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Career in the Arts by Chris Regner
Photograph: Courtesy Woaw Gallery

The top art exhibitions and displays to check out in Hong Kong

Where to get your dose of culture in the city

Jenny Leung
Catharina Cheung
Written by
Jenny Leung
&
Catharina Cheung
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Whether it’s street photography spots or world-class art galleries, Hong Kong is a city that’s bursting with creativity – thanks to the incredible art scene filled with local and international talents. To narrow things down and help you be well on your way to true culture vulture status (and level up your Insta-feed along the way), here are some of the best ongoing and upcoming art shows to visit around town.

RECOMMENDED: Discover Hong Kong’s coolest hidden art spaces or pay a visit to the city’s top museums.

Top art exhibitions and displays in Hong Kong

  • Art
  • Aberdeen

It took artists K-Narf and Shoko three years to create an archive of portraits of Japanese workers back in 2016, and the duo are now expanding their project overseas, including Hong Kong. The exhibition will be split into two parts: the first consists of a presentation of this photographic project, while the artists collect portraits of Hong Kong workers. After a two-month gap, they will then return to WKM Gallery to present all the pictures that were taken in the city as well. This is a good chance to understand the tape-o-graph photographic method that was invented by one of the artists more than 15 years ago, as well as a look into the workers whose day-to-day lives we barely acknowledge but are contributing to history in the making.

  • Art
  • Central

Chris Regner’s first solo exhibition in Asia will feature self-deprecating paintings that shed light on Regner’s self identity as an artist and his feelings of solitude in the art world. With the help of VR software, the subjects are given a polished balloon-like plastic veneer as a commentary on the superficial ways we present ourselves to the world. Interestingly, even though the subject is very close to the artist’s heart, the tools with which he chose to execute his work means that there is no trace of Regner on the pieces.

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  • Art
  • Wan Chai

Up-and-coming local artist Jeannie Wong, who specialises in printmaking, will be exhibiting 14 pieces of artwork, all themed around the moon. With short yet powerful astrological transits, the moon has long been seen as the cosmic force that rules our emotions and subconscious mind. Wong’s pieces are fiction interwoven with fragments of reality, representing her life under 54 lunar cycles from 2019 to 2023. She has worked with woodcut and copper etching to transfer images onto paper – if you’re interested in printing, then check out this young Hong Kong artist.

  • Art
  • Tsim Sha Tsui

Created by Hong Kong artist Chan Wai-lap, this installation – titled, Some of Us are Looking at the Stars – is a part of HKMOA's Harbour Wonder exhibition. Standing four metres tall and 11 metres long, Chan's work invites audiences into a fantasy world that draws on his personal memories and experiences of swimming pools, while exploring themes of public and private spaces. The installation plays with light, sound, and even the weather to create an ever-changing scene for those who step inside.

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  • Art
  • Central

Onfinitive Art Foundation from Hong Kong and Veta by Fer Francés from Madrid are collaborating for this exhibition of contemporary figurative paintings by 14 acclaimed and emerging artists from several generations and global locations. Particularly eye-grabbing names and works include Yoshitomo Nara’s vibrant painted characters; Devan Shimoyama, who draws on African American identity and anime; Alex Becerra, who plays with excess and the grotesque; contemporary renderings of historical moments by Liu Bin and Adrian Ghenie; as well as an early self-portrait by Yayoi Kusama. If you’re interested in seeing how humanity is treated in art around the world, this is the show to visit.

  • Art
  • Fairs
  • Wan Chai

Art Basel is coming back swinging for their 2024 edition, having confirmed a list of 242 leading international galleries that will be participating. This brings the art event back to a pre-pandemic scale, with 65 more exhibitors joining the fair as compared to this year. Galleries from 40 countries and territories across Asia, Europe, North and Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa will be participating, so expect to see quality artworks spanning various mediums and markets.

25 of the participating galleries in 2024 will be making their Art Basel debut, including Fitzpatrick Gallery from Paris; Almeida e Dale Galeria de Arte from São Paulo; Waitingroom from Tokyo; PTT Space and Each Modern from Taipei; Public Gallery and Alison Jacques from London; Mangrove Gallery from Shenzhen; and YveYang, Bortolami, and Chapter NY from New York. The 2024 edition will also see 68 established galleries returning to the Asia fair after a hiatus away.

