Chi Wing Lo: Angels from Infinity

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Kwai Fung Salone is pleased to present its inaugural exhibition, ANGELS FROM INFINITY – Sculptures by Chi Wing Lo.

Chi Wing Lo left Hong Kong more than forty years ago, and now he returns home to share with us his perception of aesthetics, life and civilisation as reflected in this collection of fascinating sculptures. These enchanting works are inspired by his spiritual models whom he calls “angels”, who have guided and accompanied him since his childhood in a small fishing village in east Hong Kong.

These angels of Chi Wing Lo are messengers to inspire questions, cast doubts, stretch limits, define unknowns, and decipher enigmas that may never be decipherable. These angels are here to ignite the love of art and to kindle the graciousness of the soul.

In the words of Chi Wing Lo, “They always come to my rescue and set me free from the mundanity of time and space.

“A long, long time ago, somewhere on the east coast of Hong Kong Island, these angels were tied scrap papers folded to hover in the breeze that smelled of sun-dried fish. They also appeared as rubber band paddle rafts of popsicle sticks navigating dirty waters. I fell and drowned many times to catch them back. They were the angels whose wings I grew to take my days far; they were the angels whose momentum I implanted to propel my childhood through the stillness of the ordinariness.

“When I look back, these and my later angels provided no escape into dreams but discovered a hidden reality. They whispered to me of the existence of another domain, another dimension, another civilisation. They cut a slit, when I least expected it, on my four walls to let in from the horizon the light, the colour, and the infinitude of longing for the beyond. They quietly dismantled my frame of mind, replaced it with a frameless void, and, while I was teetering on the edge of the abyss, they clothed me in that rare lightness with which I could shield away from the cruel solidity of time.

“Many may have thought that these angels are flying machines, inviting us to embark upon journeys of the imagination. Yet, this infinity of time and space is forever a vacuum. It is waiting to be defined, filled in, and experienced afresh by each of us: however visible these angels are when they are about to take off, however tangible they are when they are about to land.

“Others may have suggested that these angels invoke silent musical instruments waiting for the proper musician to play them. This infinity of silence they radiate is another open invitation to each of us to tune into a unique score, a personal song. We would wonder what sound they will produce, where and how to blow them, fiddle them. What frequency will they transmit? Will they be audible to human ears? According to John Keats’ Ode on a Grecian Urn, we still must play them with our eyes to hear the spirit ditties of no sound, as heard melodies are sweet, but sweeter are those which are unheard.

“Still, others may see these angels from an archeological perspective. They would argue in their scientific debate about whether such angelic artifacts had existed but no longer exist, whether they must not have existed but will exist. Some may have even deduced that these intact angelic remains will be from the future, that only in this future period an archeologist digging could identify its unfolding from one infinity to the next. We will be continuously perplexed in exposing ourselves to this extent of exactitude that seamlessly spans past, present and future. These three domains of time we know of suddenly merge and become indistinguishable, no matter how we examine their postures, compositions, materials, or details. These are no angels; they possess a demonic ambivalence that unlocks our finite perception. They want us to contemplate our existence, not just somewhere between the celestial province of GN- z11 and the centre of a sub-atomic particle. They want us to leave behind the burden of time til time cannot find us, til time loses its dimension when confronting timelessness.”

By appointment only. RSVP: rsvp@kwaifunghin.com

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

Recipient of the Worldʼs Outstanding Chinese Designer award in 2015, Chi Wing Loʼs works encompass the fields of architecture, sculpture, interior, furniture and object design. His prolific output has long been recognised, both in and beyond the eminent circle of contemporary Italian design, for its evocativeness in thought, gracefulness in form and meticulousness in every detail.

Raised in Hong Kong, Lo received his master’s degree in architecture from Harvard University with the best thesis prize in 1988. He has taught at the Syracuse University, NY, and was a member of the Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart. Serving as a visiting critic at different universities and a frequent speaker at design events, Lo has a multidisciplinary practice, integrating art, architecture, interior, furniture and object design for exclusive projects in Milan, Athens, London, Istanbul, Dubai, Taipei, Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.