“Pssst…have you heard of Wilson Shieh? Who is he, is he somebody? Where does he come from? What does he want? Ah…an artist…what does an artist do?”

Wilson Shieh, “Identity,” 2013. Ink and acrylic on cardboard (Drawing blown-­‐up as poster).

In a nutshell, this is a show about reviewing the development of Wilson Shieh’s figurative practice of the past five years and his positioning as an artistic figure. Such endeavour of figuring out conclusions from a ‘retrospective’, a sum, of recent work by one of Hong Kong’s more well-­known contemporary painters is elusive, perhaps even impossible from the get‐go, yet the shifts in registers of medium, production, and strategy, accompanied by increased exposure to the broader public, call for a considered attempt at explication and clarification. This is not a time to remain silent. Hence, this is not simply any review show, but self-­consciously about Wilson on Wilson Shieh. It is both the artist’s reflection on and response to the paths his artistic practice is taking, indicating the subjective and circumscribed nature of such effort, as well as a deliberate opening up of its developments into a conversation with the group body -­‐ the artistic community and the wider public.

Wilson Shieh, “Anita Mui in the 1980’s,” 2012. Colour pencil on cardboard 102 x 76 cm

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Wilson Shieh was born in Hong Kong in 1970. He is a graduate of the Chinese University of Hong Kong with a Bachelor of Arts (Fine Arts) (1994) and a Master of Fine Arts (2001). Since 1998 he has had 16 solo exhibitions in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Frankfurt, Leeds, San Francisco, Melbourne, and New York, and participated in 50 group shows. In 2008 he was awarded a residency by the Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore.

Wilson Shieh, “Nostalgia,” 2013. Ink and acrylic on cardboard (Drawing blown-­‐up as poster)

In 1997 he was winner of the Philippe Charriol Foundation Art Competition. He has been awarded Residencies and Art projects by the Freeman Foundation (Vermont Studio Centre) (2003), Crown Point Press San Francisco (2005), and the Singapore Tyler Print Institute (2006 and 2008).

Wilson Shieh, “Boys Grouping,” 2008. Gouache on paper 84 x 52cm