Espace Louis Vuitton Hong Kong presents Play, a solo exhibition of celebrated artist Lam Tung-pang. In Play, Lam utilizes toys to create large-scale painting and installations - toys often reflect the “utopia” of a child's mind, however for adults the perspective is often complicated through accumulated life experiences. This in turn affects the adult cognitive processes when approaching toys, and it is this very act that Lam seeks to address in this exhibition.

“Toys allow us to understand the constructs of learning” Lam states. As toys are among the first things that appeal to a child’s senses, the selection of toys can be seen as a documentation of their learning process. However, when adults play with toys, the burden and benefit of personal histories and memories increase the complexities of this process. Lam seeks to pose questions about artistic and creative processes through the act of playing.

The use of toys as an artistic medium has been a part of Lam’s practice for some years because “playing” is an indispensable element to the artist’s creation. Experimenting and toying with the assemblage of objects constitute a large part of his work. However, in PLAY the focus is on the toy for the first time, and represents a revolutionary advancement in Lam’s oeuvre.

The exhibition highlights Lam’s fascination with and study of materials. The artist collects toys from his private domestic environment as well as travel journeys. Curating a miniature museum that documents our systems of learning, the exhibition space features toy installations, that are a result of highly personal encounters. Playing with these found objects raises questions about growth, human experiences and the development of the adult mind, ideas which provide continuous inspiration to the artist.

Concurrently, Lam is renowned for his natural and urban landscapes, rooted in traditional Chinese ink traditions. In a reiteration of this format, the artist has surpassed his earlier conventions. Experimenting with children’s stickers for the first time, his new works create a theatrical effect that is both complex and layered. From afar, his artworks represent classical landscapes. Yet, by applying stickers on the surface, his works tell vivid and multiple stories while looked at up close.

Collectively, this new series of artworks demonstrate Lam Tung-pang’s highly personal artistic vision, using a distinctive aesthetic language that provokes the viewer into a reconsideration of the mundane, as well as traditional conceptions underlying Chinese ink and landscape paintings, while also confronting the cultural implications of those conventions through a subtle sense of humour.

-Espace Louis Vuitton Hong Kong

Image: © Lam Tung-pang
Courtesy of the artist and Espace Louis Vuitton Hong Kong