As expected of Art Basel Hong Kong, there will be a strong focus on artistic production from the Asia-Pacific region – more than half of all exhibitors operate from the continent. Whether it be historical rediscoveries, works from 20th-century masters, or pieces by exciting, emerging artists, there will undoubtedly be something to catch your eye.

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  • Art
  • Fairs
  • Central

Launching its first edition during Hong Kong’s Art Week, Supper Club will gather over 20 regional and international galleries in an event that seeks to subvert the conventional form of art fairs like Art Basel. Operating on extended nighttime hours, visitors can meander through the interconnected spaces within the Fringe Club where artists, art professionals, and the wider public can freely interact with the art in a casual, exploratory manner. Initiated by Willem Molesworth and Ysabelle Cheung of PHD Group and Alex Chan of The Shophouse, Supper Club will also feature live performances and panel talks.

  • Art
  • Fairs
  • Central

Art Central returns to Hong Kong’s iconic harbourfront from March 28 to 31 with an extensive roster of artwork and programmes from many of Asia’s most innovative galleries. This year, the event promises to be its largest and most dynamic edition since its start in 2015. A new sector named ‘Neo’ will be launched at Art Central 2024, highlighting first-time exhibitors that are showcasing artists who have also never participated in the fair before. 

The fair will boast extended hours specially on March 28, taking the calendar slot of arts-loving Hongkongers up until 9pm as part of Night Central. This year also sees the return of Art Central’s popular dining terrace, where the artsy social set can enjoy the festivities over food and drinks. Located at Central harbourfront, the fair will be a short walk from Art Basel Hong Kong, and just a ferry ride away from M+ and Hong Kong Palace Museum right across the harbour – perfect if you’re making the rounds around town during Art Month. 

Single-day tickets run from $175 and are now available for sale.

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  • Art
  • Tsim Sha Tsui

Originally introduced in 2019, The Peninsula’s art programme will return this year to coincide with Hong Kong Art Week. Local artist Kingsley Ng’s monumental sculpture Esmeralda will float over the hotel’s façade, “undulating between the physics of gravity and the buoyancy of air”. A newly commissioned piece of work by Lachlan Turczan named Harmonic Resonance will also be on display – this is a mirrored pool of water that shows patterns created by choreographed infrasonic tones.

Other pieces shown during this time will include a large-scale sculpture by Elise Morin made with thousands of pulverised CDs, and a multisensory video installation that promotes meditation and contemplation by Saya Woolfalk. These artworks will be available to view for free from now until May at The Peninsula Hong Kong, before they travel to other Peninsula properties globally.

  • Art
  • Jewellery
  • Tsim Sha Tsui

Showcasing approximately 50 artefacts, this exhibition will display a range of European and Chinese masterpieces that reflect the eye of an eminent private collector and connoisseur from Hong Kong. The exhibit will be split into three sections – the first showing Ming Dynasty furniture and the third dedicated to jewels from the Qing court. The main section will highlight 18th- and 19th-century Western jewellery, showing an evolution of styles from the Baroque, Victorian, Belle Époque, and Edwardian eras.

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  • Art
  • Painting
  • Cheung Sha Wan

The exhibition features 42 traditional Chinese paintings jointly created by Professor Jao Tsung-i and four masters of the Lingnan school of painting: Zhao Shao-ang, Li Xiong-cai, Guan Shan-yue, and Yang Shan-sum. Collaborations within such paintings are rather rare, and all five of these artists are now deceased, so their works are valued for their historical significance and as a record of the intellectual exchanges between literati of the past.

  • Art
  • Wan Chai

This exhibition of original wood carvings by Michelle Fung features pieces from the artist’s ‘The World of 2084’ project, alongside works created for the Year of the Dragon. Melding the mediums of woodcut and drawings, Fung presents wood carvings as artworks in themselves rather than just as a tool in a printmaking process. See this layering of drawing into woodcut carving in a process that the Hong Kong Canadian artist found enjoyable over the course of five years and 100 woodblocks.

