An exhibition of Konstantin Bessmertny’s new paintings will also be held at Amelia Johnson Contemporary from 15th May until 6th June 2009. China Trade! acknowledges trade with China as both a statement of fact and an imperative, from the 19th century beginnings of the so-called ‘China Trade’ to China’s 21st century emergence as an economic superpower. Konstantin Bessmertny’s observations and conclusions regarding what he describes as the ‘neo China Trade’ are executed with characteristic mastery and ironic humour. Taking the form of a series of small and large scale paintings, Bessmertny’s Casino Republic and Car Crash works depict cultural collisions and collusions. In one large-scale work, a non-existent view of Macau, reminiscent of the painted backgrounds executed by 19th century China Trade painters, has been constructed using an assemblage of existing colonial era buildings. This imaginary landscape serves as the backdrop for further dramas from the Casino Republic and is also the basis for smaller companion pieces, executed by commercial artists in China from photographs, which have then been painted over by the artist. In other paintings, vintage cars driven by well-heeled individuals of questionable character are captured in the chaotic moments after colliding into one another. Monument to Anyone (Monument Pro Aliquis) will be installed at the Hong Kong Convention Centre, Wanchai from 13th until 17th May 2009 for the duration of ArtHK 09. Paradoxically populist and elitist at the same time, using a combination of sculpture and lighting Monument to Anyone is a spectacular, larger-than-life-sized sculpture of a rider-less Renaissance-style horse carved from wood. 

Konstantin Bessmertny is one of the most distinguished artists working in Asia today and represented Macau at the 52nd Venice Biennale. His technical mastery acquired after seven years studying Fine Art in the grand academies of the former Soviet Union, combined with his detailed knowledge of a wide range of subjects including literature, music, history and politics lend his work an intelligence and credibility that is rarely witnessed in contemporary art. Konstantin Bessmertny’s work is utterly unique. He uses his work as a means of exploring and experimenting with new ideas, finding inspiration in the bizarrest of places, creating work that continues to challenge and excite preconceived notions.