19 November – 24 December 2016
Gallery EXIT is pleased to announce “Roll up the vibrant breeze”, a solo exhibition of new work by Ocean Leung. The exhibition will open on 19 November 2016 and remain on view through 24 December. An opening reception will be held on 19 November from 3pm until 6pm.
As seen in recent exhibitions, Leung has exhibited versatility in the alteration of found materials and the construction of sculptural forms. Continuing his practice of appropriating objects and images rich in symbols, Leung builds visual discourses around social commentary and a reflection on various presentational methodologies.
Found vinyl banners are commonplace in Leung’s body of work. Banners of promotional and propaganda nature play self-explanatory sarcasm and mischief under the artist’s manipulation and assemblage in diverse media such as glass mount and iron structure. Besides readymade, a set of new banners were created to situate in a photographic piece. On them are images of burning fire, one with a dark chicken wing and one without. Put on two sides of a truck and juxtaposed with the Hong Kong cityscape and airport apron, the seemingly random but strong visuals became a grim metaphor for the city and its possibilities.
In this exhibition, one of the noticeable elements is the middle finger rendered geometric forms. It has close association with a tendency to revolt through conceptual delivery and raw aesthetics shared by other works. As a type of channelled anger, the spirit of protest remains after former years of activism against government authorities. The artist rethinks political criticism in a different setting, purposely introducing ambiguity in the reading to tackle the decontextualisation of urban issues in a white cube. By expressions and physicality of wordless objects, Leung’s art acts as introspection of his early days.
Leung’s other pieces were often generated by street observations, prompted by the intent to transform discoveries for artistic production. From objects obtained from refuse collection points and recycling shops to graffiti walls photographed in alleys, Leung explores aesthetics of a destructive nature. A fragmented incompleteness results from this drifting spontaneity, incidentally responding to corrupt realities and city ideals of a perfect life. In the artist’s own words of dark humour, art environments are a type of mortuary of trash for autopsy to take place.
