Trevor Yeung:
Hong Kong in Venice
Trevor Yeung:
Hong Kong in Venice
24 Nov 2024
For Hong Kong’s participation in the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, M+ and the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC) co-present a solo presentation by Trevor Yeung (b. 1988). The exhibition is curated by Olivia Chow, Assistant Curator, Visual Art, M+. Yeung’s newly commissioned site-specific presentation takes inspiration from his personal experiences and observations, as well as his preoccupation with aquatic ecosystems. Reflecting on the current climate crisis and the complex systems that structure our lives, the exhibition will explore the emotional disconnects and power dynamics that characterise contemporary society.
This exhibition marks the sixth collaboration between M+ and HKADC for Hong Kong's presence in Venice. In the past five editions, M+ and HKADC co-presented solo exhibitions by five Hong Kong artists: Lee Kit in 2013, Tsang Kin-Wah in 2015, Samson Young in 2017, Shirley Tse in 2019, and Angela Su in 2022—all of which were critically acclaimed and enthusiastically received by international audiences. As with previous editions, an exhibition adapted from the Venice presentation will be shown in Hong Kong at M+ in 2025.
About the Artist
Trevor Yeung (b. 1988, Guangdong) lives and works in Hong Kong. His art excavates the inner logic of human relations. Fascinated by botanic ecology and horticulture, Yeung features carefully staged objects, photographs, animals, and plants in his mixed-media works as aesthetic pretexts to address notions of artificial nature. He often projects emotional and intellectual scenarios onto living substitutes in his work, translating his own social experiences into elaborate fables through which he continues to explore failure and imperfection. Yeung ultimately questions how closed systems contain and create emotional and behavioural conditions.
Portrait of Trevor Yeung. Photo: South Ho, M+, Hong Kong
Yeung has participated in numerous local and international exhibitions, including the Singapore Biennale, Singapore (2022); Kathmandu Triennale, Kathmandu (2022); La Biennale de Lyon, Lyon (2019); EVA International Biennale, Dublin (2018); 4th Dhaka Art Summit, Bangladesh (2018), and the 10th Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai (2015). Yeung has exhibited at institutions locally and internationally, including Gasworks, London (2023); Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris (2022); Tai Kwun Contemporary, Hong Kong (2022); Jameel Arts Center, Dubai (2022); PinchukArtCentre, Kiev (2021); M+, Hong Kong (2021); Shanghai Power Station of Art (2021); Para Site, Hong Kong (2020); and Stiftung Skulpturenpark Köln, Cologne (2020). He is shortlisted for the Sigg Prize (2023); the Future Generation Art Prize (2021); and the BMW Art Journey award (2015).
His artwork is held in the collections of the Centre Pompidou, Paris; Stiftung Skulpturenpark Köln, Cologne; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; Kadist Art Foundation, Paris and San Francisco; FRAC Alsace; and M+, Hong Kong.
About the Curator
Olivia Chow is a curator and artist living in Hong Kong. Currently Assistant Curator, Visual Art, at M+, she works with artists to create exhibitions, publications, and public programmes, including Nalini Malani: In Search of Vanished Blood (2012/2022); Nalini Malani: Vision in Motion (2021); Shirley Tse: Stakes and Holders (2020); and Shirley Tse: Stakeholders, Hong Kong in Venice (2019), Hong Kong’s participation at the 58th International Art Exhibition—La Biennale di Venezia.
Portrait of Olivia Chow. Photo: South Ho, M+, Hong Kong
Chow has been contributing to the building of the visual art collection by managing the inaugural M+ International Council for Visual Art and acquiring works from around Asia and beyond. Prior to joining M+, she worked in various curatorial capacities at Para Site in Hong Kong (2015–2017) and at The Works Art and Design Festival in Edmonton, Canada (2010–2014).
Established in 1995, the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC) is a statutory body set up by the Government to support the broad development of the arts in Hong Kong. Its major roles include grant allocation, policy and planning, advocacy, promotion and development, and special projects. The mission of HKADC is to support and promote the development of 10 major art forms in literary arts, performing arts, visual arts as well as film and media arts in Hong Kong. Aiming to foster a thriving arts environment and enhancing the quality of life of the public, HKADC is also committed to facilitating community-wide participation in the arts and arts education, encouraging arts criticism, raising the standard of arts administration, and contributing on policy research.
Image at top: Trevor Yeung. Couple in bubbles, 2021. Archival inkjet print. 66.7 × 100 cm. Courtesy of the artist. © Trevor Yeung