Art in the city

Thurs 17 May marks the start of ARTHK 12, so there’s plenty of artsy stuff going on in town at the moment. If your interest is photographic there there are a couple of great ‘small-but-perfectly-formed’ shows on at the moment, both solo debuts in Hong Kong.

Last week I dropped into the Annie Leibowitz exhibition showing at Sundaram Tagore on Hollywood Road. There are some great classics there from her back catalogue including Andy Warhol, Brad Pitt and the iconic pregnant nude of Demi Moore. That gallery has a great track record. When I was last in Hong Kong they had a wonderful Edward Burtynsky show on.

At lunchtime today, in between shooting at Amber restaurant, I managed to drop into the new Gagosian in the Pedder Building which is showing Andreas Gursky. Judging by the glammed up queues on Pedder Street last night, the opening party must have been a hot ticket this week. On first sight, I was a bit underwhelmed by his recent Bangkok works but I was really cheered up at seeing his iconic 99 Cents II dyptich. Up close and personal, I just find it amazingly immersive and mesmerising. And to think that it was shot way back in the age of proper film. Now if only I had the money, maybe it’s cheaper than Rhine II…

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I wrote these words to fill this space…

I’ve had this David Shrigley clipping hanging around for about six years now – I knew that I’d find a use for it eventually. You know the oeuvre he’s referring to – it’s strange remembering how shocking Richard Billingham’s Ray’s A Laugh seemed when it was published in 2000.

Shrigley’s first major show in London opened last week at the Hayward Gallery, covering his diverse output which includes photography, books, sculpture, animation, painting and music, as well as his signature cartoon-style drawings.

I haven’t managed to get there yet, and I’m kind of undecided about his work. For sure it’s witty, sometimes very funny, but is it ‘art’? I guess that’s the question we ask ourselves every day…

I find the strangest aspect of his work is how many people have appropriated his naive doodles and scratchy text into their tattoos.