The West Kowloon Cultural District complex may still be four (or five) years away from being completed, but the team at M+ museum of art has nonetheless been busy with a programme of exhibitions designed to bring art to the wider Hong Kong community.
Opening recently is the second of the future museum’s nomadic public art exhibitions – aptly named for the current economic climate – ‘M+ Mobile: Inflation!’. Staged on the site of the West Kowloon Promenade, ‘Inflation!’ is a prelude to the opening of M+ bringing together the monumental inflatable sculptures of six notable contemporary artists in a giant amusement sculpture park. The largest contemporary art exhibition ever mounted in Hong Kong, it includes an inflatable pig by Chinese artist Cao Fei, an irreverent full size inflatable replica of Stonehenge by London-based Jeremy Deller, a Kafkaesque installation by local HK artist Tam Wai Ping, and a large pile of merda d’artista by LA-based Paul McCarthy in what looks like a tongue-in-cheek homage to Piero Manzoni. Also exhibiting is Korean artist Choi Jeong Hwa, China’s Jiakun Architects, and Argentinian artist Tomas Saraceno.
The soft large sculptures offer a stark and surreal contrast to Hong Kong’s urban environment, creating a fantastical landscape set against a splendid view of the Victoria Harbour. Unlike a conventional museum or gallery this fun installation allows members of the public to interact with the large scale works, challenging the way we experience art and removing the white cube and barriers of a gallery space. Bring your kids, or borrow a child. Bounce around ‘Sacrilege’, walk through Cao Fei’s large pig, or participate in the staging of Saraceno’s ‘Poetic Cosmos of the Breath’ at selected times throughout the exhibition. On until 9 June, 2013.
M+ Mobile: Inflation!
Tuesday – Thursday: 12pm to 7pm
Friday – Sunday & Public Holidays: 11am to 8pm
Closed on Mondays
During Art Basel Hong Kong: 10am to 8pm
Free admission
Venue: West Kowloon Cultural District Promenade.
www.mobile-mplus.hk
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