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“What is this giddying place, With no firm-fixéd floor, That I knew not of before?" "It is Life," said a mask-clad face. — The Masked Face, Thomas Hardy, 1917
Admit it. We are narcissists. From commissioned portraits of kings and nobles to “leaked” nudes of celebrities, we can’t help but be obsessed with immortalising our image.
Young Soy Gallery is proud to present “Unmasked”, a group exhibition that gathers four Hong Kong artists, Mr Koo, Louie Jaubere, Jerome Leung, Sai Pradhan, and one international artist, Jake Scharbach, to challenge the tradition of portrait making, propelling viewers to see portraiture as a mirror that reflects societal conditions and the shared emotions of our time.
In Mr Koo’s ambiguous faces and Jerome Leung’s mouthless figures, the two artists draw references from their day-to-day encounters to explore the transformative power of emotion and the nuances in human connections.
While Louie Jaubere and Jake Scharbach’s mixed media works interrogate our preoccupation with celebrity and the power structures that dictate society, Sai Pradhan’s introspective paintings challenge the stigma around work and (un-)productivity.
“Unmasked” invites viewers to re-examine “portraiture”, prompting them to see beyond what is visible, abandon the giddy masks, and contemplate on the complexity of the human condition that makes each face.
Rip away mask-clad faces and reconsider the images people present to the world at Young Soy Gallery between the 26th of September until the 13th of October.
Address:
G/F, 40A Upper Lascar Row, Sheung Wan
Opening Hours:
Wed–Sat 11am–6pm
Phone:
59882729
Email:
habibi@youngsoy.com
Website:
youngsoy.com
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Young Soy is an art gallery dedicated to the everlasting quest of cultivating and celebrating radical cultural influences.
Under the gallery’s representation lives a diverse cohort of artists forming not only different styles, but also different backgrounds and ideologies. This enables the gallery to push the envelope, challenge its audience and continuously expose it to a range of concepts. Young Soy prides itself on representing these artists under the belief that these artists have the potential to claim a position in art history, and potentially even history itself.
The gallery also follows a code of supreme inclusion, meaning they encourage the masses to participate in the dialogue surrounding the artists, and artwork alike. Through the exhibition of such artists, and inclusion of the masses, the gallery remains steadfast in their delirious hopes of making the world a better, more interesting place to live.