:: OSAGE ART FOUNDATION ::

Market Forces

18 May 2012 - 23 August 2012
Osage Kwun Tong, Hong Kong

The Osage Art Foundation presents in May 2012 an exhibition titled “Market Forces” at Osage Kwun Tong in Hong Kong.

In this exhibition 13 artists, ten from Hong Kong and one each from Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan have been invited to develop and present projects that provoke and challenge existing theories of value in art.

The exhibition combines examinations of the social, psychological, political or historical basis of notions of value with examinations of aspects of the sociology of culture including its institutions and their typical relations and forms of organisation and self organisation, and ruminations on the mechanics and operation of the economic cycle of production, distribution, consumption and exchange.

Historic recurrence suggests that in the early twenty-first century the power of the artist-critic-dealer-collector relationship and of expositions of art such as art fairs and biennial exhibitions may be repudiated and replaced by a new imaginary. Shifting purchasing power from Europe and America to Asia and in particular China is likely to have a significant impact. Likewise shifting forms of art practice will result in new challenges for artists, art historians, critics and curators and all of the artworld professions.

Changing notions of utility in art will also impact on the economic cycle and notions of value. In economics utility is a measure of satisfaction. Economic theories (and the political structures that underpin them) operate on the understanding that people want to maximize the amount of utility they can get. Paradoxically, the principle of marginal utility says that the more you already have, the less you will value each additional unit. We are told that money is the root of all evil but in the world of art delusion, mania, deviousness, pride ambition, envy and snobbery also play an integral and revealing part of the social history that gives rise to the art itself. But are there alternatives to money? Must money and the market be the dominant arbiter of value? How else can artists achieve exposure and recognition? Are there better ways for artists to question and contest issues, structures and social mores? Can we find new paradigms for intellectual and artistic inquiry and debate? And can these alternatives also offer inclusiveness, pluralism, self determination, independence and integrity? The subtitle of the exhibition “Market Forces” is thus Whither Contemporary Art?

“Market Forces” offers audiences unique and provocative insights into the issues surrounding the production, distribution, exchange and consumption of art. “Market Forces” is a free platform (in every sense of the word) for free thinking about art and its dissemination.

Participating Artists:
anothermountainman | Au Hoi Lam | Chow Chun Fai | David Clarke | Ho Sin Tung | Kacey Wong | Kentaro Hiroki | Luke Ching | Map Office | Mee Ping Leung | Poklong Anading | Tintin Wulia | Wilson Shieh

PRESENTED BY
osage art foundation

SUPPORTED BY
osage gallery
osage art consultancy
sigma art services

Regional Perspectives: Thailand

The Osage Art Foundation recognizes that more needs to be done to develop the cultural conversations happening in Asia. The OAF has developed a platform “Regional Perspectives” with the aim to foster deeper regional consciousness of the arts within Asia.

The exhibition and forums will make the case that certain key and emergent artists from the region have a larger and international significance. The exhibitions are developed from substantial research and will provide regional platforms for innovative curatorial perspectives.
Regional Perspectives: Thailand encompasses two exhibitions: Nuova (Arte) Povera (contemporary visual art exhibition of seven artists from Thailand), and Not Reconciled: Video Art from Thailand, as well as a public program named Ideas Incubator.

Nuova (Arte) Povera
16 March 2012 - 29 April 2012
Osage Kwun Tong, Hong Kong

The exhibition ‘Nuova (Arte) Povera’, curated by Ark Fongsmut, reflects upon themes of globalisation, cultural flattening and the rise of the “New Poor”.

During the past few years, much information has been generated from the influence of globalisation. Though this information can be considered appropriately beneficial for us, they have in reality become overwhelming when compared to our ability and efficiency in processing and analysing reality. Too much information has ironically reduced one's ability to directly reach facts and reality, or simply put, pulled one away from the truth. The issue will be acknowledged by the participating artists who form points of view based on their diverse background, skill and proficiency in various aspects and dimensions in relation to the central theme of the exhibition.
Apart from the effect on the amount and the ability to perceive the information, globalisation also has a great influential presence in the economical sector; precisely it affects the economical structure by consuming and wasting an enormous amount of natural resources that we concern for the ‘New Poor’.

For Thailand, an example of poverty and its related poor ability to perceive information can be seen in particular from laborers, who are willing to be in debt in order to own high technology mobile phones, as clearly shown in many capital cities.

At the same moment, policies issued by the government through borrowing money and resources from the future might be on the surface be considered as a resolution, yet deep within, the attempts proved to be futile in clearing their poverty of knowledge, mind and soul.

Participating Artists:
Boonsri Tangtrongsin | Dusadee Huntrakul | Kentaro Hiroki | Krit Ngamsom | Lek Kiatsirikajorn | Pisitakun Kuantalaeng | Prateep Suthathongthai

Ideas Incubator

17 March 2012
Osage Kwun Tong, Hong Kong

The curator Ark Fongsmut will speak about the Arte (Nuova) Povera exhibition and its place in the history of art in Thailand, while Charles Merewether and Thomas Lollar (artist and former Director of Visual Arts at the Lincoln Centre) will comment on contemporary art in the Region from the perspective of Singapore and New York respectively.

Exploring contemporary art from a Regional perspective is also the aim of the major forthcoming exhibition 'United States of Asia – Combustible Chemistries'. Initiated by Osage Art Foundation, this project will be introduced by curators: Isabel Ching (Singapore), Arianna Gellini (Hong Kong) and Eileen Legaspi-Ramirez (Manila).

Not Reconciled: Video Art from Thailand

16 March 2012 - 29 April 2012
Osage Kwun Tong, Hong Kong

Not Reconciled is a title of a 1965 film by Jean-Marie Straub and Daniele Huillet, which is a loose adaptation of Heinrich Boll's novel, Billiards at Half Past Nine. Both film and novel focus on a German family's struggle in coming to terms with the history of themselves, their family, and their nation.

Similar spirit, as well as act of resistance is central to this eponymous group exhibition of recent video art from Thailand.

The four selected works by three artists embody the 'not reconciled' essence - with memory, history, and time.

Arin Rungjang's piece Never Congregate, Never Disregard (2007) is the artist's personal attempt to hold on to his intimate memory through his mother's fading yet lucid recollection; Chatchai Suban's Grandfather (2011) is a subtly defiant statement on society and its constructed history and fabricated truth; while Taiki Sakpisit's works I Did Not Dream Last Night (2009) and Looking Into God's Eye (2010) convey an enduring metaphysical message that transcends the kaleidoscope of time.

Arin Rungjang | Chatchai Suban | Taiki Sakpisit

PRESENTED BY
osage art foundation