Mischmasch, an innovative online community for artists, launches Mischmasch Gallery — a new gallery space in Sheung Wan. The inaugural show, Innocence and Experience, curated by its founder Alice Zhang, features three popular artists from the Mischmasch community: Cui Nan, Hua Ge, and Li Qian — all living and working in Song Zhuang, Beijing.

“Only after you have investigated yourself can you investigate the world. It’s that combination which makes your art interesting", explains Cui Nan.

English poet and artist, William Blake, believed that true innocence was impossible without experience. Cui Nan, Hua Ge and Li Qian are not “young and emerging” artists — their experiences have been weighed. Their art is direct — they nudge you into agreement. They do not paint to fit under the strains of cultural consumption — their paintings are not of “big heads”. What these artists have in common is a sense of aching urgency about what it means to be an artist. Their paintings are a series of tests to detect, experience, and to struggle with the fragility and volatility of human existence. They try to drop all pretensions in the hopes of eventually attaining innocence. From ritualistic figures to mutated traditions to claustrophobic dreams, they articulate what many people live through subconsciously, inviting identification and discussion toward remedying our problems.

Is Hong Kong ready for such art?