香港起動2023: 陳珮熹 池田穗 趙芷穎 李錦青 陸嘉瑩 麥容嘉 沈學翹 曾汝晴 王采薈 余穎茵

10 Chancery Lane Gallery is proud to present the twelfth edition of HKFOREWORD 2023, which introduces new art from Hong Kong through its latest art graduates. This year we have selected 10 artists from 3 Hong Kong universities. The exhibition includes painting, video, installation, and a stop motion animation video. The HKFOREWORD exhibition brings a fresh outlook on Hong Kong’s art development and offers insight into the preoccupations and inspirations driving their work. The artists are Karen Chan, Chi Tin Sui, Wing Chiu, Lee Kam Ching, Lewis, Pyrce Luk, Mak Yung Ka, Shum Hok Kiu, Christine Tsang, Ella Wong and Yoyo Yu.

The year of 2023 has been the official end of the Covid restrictions in Hong Kong that liberated this group of artists during their last year as students to get them back into the physical classroom. However, it came late, thus, they have had a challenging time during their studies. Currently in the post pandemic art world, there does seem to be more colour, frivolity and spontaneity in the works. Many of the artists of this generation have felt the changing political environment, with friends having been arrested for their views and a definite feeling of uncertainty moving forward. We did see some works among the graduates that were overtly political but less than the previous two years. There are some cryptic messages well hidden within some of the works. Overall, this year felt as if they were breaking free from the heaviness of the past 3 years of the Covid pandemic and the protests that preceded it.

A glimpse into the souls of our youth is a gift for all to cherish. HKFOREWORD23 offers a moment in time to understand through art the thoughts and concerns of Hong Kong artists today. Art is a lasting material for society to embrace as a collective journey. May we take a moment to reflect on their musings and embrace the creative process of our time.