Kowloon Kickass

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Led by the legendary pioneer of the urban artscape, hip hop, and street graffiti artist Syan, ‘MC Yan’, Kowloon Kickass is an exhibition curated by Prof Kevin Tsui on the ‘Kowloon Emperor phenomenon’ – his iconic calligraphy graffitied all over Kowloon was first known for its spirit of rebellion, and it remains as the emblem of local Hong Kong visual culture in perpetuity through derivative art.

By showcasing Syan’s re-creation of calligraphy by the ‘Kowloon Emperor’, this exhibition is an artistic response to the culture of ‘piggybacking’. Kowloon Kickass is a sequel to the free 7,482,000 NFT collectibles of Tsang’s HKID card Being Kowloon Emperor Syan and Prof Kevin Tsui launched on April Fool’s Day this year. Syan also painted on the spot on 6th June and interpreted the spirit of Kowloon Kickass.

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

Syan ‘MC Yan’, was named the ‘First Graffiti artist in Asia’ by TIME magazine. In comparison to his English name ‘Syan’, the rapper’s stage name ‘MC Yan’ is more familiar to Hongkongers. In 1990, he studied in France and graduated from the College Art and Design Talm-Tours, focusing on conceptual art. Since the mid-1990s, he had participated in street graffiti art around Europe and the United States. Conversely, in 1997, he returned to Hong Kong and founded the first local graffiti art team named CEA.

Syan’s works have been shown in numerous art exhibitions, including the 1st Pearl River Delta contemporary art exhibition City Slang in 2001, Hong Kong’s first-ever street art exhibition in Hong Kong 852 Whorehaus in 2002, the opening exhibition of streetwear store Leftfoot in Taipei in 2007, Laser Tagging at London’s Tate Gallery in 2008, and ‘King Kowloon' Tsang Tsou-choi in Hong Kong in 2011, the Kung Fu Wildstyle at the Lincoln Center in 2013 and the Smithsonian Museum in 2017 etc. In collaboration with Yan Lei and Fu Jie, the installation art International Channel co-created by Syan has been in the M+ museum collection since 2013.