YIP FUNG | RECENT WORKS: THE LEMURIA & KHAOS SERIES
Book 14
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10 Oct 2019
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RECENT WORKS: THE LEMURIA & KHAOS SERIES
Book 14 10 October 2019
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THE LEMURIA + KHAOS SERIES After delving into various medium and styles of expression, I have arrived at a language of painting that nearly comes full circle from my earliest works, which I can safely say is abstract expressionism or dare I say a derivative thereof. It may be because I still believe that painting and the act of applying colour onto a flat canvas or surface are rooted in our earliest beginnings, as witnessed in cavemen paintings. The act of recording and expression is paramount in my work. Mark-making and gesture contains within it meaning and intention on an unconsious level. An unromantic notion prevails: it is what I leave behind in form that is the goal of my existence. I don’t feel it is about love nor compassion. That would be too lofty, but perhaps its a way out of this singular consciousness. In each of the sections, I have given an account of what the process involved in my thinking, whether consciously or postrationalised, to the audience. Yip Fung
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Yip Fung Fragrant Khaos, 2019 Acrylic on canvas 138H x 91W cm
I completed this painting throughout the night and into the morning, knowing full well that the city outside could be under chaos, as weekend skirmishes have become the norm in Hong Kong. I painted aggressively and with more assuredness than previously. Not afraid to let the paint strokes and brush works be dictated by my thoughts, but through feelings and intuition. I woke the next afternoon and looked at the painting and to my astonishment, I felt the painting was complete. Don’t change a thing I said.
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Yip Fung Infernal into Khaos, 2019 Acrylic on canvas 138H x 91W cm
The city of Hong Kong is still embattled by chaos as protesters, police and other sub-groups clash. Tear gas and rubber bullets by police are used to deflect the protestors notwithstanding the amount of force used to apprehend their victims. It is horrifying and frightening, as what appears to be police attacking bystanders and protestors alike in the public transportation system. The city is witnessing vandalism as I have never seen before, with an entrance in Central Station being shattered and fire set ablaze at the exit. This painting depicts the emotions that are running deep in my psyche but all the while trying to remain calm.
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Yip Fung Descent into Khaos, 2019 Acrylic on canvas 138H x 91W cm
The city of Hong Kong is in turmoil and chaos due to the protests during the last few months. Protesters are fighting against the government’s police force as the city’s majority sees the constant erosion of democracy in front of their eyes. The government entities that are supposed to lead the city have fallen silent and numb. If the first protestor were peaceful, it has become violent and dangerous now. Weekend after weekend, the scenes escalate. Many are wounded seriously and some have lost their lives for civil liberty. The city surely is not the same as when I first arrived in 1994.
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Yip Fung Lemuria, No. 9, 2018 Acrylic on canvas 140H x 140W cm
After working fairly intensely on four 1 x 1 meter paintings, it was time to move onto a larger canvas. Taking cues from Lemuria, No. 8, I wanted to retain much of the energy that was contained in that painting, I felt as though this painting was less controlled as the previous work, but neverthess utilising the same vertical brushworks for the waterfalls and the circular strokes for the trees/ people. It is still Lemuria though in essence — wild and vibrant, but with elements of sensuality and eroticism.
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Yip Fung Lemuria, No. 8, 2018 Acrylic on canvas 100H x 100W cm
My mood became darker during this period of painting, but I have become more attuned to my brushtrokes. I went ahead and bought some new brushes. They were softer and finer compared to the ones I would usually purchase, which are course and hard. I could see where this was taking me, but only after realising my earlier works desired a certain feeling (not look or style). I can see how my feeling were guiding and leading my way of creating the artwork, and not my intellectual analytical left-brain. In this painting, there were many stages where I felt it could have been a complete painting. I took photos. Although they were what I call accomplished works on its own, I decided to let it go and continue painting. It spoke in the quiet (or cacophany) of my mind to take it further. ‘This has already been done’ was the message. I knew what the message was telling me. I had to take it further and evolve my craft, and thus began a new layer with the softer brushes, and new discoveries into my consciousness. I was listening to Hans Zimmer at this moment in time. I recall the track from The Dark Knight as I was finishing the piece. The mood foreboding and dangerous, yet beckoning one to enter into the shadows. Come my child. Come.
