Dave CHOW Yiu Wang, KONG Chun Hei: Stagger
周睿宏, 鄺鎮禧《浮步》
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10 May - 6 June 2025
Gallery EXIT presents ‘Stagger’, a joint exhibition by Hong Kong artists Dave CHOW Yiu Wang and KONG Chun Hei. Both artists use industrial ready-made objects to explore contradictions between what objects are and what they do. Throughout the exhibition, their works are positioned to create a dynamic spatial experience. The title ‘Stagger’ reflects both the artists' perspective about object functions and how viewers might feel unsteady as they move through the exhibition. When we see these transformed everyday objects, our usual understanding is challenged, forcing us to think differently. Dave CHOW Yiu Wang changes and rearranges the original materials of objects, questioning the uniqueness of humans within social systems. His works show how steel as a material can be both hard and soft, and how each mass-produced item still maintains its individuality despite looking the same. In this exhibition, ‘Blind’ turns protective blinds into dangerous blades; ‘Premise’ replaces a car shock absorber's steel spring with glass, making it functionless, suggesting how different individuals handle emotions; Both ‘3607’ and ‘3612’ are comprised of thousands of tightly stacked blades with tiny gaps between them—spaces so tight that light cannot pass through—creating surfaces smooth like black velvet despite being made of sharp blades. KONG Chun Hei observes everyday absurdities and creates ambiguous or humorous forms by either canceling out or enhancing the original functions of mass-produced objects. He continues to explore opposites such as safety/danger and defense/attack. In this exhibition, his work ‘Green Lights’ combines spirit levels with LED panels to create green light suggesting safe passage, but places them below eye level; ‘Awn Stars’ turns road spikes (normally used to puncture tires) into star-shaped decorations by coating their sharp points with plastic; ‘Turn into it’s own loop XVII -- XX’ is a drawing series showing the same tangled electrical wires in different arrangements, carefully illustrating how problems can recur repeatedly without ever being resolved. Dave CHOW Yui Wang (b.1993, Hong Kong) graduated with a BA in Visual Arts (Hons) from the Academy of Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University in 2015. He is a mixed media artist whose practice revolves around the appropriation, transformation, and assemblage of ready-made objects to distill and articulate everyday experiences. Through his methodical interventions with found objects, CHOW invites viewers to reconsider the meaning and potential of the mundane. His compositions reflect a nuanced dialogue between material culture and personal narrative, often revealing unexpected poetic qualities in the ordinary. CHOW has presented two significant solo exhibitions: 'Reinstatement Works' at Square Street Gallery in March 2023, and 'vroom vroom' at Hong Kong Arts Centre in 2024. His work has been featured in numerous group exhibitions, including 'A Guide to Fragmented Spaces' (Gallery Exit, Hong Kong), 'Splendor of The Sun' (Galerie du Monde, Hong Kong, 2023), 'Proper Weight' (Fo Tan, Hong Kong, 2022), and 'Hope all is well with you' (1a space, Hong Kong, 2021). The artist currently lives and works in Hong Kong. KONG Chun Hei (b.1987, Hong Kong) graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the Department of Fine Arts at The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2009. His work is characterized by a calm yet keen sense of observation. Drawing inspiration from everyday life, Kong extracts patterns that correspond to structural elements of objects, revealing fractures in the interplay between objects and their contexts. This approach manifests across his paintings, installations, and video works, presenting tensions between amplification and negation. His exhibitions include solo presentations: 'PS' (Para Site, Hong Kong, 2023), 'Absent Minded' (TKG+, Taipei, 2022), 'OFF BEAT' (Feyerabend, Hong Kong, 2022), 'Raise the Dimness' (TKG+ Projects, Taipei, 2020), 'Turn Down the Pulse' (Crane Gallery, Kaohsiung, 2018), and 'Stay Away From Those Rocks' (Gallery EXIT, Hong Kong, 2017). Group exhibitions include 'Measured in Feet' (Hong-gah Museum, Taipei, 2023), 'Double Vision' (JC Contemporary, Hong Kong, 2022), 'Today Could Have Been A Happy Day' (Taikang Space, Beijing, 2018), 'From Ocean to Horizon' (CFCCA, Manchester, 2017), and 'The 2nd CAFAM Future Exhibition' (CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, 2015). Kong currently lives and works in Hong Kong. |