Gallery Tour of Hong Kong Contemporary Art Biennial Awards 2009

The “Hong Kong Art Biennial Exhibition”, which was first held in 1975, is an important event in the art scene in Hong Kong. This open competition provides a platform for local artists to demonstrate their talents and showcase their accomplishments. Also, it reviews the most recent developments in the local art scene and explores the uniqueness of creativity of artists and cultural identity of Hong Kong as a cosmopolitan city; serves as a major showcase for local artists both locally and internationally in order to keep pace with globalization of arts and presents awards to recognize the outstanding achievements of local artists.

To highlight the unique nature and mission of the “Hong Kong Art Biennial Exhibition”, it is re-named as “Hong Kong Contemporary Art Biennial Awards” in 2009. The public’s response is unprecedented. More than a thousand artists participated in the competition and amongst them, 83 entries passed the 2nd round of judging. A number of awards were presented, including 10 outstanding artworks, 2 artists who won the Achievement Awards and 2 artists who won the Young Artist Awards. Apart from Chinese painting, Chinese calligraphy and seal carving, Western painting and sculpture, this exhibition will also feature photography, video arts, computer arts and installations giving audience a full picture of the most up-to-date Hong Kong art.

Gallery Tour of Recent Works by Wu Guanzhong donated to the HK Museum of Art

Recently, just before the internationally acclaimed artist Wu Guangzhong passed away, he made a generous donation of 5 more works to the HK Museum of Art. This was following an earlier donation of 33 paintings in 2009 which included 12 oil paintings and 21 Chinese ink paintings dated 2005-09. Wu had also previously donated works to the Museum in 1995 and 2002, making this one of the largest public collections of his works. The artist’s generosity to Hong Kong stemmed from his enthusiasm for the city during his visits here. The sense of marvel at its dynamism and freedom are recorded in his various renditions of Hong Kong.

Wu Guranzhong is credited with integrating Chinese and Western art. Born in 1919 in Yixing, Jiangsu, Wu won a scholarship to study at the prestigious Ecole Nationale Superieur des Beaux-arts in Paris in 1946. By 1950 he returned to China and taught at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and other art institutions. Since 1991 Wu’s works have been widely exhibited both in the East and the West, including the British Museum in 1992. He will be remembered as one of the masters of contemporary Chinese painting.