Opera Gallery pays tribute to the visual imagination of photographer Gérard Rancinan, showcasing his latest series of photography in Hong Kong, the first Asian stop of his world tour.
Curated by Gilles Dyan, Chairman of the Opera Gallery Group and Shirley Yablonsky, Director of Opera Gallery Hong Kong, the exhibition will be on display at Opera Gallery Hong Kong from November 11 to December 1, 2011.
Rancinan’s debut exhibition in Hong Kong and Asia will feature a selection of 30 photographs from his trilogy series – Metamorphoses, Hypotheses and Wonderful World – as well as some world famous Portraits.
The exhibition has already been showcased at Opera Gallery in Geneva, Paris and London, and will also go to Singapore and Seoul in early 2012. Rancinan’s trilogy series will make its final stop in Italy where it will be exhibited in its entirety for the first time in the world at the very prestigious museum Triennale di Milano in May 2012 with "Trilogy of the Moderns".
Metamorphoses, a series of larger-than-life photos, is the artist’s testimonial of the mutations shaking our world today. Inspired by artistic masterpieces, Rancinan revisits mankind’s most ancient and significant interrogations, and realizes how important these issues remain today. With his unique and vivid genius, Rancinan presents a subjective and yet strongly symbolic report on the planet’s most profound questions against a backdrop of accelerated globalisation: ecology, migration, emancipation of the oppressed, freedom and basic human rights, starvation and fast-food.
Other series on display include Hypotheses and the brand new Wonderful world that depict the world as a “big amusement park”. The exhibition will also feature some of Rancinan’s most exquisite Portraits of famous artists. From Yan Pei Ming to Paul McCarthy, Rancinan plunged head-first into the creative universe of each of these talented artists, and the result is a veritable communion of breath-taking “portrait-performances” that reveal parts of each person’s soul as well as their force and their humanity.
Speaking about his work, Rancinan comments “I am a witness of the metamorphoses of our humanity. My work is to exhibit some wonderful and powerful photographs but also to show to the viewers how society is today and to be a witness of my contemporaries using the tradition of classic art.’’
“Hong Kong is a new important hub for art and artists, between two different worlds, with a mix of people and culture. For me it's an important stop in my career as Hong Kong is the perfect example of urban living. Moreover, Opera Gallery is a very dynamic gallery and represents the ideal gallery to exhibit my work today in a city like Hong Kong,’’ he continued.
French born Gérard Rancinan has travelled the globe photographing events of historical importance and delivering the startling images through an ever-evolving aesthetic prism. Seen in some of the most prestigious galleries around the world, the internationally renowned artist is constantly breaking down barriers, foremost as an investigator deconstructing the great sagas of contemporary life, and as a portraitist.
The last time Rancinan was in Hong Kong was during the handover where he was commissioned by The Sunday Times Magazine to capture this historical period. He captured Chris Patten along side Stanley Ho, and other prominent Hong Kong identities.