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Yip Fung Lemuria, No. 7, 2018 Acrylic on canvas 100H x 100W cm
What I normally do now with many paintings is create several base layers of random, strong brushstrokes using a broad paint brush, but with a careful selection of colours that I hope will give the final painting it’s overall tone. For this initial piece, I chose a combination of green with yellow for the overall tone, a vintage look. I approach the painting with more certainty than others, borrowing from what I learned in doing automatic painting. My hand gestures and markmakings becoming more attuned to the surface of the paint. I could sense a better understanding of paint consistency and moved into the canvas with greater confidence. I still am consciously creating the composition, and for that I will contend with in the land of Lemuria. I have resisted saying that my paintings are reminiscent of Hong Kong and the landscape of mountains and valleys, feeling that it is too easy and convenient, yet the similarity is certainly there.
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Yip Fung Lemuria, No. 6, 2018 Acrylic on canvas 100H x 100W cm
I have been under much pressure lately with an exhibition of photography that I am working, and I left the canvas for a short time to work on the logistics. I also was making some transitional moves of my websites, consolidating several websites into one. My mind was in a mess, and I know there are mistakes and things to fix up. I knew I had to return back to the canvas, and continue the journey. I know it was taking me into the deeper realms of my consciousness. I was more hesistant in making this particular work, trying to resolve the colours and spaces. I felt there was struggling involved. I am not afraid to say this about my work anymore. The struggle in finding ones path is something to be thankful of, because there is an honest search for what is emerging. It is like the pain of a mother giving birth to a newborn.
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Yip Fung Lemuria, No. 5, 2018 Acrylic on canvas 100H x 100W cm
Most of my paintings in my current work in the Visitation and Lemuria series have been painted on larger canvases. My gestures have developed a certain pattern of movement and I wasn’t sure it the pieces could translate to a smaller 1 x 1 meter painting. It seems to have worked in this painting Lemuria, No. 5, retaining much of the langage and expression in the earlier, larger works.
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Yip Fung Lemuria, No. 3, 2018 Acrylic on canvas 122H x 122W cm
This is a continuation of the Lemuria series of paintings, whereby I am solidifying a language or of using brushstroke and gestures in creating an colourful, lush and ominous abstract landscapes. I am experiencing both darkness and light in my life right now, with perhaps more fear of the unknown. Thus it is fitting to keep this in the Lemuria series versus the other previous paintings. There is both chaos and structure in my works, never wanting to appear contrived.
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Yip Fung Lemuria, No. 2, 2018 Acrylic and pastel on canvas 152H x 96W cm
Lemuria, No. 2 several months to complete. It was an ambitious start, and then it came to a point where I was struggling to find its way. Nothing was coming out the way I wanted it to, even when I consciously ‘let it go’. And so it sat there on the side. I didn’t even want to look at it. Then one day, I pulled myself together and began to begin fresh, but without white-washing half or all of what I had completed earlier. I recreated a composition and overlaid the existing flesh. It took several more weeks to complete this, always somewhat hesitant of the outcome, and as if by some force, the painting was telling me how to proceed, whereas before, I was leading and forcing it into something that wasn’t meant to be. It has become a new soul, enriched with colors and complexity, chaos and order that is of its own voice. I had to really let go of my inclination to dictate it’s path.
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Yip Fung Visitation, No. 9, 2018 Acrylic on canvas 122H x 122W cm
After the successful showing at The Other Art Fair New York 2018 with the sale of Visitation, No. 2, I decided to continue my work along this line. After struggling with several paintings, I finally felt I found the rhythm of what I had created in the original version. Dissecting my own artwork is not easy, as I had to review my own process of creating and destroying (covering up). This is the first artwork that I felt contained the right energy and vibrancy as Visitation, No. 2, but with it’s own identity.
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Yip Fung
Lemuria Rising, 2018 Acrylic on canvas 152H x 96W cm
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Yip Fung Visitation, No. 8, 2018 Acrylic on canvas 100H x 100W cm
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Yip Fung
Visitation No. 1, 2017 Acrylic on canvas 153H x 96W cm
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Yip Fung Visitation, No. 7, 2018 Acrylic on canvas 100H x 100W cm
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Yip Fung Le tourbillon de la vie, No. 1, 2017 Acrylic on canvas 140H x 140W cm
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Yip Fung Le tourbillon de la vie, No. 2, 2017 Acrylic on canvas 140H x 140W cm
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Yip Fung Le tourbillon de la vie, No. 3, 2017 Acrylic on canvas 122H x 147W cm
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Biography
Yip Fung (č‘‰ç ƒ)was born in Canada in 1963 by Chinese parents. He is also known as photographer Norm Yip. After studying fine art in Saskatchewan and architecture in Toronto, he moved to Hong Kong where began working as an architect. In 1999, he decided to transition into fine art and photography, following his deeper passion into his personal interests. He formed a collective called Melo-Melo Artist Alliance with several friends. It was then that his journey into art began. Oscillating between photography as a main source of income and painting as a hobby, he began to assert more attention and time to the latter. He has exhibited mostly in Hong Kong in group exhibitions, yet has recently exhibited in Zurich, Switzerland and The Other Art Fair in New York.
