ART CITIES: Hong Kong-Chewing Gum V

Against teleological modes of eating, chewing gum stresses the moment of taste and texture. This notion unites the group of artists in the group exhibition, “Chewing Gum V” all of whom have highly process-oriented practices in media such as installation, painting, photography, sculpture and video, dwelling on ideas of production and meditation.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Pace Gallery Archive

“Chewing Gum V” is the latest presentation in a series of group exhibitions highlighting the Pace Gallery’s expansive, international program, at its Hong Kong space. The exhibition spotlights work by key modern and contemporary artists, including: Zhang Xiaogang, Louise Nevelson, Mao Yan, Irving Penn, Kiki Smith, Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, and other figures. The show will meditate on exchanges between artists across temporal and geographic boundaries. Cultivating a dialogue among paintings, sculptures, and photographs created between the mid 20th century and present day, “Chewing Gum V” follows four previous editions in the exhibition series, which has been presented at Pace’s Hong Kong gallery since 2015. Zhang is known for his figurative paintings and sculptures that engage with memory to explore both personal and collective histories. Replete with symbolism and allusions, his painting “Green Wall – White Bed” (2008) examines the intermingling of public and private spaces. This work will be presented in conversation with Nevelson’s 1985 wall sculpture, which brings to the fore the relational and perceptual possibilities of form and space. Mao’s 2013 painting “Oval Portrait of Thomas No. 2” eschews markers of cultural and temporal significance. Rather, the portrait is imbued with spiritual and psychological complexities that encourage introspection and contemplation of the self. Meanwhile, Penn’s black-and- white fashion photographs reflect the idiosyncratic, malleable nature of self-expression. Smith’s dynamic sculpture “Rabbits” (1998) examines the relationships between predators and their prey, while Oldenburg and van Bruggen’s 2005 sculpture “Collar and Bow 1:16” draws out the madcap qualities of seemingly banal, everyday objects. In the way of abstract works, a 3D printed sculpture by Sui Jianguo, which features the artist’s fingerprints in white copper, figures in the exhibition. Liu Jianhua’s porcelain sculpture “Blank Paper” (2014) explores enactments of blankness and their attendant resonances, inviting viewers to conjure their own narratives of the work and the exhibition as a whole.

Photo: Kiki Smith, Rabbits, 1998, silicon and phosphorous bronze, 24-5/8 x 12-5/8 x 5″ (62.6 x 32.1 x 12.7 cm) to 24-5/8 x 12-5/8 x 10-1/2″ (62.6 x 32.1 x 26.7 cm), 8 units, each approximately installation dimensions variable, Courtesy Pace Gallery

Info: Pace Gallery, 2/F, H Queen’s, 80 Queen’s Road Central, Hong Kong, Duration: 22/7-1/9/2022, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 11:00-18:00, www.pacegallery.com/