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EX MATERIA  - THE PRIMACY OF BEING, Ora-Ora, Hong Kong
Mar
20
to Apr 23

EX MATERIA - THE PRIMACY OF BEING, Ora-Ora, Hong Kong

The title of the exhibition alludes to mankind’s eternal quest to understand the origins of the creation of the universe. Whilst theologians have supported the concept of ex nihilo (from nothing), others (including Greek philosopher Plato) have asserted that creation occurred ex materia, meaning that life coalesced and emerged from pre-existing matter.

Creation myths serve as a basis for the orientation of human beings within the world. This centring and inclination specify humanity’s place in the universe and the regard that humans must have for other human beings, for nature, and the entire non-human world; creating a system that tends to determine all other humane deeds, actions, and structures in each culture.

Hence, Ex Materia - The Primacy of Being presents a body of works that question the core of our very existence and inimitable presence in the cosmos.

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OPENING RECEPTION, Ora-Ora, Hong Kong
Mar
20
2:00 PM14:00

OPENING RECEPTION, Ora-Ora, Hong Kong

Ora-Ora is pleased to announce Joseph Tong’s debut solo show with Ora-Ora in March 2023 at the gallery's Tai Kwun space in Hong Kong. The exhibition will be titled "Ex Materia - The Primacy of Being," and will run from March 20 to April 23. Ora-Ora will be showing Tong’s works simultaneously at Art Basel Hong Kong (March 21 to March 25, 2023). The artist will be present in Hong Kong and in attendance at both venues.

As CEO and Co-founder of Ora-Ora, Dr. Henrietta Tsui-Leung said, “This is Joseph Tong’s first solo show with Ora-Ora and a real homecoming for the artist, returning to Hong Kong for the first time in several years. The week of Art Basel Hong Kong is the perfect moment to highlight Joseph’s uniquely human perspective: classical, timeless, and entirely contemporary in outlook.”  Speaking of the artist’s output and approach, Ora-Ora’s CEO continued: “We know Joseph as an artist of huge intellectual integrity and creative ingenuity, continually breathtaking in his philosophical audacity, range and agility.”

Tong’s Ex Materia (Transfiguration) (2022-2023) series is mystical, primal, terrene; these works are organized in a play of mirrored compositional constructs, forming kaleidoscopic patterns and uniform systems of reference. The series is designed to be modular, apt to be hung and re-hung in almost infinite combinations and arrangements. Using warm and tactile fabrics as his canvas, they are a tapestry which forms a microcosm of artistic and human creation. The artist’s interest in psychology forms a visual echo in the traced impression of inkblot Rorschach tests.

The creative process is conceptual, yet highly specialist in its execution. Operating with image-editing software, a digitally-drafted template is first composed before being either printed onto recycled polypropylene and polyester mix textile or pure wool. The process is then completed by hand-drawn inclusions in aquarelle, oil and wax pastels (onto the surface of the fabric) to provide the requisite image depth and colour intensity.

Brand new works being shown for the first time include six small diptychs – Ex Materia (Chyrsalis) Part I to Part VI, (2023). Whilst the chrysalis is an echo of the re-emergence of everyday life post-pandemic, the lepidoptera motif draws upon the idea of beauty in symmetry, as prevalent in nature. Followers of Tong’s work may notice a tonal shift in his new output, as subdued tones give way to more vivid colours. 

A visual linguist, Tong eschews the notion of a signature style. His variety encourages a pursuit of intellectual enquiry on the part of the beholder that mirrors his own restless engagement. His studies of Philosophy at King’s College, London were a springboard into psychology, mythology and theology, themes to which his work either alludes or actively investigates. Influenced by a range of classical musicians and inspired by the poetry of Fernando Pessoa and Ezra Pound, Tong is himself a multi-disciplinary artist of word and action, bound not by limits of his imagination but by the physical possibilities of physics and materials.

Speaking of the forthcoming show, Joseph Tong said “The rhyming symmetry of the natural world that I observe in Ex Materia is forming its own echo with my first solo show with Ora-Ora. Returning to Hong Kong in the spring of 2023 fulfils and reconciles this cycle in a deeply poetic, personal way.”

