「聖誕快樂，並賀新禧」是藝術家暨漫畫家 #智海 在香港舉行的最新個展，展出近四十張油畫新作及以之製成的 #幻燈片 投影。作品概念從藝術家收藏的一系列舊幻燈片出發，藝術家把幻燈片投射於牆上的影像，直接繪於畫布上，呈現了六十至八十年代一幅幅熟悉的 #舊香港 印象。藝術家再把這些畫布上的二次創作製作成幻燈片並將之投影：時移世易，回憶數度轉移，凝固在原初的載體。
Visual artist #Chihoi ’s solo exhibition in Hong Kong ‘Merry Christmas and Happy New Year’ features around 40 new oil paintings and a #slideprojection of the same images. Taking his personal old slide collection as the point of departure, Chihoi paints the wall projection of the slide images directly on canvas. The reproduced images illustrate familiar impressions of #oldHongKong between the 1960s and 1980s. The artist then turns these reproductions on canvas into slides and projects them. As time passes, memories are transferred and translated, eventually encapsulated in their original medium.
Why it matters:
智海成長於八九十年代，而幻燈片中的香港則屬於另一個過去的、他從未經歷過的時空。他嘗試以第三身的旅客視角，回溯舊時影象。這些舊幻燈片，原以遊客紀念品的方式發售，一幀幀本來不是製作給本地人看的影像，由於影像技術和互聯網日漸普及，如今卻構成了一種香港歷史的共同記憶，補回記憶中的一塊不太完整的拼圖。褪色的舊幻燈片，剩下偏紅的單色，藝術家試圖呈現這經過時間洗滌的、現在的色彩，即使是褪了色的霓虹燈，艷彩變了淡彩，仍十分迷人。
For Chihoi who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, the Hong Kong in the old slides belongs to some other past, a time and space he never knew. Through a tourist’s perspective, the artist revisits old images and impressions. With the advance of imaging technology and the Internet, the slides, originally sold as souvenirs and not intended for the local people, now constitute a kind of shared memory of Hong Kong history, a missing puzzle piece to fill in the gaps of the otherwise not too complete memory. The faded old slides are left with a reddish colour, and the artist tries to reproduce this weathered, aged colour of the present: the vivid colours of neon lights have become mellow yet still enchant.
4 Hightlights:
．在智海的創作中，經常出現香港景色及主題，熟悉的景物往往喚起潛意識及夢中的情緒和記憶。藝術家一向十分重視作品的構圖、用色及各種細節，並融合夢中的意象及想像元素。而這一新作系列中，藝術家卻採用了一種與過往不同的繪畫方法，輕描淡寫般，面對靜止的景色快速「寫生」，描繪出朦朦朧朧的浮光掠影。
．對比以往帶點超現實風格的作品，是次絕大部份作品都是藝術家雙眼所見的「現實」影像的直接描繪。近乎單色的畫面，看似淡然，卻是智海多年來對香港歷史及景物的反覆觀察及繪畫的沉澱與昇華。
．系列四十張油畫作品將於展場分批展出，觀眾並可觀賞整系列作品的幻燈片投影。對於同時有畫漫畫的藝術家而言，幻燈片投影的特定次序，猶如漫畫的框格和分鏡。漫畫由一頁頁原畫組成，經印刷複製成書，書本為最終完成品。
．而展覽中的幻燈片投影，則由藝術家繪畫舊幻燈片影像，再經拍攝沖曬複製而成，相比畫布上的繪畫，最後投放出來的影像才是最終完成品。從投影到繪畫，繪畫又回到投影，形成一個概念的循環，同時也意味著人對過去的投射。
．Hong Kong scenery and themes are a constant motif in Chihoi’s creations, the familiar images evoking emotions and memories in the subconscious and dreams. The artist has always attached great importance to the composition, choice of colour and various details, incorporating the imagery and imaginary elements drawn from dreams. And in this new series, the artist adopts an unprecedented painting method, with an understated style, a quick ‘sketch’ of still landscape outlining indistinct impressions.
．Compared with his slightly surrealist works of before, most of the works displayed in this exhibition are direct depictions of ‘real’ images as seen by the artist. Painted in an almost monochromatic tone, the works seem tranquil at first glance, but are in fact the precipitation and sublimation of years of observation and painting of Hong Kong’s history and scenery.
．The 40 oil paintings in the series, divided into groups, will be exhibited in several phases, while the whole series is projected as a slideshow in the exhibition space. For the artist who also draws comics, the ordering of the slide projection is like the frames in comics. Comics consist of pages of drawings, which are compiled and printed into a final book form.
．Whereas the slide projection in the exhibition consists of reproduced photographic images of the artist’s paintings, themselves reproductions of the faded old slides. Instead of the paintings on canvas, the reproduced images in the slide projection are the real final product. From projection to painting, then back to projection, a conceptual cycle is formed, as well as our own projections of the past.
Background – Chihoi (b.1977, Hong Kong):
智海畢業於香港中文大學, 少年時自學繪畫與漫畫。智海重視作品的構圖、用色及意念，畫面注重呈現各種細節，並融合藝術家夢中的意象及想像元素。作品中經常出現香港景色及主題，畫面中熟悉的景物往往喚起潛意識及夢境中人們對某些場景的情緒和記憶。
Chihoi graduated from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is a self-taught artist who began painting and drawing as a teenager. The artist has attached great importance to the composition, choice of colour, and concept of his works while incorporating the imagery and imaginary elements drawn from his dreams. Hong Kong scenery and themes are a constant motif in Chihoi’s creations, the familiar images evoking emotions and memories associated with certain scenes in the subconscious and dreams.
Final Tips:
幻燈機的石英燈光，溫熱而柔潤，盛載著舊日類比時代的光華。展覽標題 「聖誕快樂，並賀新禧」來自系列其中一張作品《聖誕快樂》，呈現舊滙豐銀行大廈外牆及室外的聖誕燈飾。
Warm and gentle, the quartline light of the slide projector carries the brilliance of the old analog era. The exhibition title ‘Merry Christmas and Happy New Year’ comes from ‘Merry Christmas’, one of the works in the series, which portrays the outdoor Christmas lights and those on the exterior wall of the old HSBC Building.
智海：《聖誕快樂，並賀新禧》
Chihoi: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Date:
2022.12.3 – 2023.1.21
Venue:
GALLERY EXIT 安全口
3/F, 25 Hing Wo Street, Tin Wan, Aberdeen, Hong Kong
香港香港仔田灣興和街25號大生工業大廈3樓
Courtesy to the gallery and the artist