Karin Weber Gallery is excited to announce its upcoming exhibition, ‘Palatable Parables’, a focal point for our 25th anniversary celebrations. This milestone not only marks a quarter-century of showcasing innovative art but also highlights our commitment to fostering meaningful dialogue within the local and international community.

‘Palatable Parables’ invites visitors to explore how culinary traditions, rituals, and symbolism are influenced by mythological beliefs and storytelling. From the ritualistic and celebratory use of specific ingredients to the superstitions and tales that have been passed down through generations, food constitutes a vital thread woven through the fabric of our collective imagination.

With a diverse array of artworks, the exhibition highlights the deep-rooted connections between food and the mystical, revealing how these associations influence our lived experiences. Visitors will gain insights into how food not only nourishes, but also reflects cultural identities and shared narratives. Hong Lam Lau’s cake-themed collection of mezzotint prints showcases his ability to imbue still life compositions with a captivating sense of drama and atmosphere, drawing from the tradition of cake offerings for the Gods in Greek mythology.

'Placebo Islands of Immortality', a project by renowned artist duo Stephanie Cheung and Kingsley Ng, explores the human desire to transcend the limits of mortality with a unique twist. Their work examines the relationship between humans and their animal companions, using a food-sharing experience to encourage visitors to engage on a sensory level whilst connecting nourishment, compassion, and the search for immortality.

The rich tapestry of Hong Kong popular culture and Chinese folklore informs artist Joey Leung's paintings. 'The Honest Red Bean Paste' and 'Water of Forgetting' explore the complex interplay between truth and forgetfulness, as manifested through the lens of food and culinary traditions.

Join us for this captivating exploration of food and myth, as Karin Weber Gallery celebrates a quarter century of contemporary art with and within the community of Hong Kong and beyond.

About the Artists:
May Fung (b. 1952) is the founder of Art and Culture Outreach, a cultural organisation housed in Foo Tak Building, Wan Chai, and Videotage, both in Hong Kong. She was the former school principal of the HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity and is a seasoned cultural worker and video artist whose own work is held in the collection of M+ Hong Kong. This exhibition marks the inaugural collaboration between Fung as an artist and our gallery.

Hong Lam Lau (b. 1996, Hong Kong) earned his bachelor’s degree in visual arts from the Academy of Visual Arts at Hong Kong Baptist University in 2019. He also studied at the Academia di Belle Arti di Bologna in Italy. Lau specializes in intaglio and the classical technique of mezzotint in printmaking. His work has been exhibited internationally in South Korea, Australia, and the United Kingdom, as well as in notable Hong Kong venues such as Ben Brown Fine Arts, Hanart TZ Gallery, and the Hong Kong Heritage Museum.

Joey Leung (b. 1976, Hong Kong) obtained both her BA (2000) and MFA (2007) from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her works are part of the collections at the Hong Kong Museum of Art and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, UK. Leung has exhibited at Art Basel in Hong Kong, Asia, and America, with her most recent exhibition in re.riddle, San Francisco, USA, in 2024. Leung is one of the most prominent and celebrated Chinese ink artists in Hong Kong with a substantial following.

Stephanie Cheung primarily works as a curator specializing in interdisciplinary, site-specific, process-driven, and participatory projects within communities and public spaces. She currently serves as the lead curator at the Make A Difference Institute, a community-initiated non-profit organization in Hong Kong that oversees socially engaged art projects, including Tin Shui Collaborative (2014), Hi! Hill - Art in-Situ (2018), Peoples’ Art Connective, and Minna no Tsukemono (2024-26). In addition to her curatorial work, Cheung is an accomplished writer of critical and creative texts, with her scholarly articles published in journals such as CAA Reviews, Asian Art News, World Art, and various academic anthologies.

Kingsley Ng is an interdisciplinary artist and designer known for his focus on conceptual, site-specific, and participatory projects. He earned his BFA in New Media Art from Ryerson University, Canada, and completed his postgraduate training at the Le Fresnoy–National Studio of Contemporary Arts in France, graduating with the highest honours. He furthered his education with an MSc in Sustainable Design from the University of Edinburgh in the UK.

Ng's works have been showcased in prominent institutions and international exhibitions, including the Centre Pompidou, Paris, France, the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Rome, Italy, the Guangzhou Triennial, China, the Land Art Biennial in Mongolia, the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial, Japan, the Lille Europe Pavilion at Shanghai Expo, China, InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Centre in Canada, the Hong Kong Museum of Art, and Art Basel Hong Kong, among others.

He has also received numerous grants and awards, including the Hong Kong Arts Development Council's ‘Best Artist’ Award in Media Arts (2014), the Asia Cultural Council Fellowship (2013), the Hong Kong Contemporary Art Biennial Awards (2009), the Hong Kong Young Design Talent Award (2008), and the Gold Medal Award at the Hong Kong Independent Short Film and Video Festival (2007). Ng is currently an Associate Professor at the Hong Kong Baptist University Academy of Visual Arts.