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Established in 2000, Sundaram Tagore Gallery is devoted to examining the exchange of ideas between Western and non-Western cultures. We focus on developing exhibitions and hosting not-for-profit events that encourage spiritual, social and aesthetic dialogues. In a world where communication is instant and cultures are colliding and melding as never before, our goal is to provide venues for art that transcend boundaries of all sorts. With alliances across the globe, our interest in cross-cultural exchange extends beyond the visual arts into many other disciplines, including poetry, literature, performance art, film and music.
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c o n t e m p o r a r y ta k e s o n m a r k - m a k i n g Sundaram Tagore Hong Kong is pleased to present this exhibition showcasing the work of three noted artists who seamlessly bridge East and West. Golnaz Fathi, Hassan Massoudy and Hosook Kang each employs a distinctive markmaking technique, subtly merging the traditions and artistic mores of his or her culture of origin with contemporary Western visual language.


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Iranian artist Golnaz Fathi, born in 1972, studied classical calligraphy before she established her own style of working. She received a Bachelor of Arts in graphics from Azad Art University, Tehran, and studied at the Iranian Society of Calligraphy. Drawing on her extensive training, Fathi uses texts and letters as formal elements, transforming traditional calligraphy into a personal artistic language. Golnaz Fathi’s works are in the permanent collections of the Brighton & Hove Museum, England; Carnegie Mellon University, Doha; the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur; The Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore; the British Museum, London; the Devi Art Foundation, New Delhi; and The Farjam Collection, Dubai. She has exhibited in galleries and cultural centers around the world, including the Art Forum of Wiesbaden, Germany. In 2011, she was named one of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders Honorees.
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untitled, 2011, pen and varnish on canvas, 70.9 x 70.9 inches/180 x 180 cm
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untitled, 2011, pen and varnish on canvas, 27.6 x 110.2 inches/70 x 280 cm
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untitled, 2011, pen and varnish on canvas, 39.4 x 39.4 inches each/100 x 100 cm each
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untitled, 2011, pen on canvas, satin varnish, 47.2 x 47.2 inches/120 x 120 cm
untitled, 2006, acrylic and pen on canvas, 39.4 x 70.9 inches/100 x 180 cm
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untitled, 2013, acrylic, pen and varnish on canvas, 70.9 x 70.8 inches/180 x 180 cm
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Born in Najaf, Iraq, in 1944, Hassan Massoudy moved to Baghdad in 1961 to study classical calligraphy. He moved to France in 1969, continuing his education at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Hassan Massoudy sources words from Eastern and Western authors, poets and philosophers. He selects a passage, which he writes at the bottom of a sheet of paper, then extracts a single word, enlarging it to monumental proportions over the entire surface of the paper. In accordance with tradition, Massoudy makes his own tools and inks, but breaks from the Arabic custom of using black ink by incorporating a bold palette of blues, greens, yellows and reds. Although executed with the utmost control, his letters are gestural, fluid and charged with energy, as he skillfully transforms the written word into an emotionally evocative pictorial element. The artist has shown his work at The Kennedy Center, Washington, DC; the British Museum, London; Musée d’Avranches, France; Centre d’Art Contemporain, Abbaye de Trizay, France; and the Palais des Congrès, Grasse. He has also participated in numerous biennials, including the 2014 Sharjah Calligraphy Biennial.
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untitled, 2013, ink and pigment on paper, 29.5 x 21.7 inches/75 x 55 cm
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untitled, 2013, ink and pigment on paper, 29.5 x 21.7 inches/75 x 55 cm
untitled, 2012, ink and pigment on paper, 29.5 x 21.7 inches/75 x 55 cm
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untitled, 2012, ink and pigment on paper, 29.5 x 21.7 inches/75 x 55 cm
untitled, 2013, ink and pigment on paper, 29.5 x 21.7 inches/75 x 55 cm
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untitled, 2000, ink and pigment on paper, 29.5 x 21.7 inches/75 x 55 cm
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Rendered in vibrant oranges, reds, fuchsias, blues and golds, Korean-born painter Hosook Kang’s large-scale canvases depict nature as she sees it in her imagination. Her undulating ripples of color, formed from intricate dot patterns and meticulous gestural brushstrokes, suggest the flow of nature’s transformative energy. Combining bold action painting and steady mark making, Kang creates optical effects through a process of layering. She starts with a background of abstract forms—her vision of the completed painting—then covers the entire surface with a painted net of structured units that create a skin-like overlay. To bring back her original vision, Kang fills each unit with colors that correspond to the background, which adds a three-dimensional quality. Obsessively detailed and orderly, these works are simultaneously meditative and pulsing with energy. Hosook Kang was raised in Daegu, Korea, and attended the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn. She is influenced by the techniques and philosophies of both the East and West. Her works reference traditional Korean motifs, yet her focus on abstraction and the richness of color roots her work firmly in the Western tradition. She lives and works in Brooklyn. She has exhibited her work at Gallery Korea of the Korean Cultural Service New York; Nabi Gallery, New York; Phoenix Gallery, New York; and Daegu Culture and Arts Center, Korea.
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Alchemy 13 [04], 2014, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48 inches/122 x 122 cm
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Flame, 2011, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 60 inches/152.4 x 152.4 cm
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Alchemy 12, 2010, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 60 inches/152.4 x 152.4 cm
Steel, 2011, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 60 inches/152.4 x 152.4 cm
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Alchemy 13 [03], 2014, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48 inches/122 x 122 cm
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Alchemy 0, 2012, acrylic on canvas, 30 x 14 inches/76 x 35.6 cm
Pond, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 53 x 69 inches/135 x 175.3 cm
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Alchemy 12, 2010, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 60 inches/152.4 x 152.4 cm
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Expansion 6, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 96 inches/122 x 244 cm
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S U N D A R A M new york new york hong kong singapore
T A G O R E
G A L L E R I E S
547 West 27th Street, New York, NY 10001 • tel 212 677 4520 fax 212 677 4521 • gallery@sundaramtagore.com 1100 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10028 • tel 212 288 2889 57-59 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong • tel 852 2581 9678 fax 852 2581 9673 • hongkong@sundaramtagore.com 01-05 Gillman Barracks, 5 Lock Road, Singapore 108933 • tel 65 6694 3378 • singapore@sundaramtagore.com
President and curator: Sundaram Tagore Director, New York: Susan McCaffrey Director, Hong Kong: Faina Derman Designer: Russell Whitehead www.sundaramtagore.com
Art consultants: Teresa Kelley Bonnie B. Lee Sarah Miller Deborah Moreau Benjamin Rosenblatt Raj Sen Melanie Taylor
Text © 2014 Sundaram Tagore Gallery Images © Sundaram Tagore Gallery All rights reserved under international copyright conventions. No part of this catalogue may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Cover: Golnaz Fathi, untitled (detail), 2011, pen and varnish on canvas, 27.6 x 110.2 inches/70 x 280 cm