安全口畫廊呈獻香港藝術家周俊輝最新個人展覽《背影》，展覽系列以小型油畫為主，共同描述一個城市所面對的險境：2019年的大型遊行、武力衝突和肆意拘捕。
Gallery EXIT is pleased to announce CHOW Chun Fai’s solo exhibition “Portraits from Behind”. The Hong Kong-based artist’s new series consists mostly of small paintings, portraying a city in crisis: showing scenes from mass protests, violent clashes and indiscriminate arrests that shook the artist’s hometown in 2019.
《背影》探尋香港人的身分認同與自決，但與前作呈現角度則南轅北轍。他與大部分香港人一樣，深受2019年的一連串事件衝擊和震撼，藉着繪畫示威情景排解情緒。
“Portraits from Behind” deals with the quest for Hong Kong’s identity and self-determination, but adopts a very different approach that sets it apart from earlier works. Like many other Hongkongers, CHOW was left deeply disturbed and shaken by the events of 2019 and turned to painting protest scenes as a way to process his emotions.
周俊輝的新作多了一份發自內心的即興。畫作以照片和直播截圖等媒介為基礎，幾乎擁有一種紀錄性。唯一一張大型油畫寬兩米，以寫實方式描繪2019年8月香港國際機場的大型示威人群。
CHOW’s new works are more spontaneous. Based on photos and other image sources such as live streams, they have an almost documentary quality. In the only large painting, a two-metre-wide panorama of the mass protests at Hong Kong’s international airport in August 2019, the crowd is portrayed in a strictly factual way.
其餘的小畫可分成兩組：稍大的一組小畫仔細描繪場景，令觀眾彷彿置身事件的周邊，以旁觀者角度從後觀看前線記者、抗爭者和警察的舉動。切身感受當中的暴力，不公義，危險與不安。
The smaller paintings can be divided into two groups. The slightly larger paintings illustrate scenes that are more concrete and detailed. Finding ourselves on the periphery of events, the sense of danger becomes palpable as we take on the role of observers, looking over the shoulders of frontline reporters, protesters and riot police.
另一組小畫僅十乘十厘米。以寬鬆的筆觸為畫面賦予近乎印象派的色彩。不少作品裏都沒有人的存在，只有一些輪廓隱現在火紅背景前，我們瞥見模糊的身影嘗試抵擋擊彈來襲及物件被火燄吞噬。小小的畫面盛載灼熱的力量，呈現一個瀕臨崩潰邊緣的城市。
The smaller square-format paintings are more loosely painted, giving them an almost impressionistic quality. Persons are either completely absent or only seen as silhouettes against a red backdrop. We glimpse shadows wading through clouds of gas, objects engulfed in flames and vague figures trying to shield themselves against projectiles. These works powerfully evoke a tormented city on the brink of collapse.
周俊輝的示威畫作讓觀眾從街頭角度自行觀察。我們就如置身緊張局勢的香港市民，目擊街上的衝突和急轉直下的發展。
CHOW’s paintings of the protests adopts a street-level perspective, allowing viewers to freely interpret the work. We witness the clashes like ordinary Hongkongers would if they suddenly found themselves in a tense and rapidly escalating situation.
那種直接性和溫度，恍如民間記者在社交媒體上分享的快拍照片，而將這些情景轉移到畫布上，更提升了畫中狀況的迫切性。重大的改變已經發生，記憶豈能遺忘。
In their immediacy and directness, CHOW’s paintings resemble the quick social media snapshots shared by citizen journalists during the protests. Committing those scenes to canvas, however, lends them a heightened sense of urgency. They make clear that something very important has changed, something that must never be allowed to slip into oblivion.
Source: Gallery EXIT
周俊輝 – 瀕臨崩潰邊緣的城市
CHOW CHUN FAI – A CITY ON THE BRINK OF COLLAPSE
Date:
2020.3.14 – 5.16
Time:
Opening reception – 14:00 – 17:00
Opening hours – Tuesday to Saturday 11:00 – 18:00
Venue:
Gallery EXIT 安全口
香港 香港仔 田灣 興和街25號 大生工業大廈3樓
EXIT, 3/F, 25 Hing Wo Street, Tin Wan, Aberdeen, Hong Kong