Press release courtesy of Ora-Ora

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BEYOND THE OECUMENE, Galerie Isa, Mumbai
Jun
7
to Aug 20

BEYOND THE OECUMENE, Galerie Isa, Mumbai

Tong, in a constant mode of re-invention and experimentation, creates simulations / atmospheres / settings in which familiar objects are altered or detached from their natural functions, applying specific combinations and certain manipulations of mediums to inspire different contexts; thereby questioning the conditions of appearance of an image. This allows the artist to create a visual narrative in which to debate, dissect and evaluate principle doctrines of our physical universe versus that of a virtual / parallel reality and metaphysical state of being.

Beyond the Oecumene (2019) reflects on the concept of anthropogeography (the study of the geographical distribution of humankind and the relationship between human beings and their environment). However, the works in the series remove any portrayal of humankind’s prevalence as it looks beyond, or more importantly - prior to - domination of civilization. Thus, the visual abstractions are reimaginations of a world where nature reigns supreme; in which the untouched, the unspoiled and the purity of nature prevails.

Continuing the modes of practice of Atlas Obscura (2019) - where each work has a digital counterpart - image-editing software is used to create digitally generated impressions that are superimposed onto a selection of sampled images, which - in turn - leads to the creation of an abstracted visual composition printed on aluminum, mirror Dibond or on canvas. The process is then completed by hand- drawn motifs in wax pastels and / or aquarelle to further illustrate an atmospheric realm with ethereal elements. References alluding to nature and landscape draws the viewer in through a feeling of recognition. However, with several works in this series, the viewer must confront the illusory feature of the structured Plexiglas positioned on the surface of the work, which generates an optical distortion. This grants the viewer a moment to pause and observe as the pictorial elements gradually emerge and to reorient themselves to a visual narrative where both the real and unreal coalesce.

Press release courtesy of Galerie Isa.

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OBSCURAE, IAM, Munich
Jul
26
to Aug 23

OBSCURAE, IAM, Munich

It is the first exhibition of his recent works in Munich. The artist, born 1981, lives and works in Berlin and has shown internationally, including Hong Kong, Mumbai and Berlin. The exhibition includes a selection of works from recent series: Anthropocene, Remembrance of Realms Past, Strata Obscura and Tabula Rasa. 

Gestural strokes of calligraphic ink fused with the inertia of paint upon white canvases share both complimentary and frictional qualities in Anthropocene. Varying in weight and thickness, the energetic marks expel across the surface in various directions. Spontaneous expressions and visual articulations generate deliberate patterns, forms and expanses of monochromatic colour within an orderless composition. The expressive mark-making and frenzied strokes form a loose and gestural aesthetic, yet rooted in calculated exactitude in advancing the visual narrative.

Remembrance of Realms Past explores the boundaries which envelop the relationship between the artist's hand and the attempt to instantiate the natural world, where depictions of nature are not presented as mere representations of the external world but rather the ideology of nature. These works become a window to an imagined space rather than as a sculptural / pictorial element. From this space, the landscape of each painting - coaxing from this organic foundation the development of a myriad of ornamental forms - coalesce into compositions that appear as an object for the viewer's mind, rather than as an open window for the viewer's eye.

In Strata Obscura, the immersive and illusory narrative of the works allude to an earlier series L'apparition, where perceptions of dimensionally fluid and malleable visual contexts are examined. The works' primary concerns include the effects of colour as light, shadow as dimensionally formal structures, and thus engages the viewer to a certain dualistic aesthetic. Beneath the dichroic surface the unexposed topographical element (composed of industrial aluminium) succumbs to colour changes and visual variations. The elemental structure - reminiscent of stratum - becomes obscured as it adheres to the interplay of form, light, and setting. Relying on the reflective capacities, the solid structure underlying each work seem to dematerialise (depending on the viewer's perception / viewpoint).

Two works from the series, Tabula Rasa, bring opposing principles that are subject to both cogitation and negation. Using Chinese calligraphy Xuan paper beneath linear Plexiglas; both materials become subliminal references to the mind (that at birth the mind is a "blank slate" without rules for processing data, and that data is added and rules for processing are formed solely by one's sensory experiences). The paper, like the mind, awaits the calligrapher’s hand to engrave cognisance onto its blank surface. The Plexiglas becomes the ‘lens’ that focuses the process of gradual or unconscious assimilation of ideas – yet to be imprinted. Sheets of aluminium foil and dichroic film dominate equally in this series. Whilst the calligraphy paper becomes the metaphor for a mind that absorbs, the reflective nature of the foil and the colour variations of the dichroic film symbolise an alternative conduit for cognition.

Press release courtesy of IAM.

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