In many ways the 80s set the stage for our lives today. If big and bold are adjectives most commonly used to describe the 80s, then greed and narcissism are the nouns. The "Decade of Plenty" not only spawned MTV, video games, the PC, walkmans, and blockbuster movies but also brought to the forefront a multifaceted urban culture, social and economic liberalization and reintroduced the concept of indulgence. It took the stock market to heightened glamour, it granted empowerment to women and it elevated celebrities to deity status. The 80s convinced the individual he could soar above the rest. Beneath the glitz and bewitchment, however, lay a darker side – the abundance and abuse of class-A drugs and the beginning of the AIDS pandemic.

In the spirit of the infamous Mudd Club (NYC) art parties of the time, Hong Kong-based artists, Nelson Cabán and Matthew Faulkner explore this tumultuous and transformative decade at Voxfire Gallery through the mediums of paintings, wood sculpture, music and neon. As children of the 80s, they encourage the viewer to indulge in their retrospective. Cabán’s work centres around political and pop culture, film and memories of the graffiti-stained streets of New York City, while Faulkner draws on the visual arts, changing social dynamics and New Wave music so prevalent throughout his childhood in London and Sydney. Both artists are inspired by images from old magazines, newspaper clippings, family photographs, personal memories, and icons from the era, yet their artistic expression took them in fascinatingly different directions. The works are painted with a freshness that serves to celebrate the era but also address the disconnection between personal and collective memory.

Hailed as "the next Matisse", by famed photographer Bruce Davidson, Nelson Cabán was raised in New York City and currently resides in Hong Kong, China. He has participated in solo and group shows in New York, France, Japan, and Hong Kong and his work is in corporate and private collections throughout the US, Australia, France, England, The Netherlands, Spain, Syria, Puerto Rico, China, and Japan. He was a featured artist for the 2010 Toyota Cup Football Tournament in Japan and his work is in the permanent collection of the 44th U.S. President Barack Obama.

Matthew Faulkner is a Hong Kong based art enthusiast who grew up in London and Sydney. Recently discovered by Voxfire, he has had works on display at the Grand Hyatt, Mandarin Oriental and throughout China.

Image: © Nelson Cabán, Voxfire Gallery