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Exhibitions & Events
2019, Beyond Skin| 心 • 目, Solo Photography Exhbition, Untitled Space Gallery, New York, USA
2016, Aids Concern Charity Event, Painting Rapture No. 2, Group exhibition, Aids Concern, Hong Kong
2019, Beyond Skin| 心 • 目, Solo Photography Exhbition, RCB Gallery, River City, Bangkok, Thailand
2016, Pulsation, Solo painting and drawing exhibition, Solo Exhibition, Tree of Life, Hong Kong
2018, How the Queens Stole XXXMas, Pop-up of Selected Paintings, Ozone, Ritz-Carleton, Hong Kong
2016, Clifford Chance Pride Art Exhibition, Painting, drawing and photography, Group Exhibition, Clifford Chance Office, Hong Kong.
2018, Clifford Chance Arcus Pride Art, Painting and Photography, Group Exhibition, Clifford Chance Office, Hong Kong 2018, Community Business Charity Event, Painting, Group Exhibition, Hotel Icon, Hong Kong 2018, The Other Art Fair Brooklyn 2018, Paintings, Solo Exhibitor, Brooklyn Expo Centre, Brooklyn, New York 2018, Love & Inclusion, Aids Concern, Group Exhibition, City Hall, Hong Kong 2017, Identity, Pink Season Event, Group exhibition, Era Barbers, Hong Kong 2017, Embryo Collection, Graphite Drawings, Solo Exhibition of Graphite Artworks, Consigg Art, Hong Kong
2015, Clifford Chance Pride Art Exhibition, Painting, drawing and photography, Group Exhibition, Clifford Chance Office, Hong Kong 2014, Embryo, Graphite drawing exhibition, Solo Exhibition, L’s Where, Hong Kong 2014, Andy Warhol X Absolut, Pink Season Factor, Painting, Group Exhibition, Azure Restaurant, Hong Kong 2013, Story of the Creative, Selected 3 dye transfer artworks appear in See | Exhibition Space, Group Exhibition, Angel Orensanz Foundation, New York 2012, Seven Deadly Sins, Curated and participated in a mixed media exhibition., Group Exhibition, Voxfire Gallery, Hong Kong
2016, The Wild Collection, Selected paintings from Seven Sacred Sins collection, Group Exhibition, Awethentic Gallery / Consigg Limited, Hong Kong
2011, Reborn – The Gallery, Group exhibition for Japan earthquake charity. Selected images from the “Adam” series, Group Exhibition, Hollywood Plaza, Hong Kong
2016, Two Minds One World, Paintings and photographs, Group exhibition with Alexis Reynaud, Gallery Box, Zurich, Switzerland
2009 , Zonta Club of Hong Kong II, Graphite drawings. Charity Art Sale, Group Exhibition, Rotunda, Exchange Square, Hong Kong
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2005, Moonstruck, Acrylic painting submission, Group exhibition, Club 64 and the Venice Biennale 2005, Hong Kong and Venice 2005, Nasi Campur, Painting, Group exhibition, Gallery Taksu, Kuala Lumpur 2004, Secret Constellations, Painting, Solo Exhibition, Studio 8 HK, Hong Kong 2003, Art in The Winter – Gardens Exhibition, Painting, Group exhibition, Lee Garden, Hong Kong 2002 , Persona of Spirit, Painting, Solo Exhibition, Studio 8 HK, Hong Kong 2003, Intrepid Terrain, Painting, Solo Exhibition, E&J Gallo Gallery, The Fringe Club, Hong Kong 2002, Embryo of Intelligence, Graphite drawings, Solo Exhibition, Home Boutique, Hong Kong 2002 , Verge, Paintings and Graphite Drawings, Solo exhibition, 5 opt Studio/Gallery, Hong Kong 2002, Buddha Buddha, Paintings, Group Exhibition, Studio 8 HK, Hong Kong 2001, Navigation, Paintings, Solo Exhibition, Studio 8 HK, Hong Kong 2000 , First Level, Graphite Drawings, Solo Exhibition, Meli-Melo Artists Alliance, Hong Kong 1999, Entanglement, Paintings & Photography, Group Exhibition, Meli-Melo Artists Alliance, Hong Kong
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YIP FUNG | 葉 灃 M +852 6838 8948 E contact@yipfungart.com W http://yipfungart.com IG mystrfung