Press Release for Man Fung-yi Solo Exhibition—“Woven Sentiments”
For the past five years, Galerie Ora-Ora worked passionately to promote art. We will continue to do so, but from a new location. We are excited to announce that we have moved to one of the most artistic places in the Noho area, and we are ready to bring more buzz to the local arts and culture scene!
Our first exhibition after our expansion will take place during the exciting “art weekend” at the end of the month, when artists, galleries and art collectors from all over the world fly into Hong Kong for the art fair or auctions. As we and all art lovers enjoy the mélange of some of the world’s best contemporary art gathered here in Hong Kong, we take this opportunity to present artist Man Fung-yi and show some of the best of our local arts as well!
Man Fung-yi is a fine example of an artist who has blossomed, due to her own creativity and perseverance in art, despite having lived in the dry soil of the ex-cultural desert (Hong Kong). Her talent and hard work has since been recognised locally and abroad, earning her numerous awards, and she has exhibited in over 100 shows in various cities in Asia and Europe. Her works can be found in many public places such as Kowloon MTR station, Shatin City Art Square and The Upper House. Apart from the Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong Heritage Museum and Hong Kong Airport Authority, museums in Japan and China are also collectors of her work. As busy as Man is, it will be a great privilege for all art lovers to finally see her first gallery solo exhibition in 5 years!
Different from her group exhibitions, we focus on a much larger selection of her latest pieces. Through the exhibition, we and viewers may understand, in context and in-depth, the artistic development of her most recent artworks. These “Woven Sentiments” are, as suggested by their name, pieces of needlework that are woven with the artist’s personal feelings of affection and prayers for blessing. However, whilst she identifies herself with ancient Chinese ladies in her fondness for needlework, she is reinventing this tradition by embroidering with sticks of incense.
Subsequently, she began to knit with metal threads. Making use of her own and her family’s clothing, she creates woven dresses, jackets, shoes and bags in shining stainless steel and brass. These artworks are full of intriguing visual paradoxes, where the feeling of masculinity and western sculpture that is imparted from the metallic material is juxtaposed and balanced by feminine qualities such as the soft forms of the clothing and the sentimentality behind the work. It is with this personal language that she succeeded in making a mark within the conventionally male-dominated field of sculpture. Whilst they are dazzling sculptures, they are also intimate records of the wearer’s body and life at a specific time and space, carriers of memories, and the product of the artist’s every day sentiments.
This exhibition will open our eyes to all the various aesthetic and symbolic subtleties that permeate Man Fung-yi’s sculptures, such as reflections on femininity, Daoist philosophies, Chinese traditions, and their embodiment of the spirit and essence of Chinese ink.
Exhibition Details
Opening Reception: 28 May (Friday) 5:30-8:00pm
Exhibition Period: 29 May – 26 June
About Galerie Ora-Ora
Galerie Ora-Ora, a fine art gallery and art consultant, works to bring high quality, innovative and representative artworks by artists from Europe, China, America and Australia into Hong Kong for appreciation, investment and collection. With Ora-Ora meaning “from one era to another” or “eternity”, we believe that good quality art survives through generation. We aspire to provide Hong Kong artists an international platform and exposure to bloom with their imagination and creativity. We believe that art has no frontiers and should be experienced by anyone in the world. Art is a lifestyle.
About Man Fung-yi’s Art
Weaving Intimacy (Body Lines) No. G4
Weaving Intimacy (Body Lines) No. 9
The year 2001 marked a milestone in Man Fung-yi’s artistic career. It was during her pregnancy that she began to reinterpret the art of needlework by taking sticks of incense to burn neat circular patterns on silk and Chinese scroll paper. These elegant pieces are very well received. The Hong Kong Museum of Art and Hong Kong Heritage Museum not only invited her to exhibit, but are, amongst other public institutions and corporates, fond collectors of her work.
As Man became more and more recognised, she focused on creating more art. She transposed her circular emblem onto 3-dimensional steel and brass pieces, asserting herself into the conventionally male-dominated discipline of sculpture. She also began to weave with metal threads, making metallic jackets, dresses, shoes and bags which are derived from her and her family’s own personal garments.
Man Fung-yi exemplifies the interrelatedness of art and life. Her concepts, means of expression and formal choices are synthesised and developed to a high level of maturity. She succeeds in balancing the masculine and feminine, and harmonises oriental traditions and concepts with a medium and forms that are more closely affiliated with contemporary western art. Her work appeals to men and women from all over the world, thus demonstrating how high quality art can be a universal language that transcends gender and cultural differences.
MAN Fung-yi at Women in Asia Awards
Man Fung-yi Biography
Man Fung-yi is the co-founder of Chic Studio, where she makes work and promotes art education, and she is actively involved in public art projects. She has exhibited in over 100 shows in New York, Paris, London, Sweden, Barcelona, Beijing, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. She was listed as Top 30 Finalists in the 2008 Sovereign Asian Art Prize in 2007 and 2008, and over the years has won many awards issued from Hong Kong, China and the United States. Man holds a Masters degree in Fine Arts and Master of Arts (Daoism) from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Weaving for Harmony and Smoothness No. K2
Weaving for Harmony and Smoothness No. T3
