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Turn Around

Solo exhibition by Mok Wai Hong

Works by Mok Wai Hong

Vernissage: 20 October 2011,   6:30pm - 8:30pm
Exhibition Continues: 20 October 2011 - 14 November 2011

Schoeni Main Gallery, 21-31 Old Bailey Street, Central

Hong Kong artist Mok Wai Hong’s latest solo exhibition Turn Around will be opening on Thursday October 20 at Schoeni Main Gallery, 21-31 Old Bailey Street. Partnering with Schoeni in this exhibition will be TonySame, a Hong Kong eyewear brand, and ORBIS. A joint press conference will be held on Thursday October 20 at 3:00-4:30pm. 

 Turn Around is a sequel to Mok Wai Hong’s preceding solo entitled Behind in 2007. As in his previous works, Mok insists to pose criticisms and provoke reflections on the ways that modern society is run, and challenges the metropolitan to stay sober amidst a world that is becoming more and more accustomed to the hegemony of the media and the influx of excessive graphical information.

 “Nowadays with the development of digital technology, it is even easier to find questionable news photos on printed media and on the internet – that was what sparked the creation of this Turn Around series,” said Mok Wai Hong.

Most of the works in Turn Around come in sets of two, with the "subjects" from the paintings being removed and presented as a separate piece. For example in the piece “The Only Jobs”, the main canvas portrays a group of reporters eagerly participating in a press conference, in which Steve Jobs is missing. Steve Jobs has been “extracted” from the scene and presented separately away from the canvas, which means that the viewer will have to turn around and search before the complete picture can be seen. By doing this, the artist hopes to stimulate the viewer into thinking about the roles of the media, the audience, the “key person” that makes a news story worthy (i.e. Steve Jobs), and the supporting crowd inside that story (i.e. the reporters at the press conference), and the relationships between these different roles. 

With the latest announcement of the death of the much admired Jobs, this particular piece by the artist, which was painted before Jobs passed away, is a poignant reminder of his contributions to the digital world we know today as well as the fact that he is truly “The Only Jobs”, who will always be irreplaceable.

During the exhibtion, TonySame the marketing sponsor for Turn Around will also be launching their new eyewear series “Fantom” on the same day that the exhibition opens, matching the artworks’ theme of “seeking visual authenticity”. 

Donation to Orbis

Mock TV News by Mok Wai Hong

Additionally, in conjunction with ORBIS 2011 World Sight Day, the piece entitled Mock TV News (see above) in the exhibition featuring a Bloomberg TV news reporter will be donated to the organization in support of their dedication to preserving and restoring eyesight of the people in poverty-stricken communities across the world.  

About Mok Wai Hong
  Mok Wai Hong is a Hong Kong artist. Upon graduating from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing with bachelor’s degree in 2007, his works have met with critical acclaim and is one of the select few to have been nominated as a finalist for the Sovereign Asian Art Prize in 2005, 2006 and 2009. Mok’s style is characterised by its emphasis on Hong Kong and China, within its vernacular topography and cityscape. As a native of the former colony, Mok sheds keen psychological insight into the mentality of the “Hongkonger”. Calmly and consciously, he poses on his canvases thoughtful questions about the undergoing transitions and changes of the society in which he lives in.