At the wise age of 79 Cheung Yee is not exactly a newcomer in the Hong Kong art scene. He is a colleague to many artist friends and as a professor of fine art at the Chinese University has been a mentor to many of Hong Kong’s younger generation. Cheung graduated in 1958 and has been working since on an oeuvre of sculptures and paintings in a style very unique to his own. His work has been featured with a solo exhibition not less than an unprecedented three times at the Hong Kong Museum of Art.
AO Vertical Art Space will present a selection of his paper-cast mural artworks, which the artist developed since the 70’s. Deeply inspired by Chinese culture in both technique and style, Cheung Yee employs an old lost craft of paper making combined with his sculptural talent. Cheung carves out wooden molds, each one unique and fills the voids with his hand made paper. Most pieces are finished with a monotone bright color. The strong primary colors of blues, greens, reds and gold remind us of the Chinese color palette used in many Chinese temples and palaces. The result is vibrant 3-D mural sculptures laden with intricate patterns and symbols. Some works are embossed with fortune telling tortoises, ancient poems and writings, others reveal narratives through little figurines acting out old stories and legends, and many display patterns inspired by the hexagrams of the I-Ching. Yet despite being so deeply inspired by tradition, his work feels surprisingly young and contemporary. Oozing nothing but good fortune and blessed luck, Cheung Yee’s feng-shui friendly artworks are the ideal exhibition to celebrate the transition to the New Year.
