, Stephen possesses an innate characteristic that has seen him to most of his goals he sets his heart to. Throughout the preparation of this series and show, Stephen has proven himself to be one of the most organized young artists I have met.

Just as an example, during the conception phase of this show months ago, rather than simply describing his thoughts over a couple of phone calls, Stephen chose to spend sleepless nights producing an extensive proposal, which in itself could already be an art piece. Even at this preliminary stage of production, his pitch and drive emanated diligence and maturity with insightful description of requirements, target effects and desired outcomes, masterful angles including media, perspective, impact, innuendos and packaging. From that meeting onwards, I was convinced Stephen is a man on a mission—To be firmly established as a leading multi-disciplinary contemporary artist.

Though it is common for up-and-coming young artists, blessed with a plethora of material and directions to experiment, to be multiple disciplinary in their expression, Stephen is distinguished by his maturity, clarity and focus. As you will find from his works, Stephen knows where his artistic direction is, and he researches and works hard to attain it.

In this “From a Distance” series, viewers’ attention are drawn to Stephen’s determination to get close to nature and demonstration of his enjoyment over the creation process ‘en plein air’. Through the inspiration of a world renown artist, David Hockney, Stephen aims to relive Hockney’s spatial experience by painting locations in Hong Kong that are dear to his heart. Stephen also flew to United Kingdom to specifically search for sites that Hockney painted at.

Stephen’s efforts to distant the viewers’ relationship with and contemporize their perspective of nature by exhibiting his landscapes in a pixelated form are commendable. His unique reprise to plein-air landscape painting with pixel-like effects on his canvas is unique amongst his contemporaries and firmly establishes a signature style of his own. This show is truly a result of both Stephen’s hard work in research and execution. I see much potential in his development and encourage you to take close study of his progression.

現時，無論是藝術愛好者、收藏家或投資者， 都將注意力集中於新一代的當代藝術作品。他們的興趣，早已不限於了解當代藝術的自我發展及調整，而是藝術品跟社會及大眾文化的互相影響動及對照關係。因 此，當代藝術家亦愈加反思－－大眾如何解讀自己的作品，作品又同時能否融入正在不斷改變的社會中。Galerie Ora-Ora一直以為各界友好提供前衛藝術的最新發展為己任，所以誠意向大定推介新晉藝術家黃進曦及其最新的「視乎距離」系列。

俗語有云：「性格決定命運」。如果根據這觀點，黃進曦的確天生是那種心之所向，就是志之所在的人。從他籌備新系列及這次展覽得知，黃進曦可說是在我所認識的新一代藝術家中，最有組織能力的一位。

例 如，這次展覽還是在構思階段時，便已知道黃進曦並非那種打幾次電話，隨便說些簡單概念的人，因為他早已花上幾個不眠不休的晚上，想好了林林總總的方案，這 本身已經可以稱得上是一件藝術品。即使在這如此初步的階段，已足以表現出他是一個既努力，又成熟的人，更難得的是他對藝術要求、目標效果、預期結果等各方 面，都能準確析述，而且對媒體、角度、效果，影射、包裝等都有自己的一套。因此，從最初的會議開始，我已深信黃進曦能完成使命的人－－終有一天必成為一位 獨當一面的跨界別當代藝術家。

在這個年代，各種材料及方向都充滿了無限的可能性，所以嶄露頭角的年輕藝術家都可以很容易在 不同藝術界別中表達自己，但黃進曦與眾不同的地方在於他的特質－－既成熟，又明白自己，而且同時能專注發展。正如你會從其作品中發現，黃進曦很清楚自己的 藝術方向，並會努力鑽研如何實現它。

當你欣賞過這個「視乎距離」系列，一定會被黃進曦決定走入自然，享受戶外創作所吸引 著。由於受到世界知名藝術家David Hockney所啟發，黃進曦希望體驗David Hockney的空間經驗，而他先選擇香港為繪畫地點，這也可說是他的心臟所在，之後他還飛到英國，特別探索David Hockney所繪畫的地點。

黃進曦希望透過其點描風景畫，拉遠大家跟自然的關係，從而參透出他的觀點，這其實十分值得讚揚。他故意到戶外寫生，之後而以點描方式重現在畫上，這種堅持在 同年代的藝術家中可說是獨一無二，而且也建立成自己的獨特風格。這次展覽正正顯示了黃進曦的努力鑽研及執行的成果。因此，我對他的未來寄予無限信心，而同 時鼓勵大家花時間慢慢細賞他的進步。

The publication “From a Distance – Stephen Wong” can be purchased at Galerie Ora-Ora. Please contact the gallery for more information.