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  • Art
  • Central

20 works by French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle will be on show at Opera Gallery Hong Kong. Though her creative works span a range of mediums including painting, sculpture, engraving, performance, writing, and film, Saint Phalle became famous for shooting bursts of colour out of objects using firearms. She then also became known for her line of whimsical figures called Nanas, featuring animals, monsters, and voluptuous women. This is a vibrant exhibition that is as eye-catching as it is thought-provoking.

  • Art
  • Architecture
  • Sai Kung

Ma’s first-ever large-scale solo exhibition in Hong Kong is adapted from his exhibition at the Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning which ran last year. Rather than art, explore significant urban projects by architectural collective MAD, which is headed by Ma – including the soon-to-be-completed Shenzhen Bay Cultural Park, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, and the Fenix Museum of Migration in Rotterdam. If you want a glimpse into the future of urban civilisation, where urban landscapes, historical sites, and natural environments coexist seamlessly, then check out this exhibition.

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  • Art
  • Masterpiece
  • West Kowloon

The Hong Kong Palace Museum (HKPM) will soon showcase 52 pieces from the National Gallery, London – the first time these prestigious paintings will be exhibited in our city. There’ll be artworks by some of the most beloved artists and masters, including Botticelli, Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Goya, Turner, Constable, Monet, and Van Gogh. 

  • Art
  • Outdoor art
  • Wan Chai

For the launch of the brand-new Wan Chai Harbourfront Event Space (WCHES), Italian artist Angelo Bonello will be bringing his renowned light art show ‘Run Beyond’ to Hong Kong for the very first time. This cutting-edge, immersive installation has been hosted in key landmarks in Washington D.C., London, Amsterdam, Singapore, Toronto, and more, and soon it will be presented against the backdrop of our very own Victoria Harbour. Expect to see large light silhouettes running and leaping the installation, creating a surreal, dream-like vibe. Catch this immersive art while it’s in town from mid-March to mid-April.

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  • Art
  • Abstract
  • West Kowloon

Japanese artist Ay-O, better known as the ‘rainbow artist’, is having his first solo exhibition in Hong Kong at M+. The show will encompass a wide range of his artistic career, presenting almost 60 pieces spanning from the 1950s to the 2000s, alongside a selection of works from his Fluxus collaborators. Hong Hong Hong also marks the inauguration of the museum’s new Pao-Watari exhibition series, which focuses on significant yet under-examined moments and figures in the history of Asian art and visual culture.

  • Art
  • Design
  • Sai Kung

This touring exhibition is a response to a 1972 exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art titled ‘Italy: The New Domestic Landscape’. 100 Italian designers all under the age of 35 were challenged to explore the possibilities of design that fit the current global moment with the values of systemic, rational, and regenerative in mind. A wide array of projects have therefore been designed, from apps and furniture pieces to clothing, prints, and more – this could well be what our future looks like.

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  • Art
  • Wan Chai

Making art accessible to a broader audience, the Affordable Art Fair (AAF) returns to Hong Kong from May 16 to 19. Although AAF takes place on a smaller scale compared to Art Basel or Art Central, the event is highly popular among art lovers in town as the artworks on show usually range from $1,000 to $100,000, making it ideal for those on a budget or newbies to start their art collection without breaking the bank.

  • Art
  • Fortress Hill

Created by American architectural group Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Joyful Trees (Arbores Laetae), is an art project at Oil! featuring 16 Chinese Junipers, three of which are placed on turning planters at a 10-degree tilt. As the trees rotate, the movement channels a rhythmic rustle and evokes discourse about human’s role in nature from Anthropocene’s perspective. Planting a movable landscape, the installation also reinterprets nature as ever-changing and never static, creating an unusual artistic perspective.

The three-dimensional installation can be viewed from eye level on the ground; by the adjacent pedestrian ramp; on the footbridge across the site; from the gallery window in the Oi! Glassie building; or even from the skyscrapers above. 

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  • Art
  • Mixed media
  • West Kowloon

M+ Museum’s new thematic exhibition aims to explore the connection between landscape and humanity in our post-industrial and increasingly virtual world. Literally translating to ‘mountain and water’, shanshui is a Chinese cultural concept that has inspired Asian ink paintings across millennia. Almost 130 works split into nine thematic sections will reimagine landscape through art, moving images, sound, design, architecture, and other large-scale mediums from a range of international artists, architects, and creators.

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