Vincent Fantauzzo, Vincent, 2009, Oil on canvas, 29 x 41 cm
As an artist in residence with the 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Vincent Fantauzzo captures a slice of Hong Kong in his project 30 portraits/30 days/Hong Kong. Fantauzzo states that he looks at it as an investigation of a city. Unlike visiting a city as a tourist the grueling pressure of finding his subjects forces him to really look at and into the people of a town. He observes people rather than just passing them by. And interestingly, he states that he finds out more about the people after he painted them by those who view his portraits and thus the discovery of that person becomes a postscript. His discoveries of the town are interesting and in his thirty days his observations have been many. Stunned by the amount of energy of the city and the never-ending networking, he wonders about true friendships within such an intertwined community. He also notes, “I find that people are very entrepreneurial and very embracing of big ideas in Hong Kong. People who live here for a few years become quite patriotic. Hong Kong is a place where if you dream it you can make it happen.” He feels that the rich cultural diversity is an asset of this town and an artist can have a lot to say.
