ART CENTRAL 2022
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Yayoi Kusama, Citrouille (II), 2000
screenprint, lame, sheet size 50 x 65 cm
Image courtesy of CURATOR Style
Running from 26 to 29 May 2022, CURATOR Style (booth: B17) is delighted to announce its participation for the second time at Art Central 2022 in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, presenting a prominent line-up of four established and emerging artists, including Cypriot artist Andreas Stylianou, and Japanese artists: Yayoi Kusama, Yoshitomo Nara, and Chiharu Shiota, who have elevated their voices and exerted significant influence on the contemporary art world. In many senses, their creations speak vigorously and harmonically towards one another, and ingeniously express the introspective theme, Searching the Soul, through their own techniques.
The exhibition will display an assortment of unique, original works of various medium, ranging from traditional materials such as paper or canvas, to experimental methods including threads, metal, aluminum panels and spraying painting. The outcome is more than a visual feast to the eye: it forms a powerful, emotional dialogue not only between the artists, but also between the artwork and the audience, who can reflect on their inner self with art acting as a mirror.

Andreas Stylianou, Super Sonic, 2021
enamel and spray-paint on aluminum sheets with aluminum wall support, 150 x 138 x 10 cm
Image courtesy of CURATOR Style
According to American author Caroline Myss, “The soul always knows what to do to heal itself. The challenge is to silence the mind.” This exhibition leads the viewers to traverse the spirituality (the process of soul-searching) of each artist through self-discovery and self-healing art practices.
Born in 1990, Cypriot artist Andreas Stylianou has developed an affinity for creating and collecting art at an early age. Later on, he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree at the well-known Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. Making his Asia debut, Stylianou’s latest works will be showcased at CURATOR Style’s Art Central presentation, including Super Sonic (2021) and Light Headed (2021), are produced with purposely cut and unevenly shaped aluminum panels painted with enamel paint, which are a complete departure from his previous canvas works in terms of medium and style, hence reflecting more about his architect’s sense towards the property of one material and another. Driven by an urge to search for the emotional meaning in his latest works, Stylianou further abstracts his subjects of familiar cartoon characters like “Sonic the Hedgehog” by deliberately hollowing out their eyes. Without the disturbance of these figurative elements, one may effortlessly delve into the ocean of his emotions and feel his soul mastering the direction of his brushstrokes, which are extraordinarily executed in each of his unique works. Between the flowing impulses of colours, Stylianou is intentionally walking on the thin line between control and lack of control, or more precisely, the will of self and the natural order: on the one hand, he composes the scene in his paintings with complete control of his brushstrokes; on the other hand, he attempts to let the colours organically burst or flow on the painting surface as guided by the natural forces, like rivers bearing with the traces of time. Each work thus plays as an important hint to the artist’s charm as well as providing an exotic feel by revealing the captivating remote landscape of his home by the sea. Altogether, they intrigue the audience with the artist’s story of returning to his birthplace during pandemic, where he reimagines his roots by letting himself be absolutely lost in the natural wonders. Furthermore, for him, art acts like a perfect medium for sharing his intricate relationship with time, which he has once stated that as he paints, it would usually take a few weeks for a work to be completed, because he would wait until the previous layer of colours to be naturally absorbed and dried up to apply the next layer. Hence, he suggests that feeling time flows in his painting is like imagining the process of waiting and appreciating a sunrise or sunset till over. Stylianou’s presentation at Art Central is also CURATOR Style’s debut exhibition with the artist, who joined the programme in 2022.

Yayoi Kusama, Citrouilles series N°2, 2002
limoges ceramic, set of 5, 7 x 9 cm each
Image courtesy of CURATOR Style
For Yayoi Kusama, who has been suffering from mental disorders throughout her life, the “soul” is like an old friend whom she has revisited over and over for many years in the process of finding her true self and inner peace. According to Kusama, the recurring subject of “pumpkin” in her works has always acted as a home to her soul and provide her with great comfort and calmness against the mental chaos. As one of her highlighted works exhibited this year, Citrouille (II) (2000) is a rare editioned print portraying a significantly large and plump pumpkin glaring with lame, suggesting the artist’s innermost, uninterrupted existence of soul beyond time and space.

Yoshitomo Nara, Untitled (Irgendwo Steinebergen als Tragbild), 1997,
pencil and coloured pencil on paper, image size 30.5 x 22.9 cm
Image courtesy of CURATOR Style
On the other hand, Yoshitomo Nara’s approach to searching the soul is nostalgic; child-like images, childhood memories and old-time music have been his answer to the question of his true self while he was trying to escape from the status quo. In contrast to Stylianou’s hollow-eyed characters, there are profound emotions underlying the eyes or expressed through the actions of the innocent girl portrayed by Nara as a way of self-consolation or self-revelation. In this exhibited original work on paper Untitled (Irgendwo Steinebergen als Tragbild) (1997), where a free-spirited musician is playing her guitar on the piled-up stones amid the mountains and valleys, conveying a sense of fearlessness.

Chiharu Shiota, Skin, 2021
Thread on canvas
140 by 80 by 6 cm (each); 140 by 160 by 6 cm (overall)
Image courtesy of CURATOR Style
Within the layered threads in Chiharu Shiota’s expansive works and installations, one may also find strong sentiments of the artist, whose creation is inspired by her dream and sense of self in relation to time, space, and human relationships. In the creation of art, with part or the whole of her body, Shiota liberates her soul from the physical boundaries of the reality while exercising her creativity with consciousness. In this exhibition, two unique works, State of Being (Keys) (2015) and State of Being (Keys) (2020), from her well-known State of Being series will be shown alongside her latest large-scale work on canvas, Skin (2021), a theme she has been revisiting since her work Memory of Skin (2001) presented at the inaugural Yokohama Triennale in 2001.
25 May (VIP Preview), 4PM - 8PM
26 May, 2 – 5PM; 5 – 8PM
27 – 28 May, 11AM – 3PM; 3 – 7PM
29 May, 11AM – 3PM; 3 – 6PM
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圖片來源:CURATOR Style

圖片來源:CURATOR Style

圖片來源:CURATOR Style

圖片來源:CURATOR Style

圖片來源:CURATOR Style