2019: Soka Art continues its focus on the latest art in Asia.

In 2019, Soka Art will hold its seventh exhibition at 2019 ART BASEL HK. This year, Soka once again sets off from its historic perspective, presenting a group of contemporary artists of profound influence: Hong Ling, Mao Xuhui, Zhao Meng, Zhang Ying Nan and Mitsuhiro Ikeda. Spanning a variety of geographical and cultural backgrounds, the five distinct artists represent different possibilities in interpreting the chemistry between Asian and Western art and will both gather at the upcoming international art fair.

Hong Ling— Making the “first”s of Chinese art

Hong Ling has already marked his unique place in the history of Chinese art, that is, reviving the  Chinese traditional culture and philosophy by borrowing Western concepts.In the early 1990s, Hong Ling set up the studio at the foot of Huang Mountain and began his years of life accompanied by mountains and rivers. With nature as his mentor, he discovered his unique way of appreciating the beauty of nature and thus transformed them into the landscape in his paintings. He managed to harmonize the rhyme and free spirit of Chinese traditional ink paintings since the Song Dynasty with the western styles. Hong Ling’s Shanshui is unique for he re-deconstructs the landscape imagery with perspective and employs both spray and texturing technique to demonstrate a variation of strengths, speeds and strokes on his canvas, reviving the ancient charm of Chinese Shanshui. Hong ling’s artistic achievements, in result, have laid a foundation for his invincibility in the history of contemporary art. Over his more 30 years of career,  Hong Ling challenged himself everyday, he was invited to participate in the 1997 and 2011 Venice Biennale on behalf of Chinese artists; in 2015, he was the first to create Chinese art together with Soka. Two years of personal world tour, bringing works to a number of important academic academic institutions in the UK and Ireland. In 2017, Hong Ling's huge work "Four Seasons" was honored to be permanently collected by the National Grand Theatre of China. Hong Ling's new work will also debut in Hong Kong Basel in March, so stay tuned!

Mao Xuhui—The pioneer and recorder of contemporary Chinese art

In addition to taking a big step in the contemporary art of the 85th New Wave Art Movement, Mao Xuhui also actively reflects upon on the various social problems caused by the changes of the times, and at the same time re-converted the symbolic meaning of the imageries. However, rather than employing the popular symbols in contemporary art, the artist develops an artistic vocabulary which encapsulates his personal experiences and life philosophy with the greatest loyalty to his own heart, symbolizing the era as a reference for power and life. The artist’s most renown series from the past— the "chairs" and “scissors" are a strong representation of Mao’s smart insights of daily life: the social complex is reintroduced through the iconic image symbols, transforming into artist’s dissatisfaction with Chinese society and understandings on death and kinship. Mao Xuhui's chair is no longer just a tragic temperament to express his uneasiness about the underlying power relations in the contemporary society, but instead adds stronger sense of narrativity, romance and elegance to the eyes, in the work “Guishan Sketch— Walnut Tree in Spring Wind” ,  the symbols of the chair have revealed Mao’s fascination with his private utopia；The new work “Under the Glory” re-presents several state series of the human body in the 1980s: in the picture, the men and women who bend over and face the glare (present society) seem to be at a loss but also in search for new directions.

Zhao Meng—Reviving the Eastern philosophy & Exploring the Western Art

Zhao Meng is a researcher at the Harvard Fairbank Center for East Asian Studies. He has been actively researching on the inheritance and development of Chinese traditional culture and art in the new era. Zhao graduated from the China Academy of Fine Arts in ceramics and is the first Chinese artist whose work to be permanently collected by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In addition, his works have also been featured in the Rietberg Museum of Zürich in Switzerland, Cincinnati Art Museum in USA and the Contemporary Ceramic Museum of Seoul in Korea. As a contemporary artist, Zhao Meng's artistic concept respects the traditional values of the East while also incorporates the nutritions from the West. By bridging the East and West, the tradition and the modernity, Zhao Meng’s work has gained recognition from the 53th International Ceramic Competition Faenza Italy.

Zhang Yingnan—Portraying the dynamics between personal experiences and social observations through the transferring space

Zhang Yingnan was born in the 1980s in Beijing. His color and composition are less direct and passionate than other young artists. Zhang's work is filled with his philosophical reflections, and always possesses a indescribable sense of loneliness and serenity. Possessing un unique sense of mystery, Zhang Yingnan's paintings achieved great success at 2018 Art Basel Hong Kong.  The work "Mirror Heart"and "Him" have been collected by the famous collector Yao Qian, and notably the"Mirror Heart"become the poster of the film "One Man's Collection”. Zhang Yingnan constructs various “spaces” in his paintings with the ambition to capture the psychological state of society: the alienation between people, the uneasiness of the future and the sympathy for the family, which drive our generations into the depth of helplessness. The world in his painting shows a strong sense of loss, whether it is an empty factory building, the high and low-rise skyscrapers, or a floor-to-ceiling window--it is always full of loneliness and sadness. The artist is like a director, and every scene accompanying him is a scene set which constantly emerges and vanishes, trying to calm the viewers and slowly guide them into his work.

Mitsuhiro IKEDA—Painting the spiritual landscapes

Ikeda's work focuses on the relationship between environment, psychology and philosophy. He received a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Hokkaido University and a master's degree from the Institute of Plastic Arts, Musashino Art University, Tokyo. He is currently a professor at Kyoto University of the Arts (Kyoto University of the Arts & Design). Originated from a traditional temple abbot family in Hokkaido, Ikeda manages to become one of the few artists who have been favored by both official and private organizations. His works have been collected by UBS Art Bank, Toyota Motor, Japan Life Insurance, Tokyo Station and other domestic and foreign organizations. Ikeda is enthusiastic in studying the complex structure of traditional architecture. His works are mostly the forgotten corners that represent the societal and  natural landscapes of different times. In 2014,  he took a eight months-journey in Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia to experience the local culture and customs. During the journey, he encountered the homeless people from all over the world and thus realized that the world has poverty and weakness that he can't imagine, accompanied by a his exhibition at Thalie Art Foundation exhibition in Belgium. Ikeda's artistic creation derives form his experience of the external world, particularly the familiar objects seen on his ongoing journey, such as the abandoned old buildings, discarded products, scattered wood and damaged spaces. The artist manages to rebuild a new field between the past and the present, on which his criticism and reflection on the contemporary consumerism society unfold.

From the view of art history: Presenting the Social Landscape at the 7th ART BASEL Hong Kong

Each year at Art Basel Hong Kong, Soka Art continues to present exhibitions with a systematic thinking. Whether it is a solo exhibition or a theme group exhibition, Soka believes in presenting ourselves on the international stage from the  horizontal view of art history, and looks forward to finding the original voice the for Asia-Pacific art. This time, Soka Art introduces the concept of "social landscape” with its 3 sub-divisions: "reproducing landscape image" , "reproducing landscape perspective" and "reproducing landscape field”, which can all be identified  in the works of artist Mao Xuhui: familiar object symbols, such as scissors, chairs, hangers, etc., to re-interpret the meaning of the language. As for Hong Ling and Zhao Meng,  the 2 artists choose instead to explore the Western modern art basing on the traditional values of the East, creating an innovative balance in between. Facing the rapid information exchange of the today, Zhang Yingnan and Mitsuhiro Ikeda define their self-existence and knowledge of the world through the transformation of space.