Breaking the Waves

EVENT DESCRIPTION

K11 Art Foundation is pleased to announce that in collaboration with ArtReview, one of the world’s leading international contemporary art magazines, the exhibition Breaking the Waves will be showcased in Hong Kong from 17 December 2021 to 23 January 2022 at K11 HACC. As we begin to emerge from a time of solitude and isolation, Breaking the Waves brings together the works of 14 highly acclaimed artists and artist collectives from around the world including Larry Achiampong, Chim↑Pom, Adriano Costa,Michael Joo, Jac Lierner, Ho Tzu Nyen with Ripon Chowdhury, Laure Prouvost, Wolfgang Tillmans, and Zheng Bo, to explore discussion and dialogue as a cornerstone of contemporary art, and highlight the role of communication and social interaction in contemporary practice. The exhibition also examines the vast potential of art as a means of social development, communication and connectivity with the world through art.

The exhibition title, Breaking the Waves, refers both to persistence, the endlessly repeating climax of waves breaking on a shore, and the act of swimming against the tide, or coming up for air. In the current moment, it also seeks to convey optimism about the latent potentials for renewal as we slowly begin to re-enter a world reshaped following the COVID-19 pandemic. As a celebration of art’s propensity for thinking differently and going against the grain, the exhibition seeks to speak to community, solidarity and the inspiring, sometimes challenging, visions of new futures and new possibilities that art is uniquely placed to offer.

K11 Art Foundation has been actively establishing partnerships with leading art and cultural institutions and experts around the world to create impactful cross-cultural exchange, and contribute to the expanding global contemporary art discourse. The exhibition is curated to highlight dialogue and mutual influence, by staging each work as a form of ‘conversation’. Balancing the poles of work and play, the art on show tackles relationships between humans and nature, conditions of migration and mobility, exploitation and cooperation, the potentials of new technologies, and the ways in which artists collaborate or enter into dialogue with the work of their peers. More than anything; however, it examines the many ways in which art allows us to view the world and locate ourselves within it through a fresh or alternative lens.
Featuring a mixture of both static and interactive works, the audience is invited to become a ‘fellow traveller’ on a journey that is staged to highlight both the development of individual points

Wave upon wave – Exhibition and activities
To accompany the exhibition, K11 Art Foundation will present a series of events, including workshops, and online and offline guided tours.

Public Art Tour
An immersive journey led by K11 Art Foundation docents is offered for the fellow traveller to step into the voyage and break the isolation amid the pandemic.
Duration: 45 mins
Language: English / Cantonese
Registration: https://nwce.nwd.hk/NWD_Event/KAFArttour.aspx

Artist Zheng Bo in Conversation with Mark Rappolt, ArtReview Editor-in-Chief
Join the conversation between Hong Kong-based artist Zheng Bo and Mark Rappolt, ArtReview Editor-in-Chief, to explore Zheng’s artistic practice which focuses on ecologically-engaged art and his commitment to multispecies vibrancy. The conversation will be accompanied by a 30- minute guided tour to explore Breaking the Waves.
Date: 13 January 2022 (Thursday)
Time: 6 – 7pm
Registration: https://nwce.nwd.hk/NWD_Event/BTWEventJan13.aspx

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

Presented by: K11 Art Foundation
Curated by: ArtReview
Participating Artists:
Larry Achiampong, Chim↑Pom, Ripon Chowdhury with Ho Tzu Nyen, Adriano Costa, Eisa Jocson, Michael Joo, Jac Leirner, Yuko Mohri and David Horvitz, Laure Prouvost, Slime Engine, Wolfgang Tillmans, and Zheng Bo