Exhibition Runs Through October 24 At Harbour City
Yue Minjun "The Tao of Laughter" (Image: Yahoo)
Hong Kong’s swish Harbour City mall has long been a popular destination for brand-obsessed shoppers from mainland China, but through October 24 the mall is home to some very different visitors from up north: a set of new sculptures by artist Yue Minjun. His first-ever public art exhibition in the city, Yue’s “The Tao of Laughter” exhibition includes five of Yue’s iconic “smiling man” sculptures, showing in the mall’s forecourt at the same time as an auxiliary exhibition of 12 silk-screened prints by the artist at Gallery by the Harbour.
According to the Wanderlister, Yue’s exhibition is the latest example of a high-end Hong Kong mall working with high-profile artists to increase its “catchment factor.” With competition among major shopping centers in Hong Kong becoming increasingly fierce, standing out is not only important, it’s crucial:
A big shopping trend in Hong Kong in these days is the “catchment factor”. Catchment factor is the ability for a business to bring in consumers from all walks of life to spend a majority of the hours in a day at their malls, shopping centers, etc. With a lack of cultural venues in the city at the moment, shopping malls like Time[s] Square and Harbour City have been trying hard to make use of their spaces to up Catchment Factor with high profile art exhibitions, which in the West would be located in museums and high galleries.
Creator of some of the most instantly recognizable works of Chinese contemporary art over the past two decades, 2012 has been a busy year for Yue Minjun. Preceding the current exhibition in Hong Kong, 25 of Yue Minjun’s Warriors were installed this summer at LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton, New York, while the artist is set to have his first first major European exhibition at Foundation Cartier in Paris this November.
Yue Minjun, “The Tao of Laughter”
From September 20 – October 23, 2012
Ocean Terminal Forecourt, Harbour City
3 – 27 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Yue Minjun Silk-Screen Exhibition
September 20 – October 14, 2012
Gallery by the Harbour
Shop 207, Ocean Centre, Harbour City (near Fendi)
Yue Minjun "The Tao of Laughter" (Image: Yahoo)
Yue Minjun "The Tao of Laughter" (Image: Yahoo)
Silk-screen exhibition at Gallery by the Harbour
Gift sets available at the silk-screen exhibition: Mahjong set (HK$3,500/US$451), Necklace (HK$350/US$45), T-shirt (HK$350/US$45), Postcards (HK$60/box (US$7))
