Photographs by Alvin Mak and Dana Shek
18th – 29th May 2010
Slowear Gallery, G/F, Fringe Club
2 Lower Albert Road, Central, Hong Kong
Opening Hours: Mon – Sat, Noon-10pm
Summary
Urban Abstractions explores the fundamental aesthetics of the urban surroundings in precise detail. Lines of architecture meander across space; their shapes are bent and twisted by glass façades. While their walls shed skin and reveal tree-ring history of undercoats. The series of images are then juxtaposed to assemble a distilled impression of the city.
Alvin Mak is from Hong Kong and has been photographing since childhood. Dana Shek has her origins in Hong Kong but was born in Scotland. She has resided in Hong Kong since 2000. They have exhibited in UK, Hong Kong, Beijing and Korea.
Introduction
Urban Abstractions progressed from the exploration of Urban Impressions. While Impressions draw material from the marks and activities of the streets, Abstractions take a graphical approach to examine the city.
"Every place has a unique brand of look and feel. A few tell-tale details often trigger the memory of the larger context. Hong Kong is a special place that contains a concentrated blend of structures from various eras. I am thrilled to see the wide variety of elements. The diversity allows great freedom to tune the tones, texture and composition.” Alvin Mak
Dana recalls her experience while she was out on a shoot, “While working on the wall series, an elderly man approached me as I photographed the gray wall near his outdoor barber shop. He was bemused at first wondering why a wall would draw my attention, but he went on to recall that 10 years ago the wall was painted bright red and before that blue because of the various owners. Now all the colours are covered up by a layer of grey cement. I was drawn by the colours and textures but the association with the old barber and his simple story gave the walls an identity beyond the surface quality". Dana Shek
Urban Abstractions explores the fundamental aesthetics of the urban surroundings in precise detail. Lines of architecture meander across space; their shapes are bent and twisted by glass façades. While their walls shed skin and reveal tree-ring history of undercoats. The series of images are then juxtaposed to assemble a distilled impression of the city.
Biography of Dana Shek
Dana’s parents are from the grass islands off Sai Kung, Hong Kong and they immigrated to Scotland in the 70's where she was born. In 2000, after graduating from Multi-Media Textiles Design, she moved to Hong Kong to experience a different pace of life.
The multi-media textile training has influenced her aesthetics. Looking through the lens, her instinct is to compose by colour, surface pattern and texture. The interest for photography began with a Polaroid obsession during her university years. She would capture everyday subjects from friends and family to the mundane. Now the focus has shifted to include street life, new surroundings and experimental studio work.
The move to Hong Kong has brought many new ideas into her life, and has perhaps taught her to re-examine upon past ideas and subjects with new perspectives.
Biography of Alvin Mak
Alvin was born in 1974, into a family of engineers in Hong Kong. When he was little, he dreamt of becoming an inventor. At the age of six, he received his first 35mm Praktica camera from his mother and began to learn photography. His studies took him to Canada where his interest in art was encouraged through his school years.
Though ironically, his own inclinations were mechanical and he was trained as a mechanical engineer. He went to the University of Canterbury in New Zealand for university, where he studied subjects such as descriptive geometry, fluid dynamics, kinetics and kinematics – science that deals with matter, forces, space and motion. After graduation in 1998, he returned to Hong Kong develop his career. His work allowed travel to various parts of industrial China. Reflecting on the contrast of between cities and cultures, he decided to explore his growing interest in art.
His works examine the persona of the city, by the study of her distinctive marks, and the observation of her activity. As with a person, he believes each city and culture has its own arrangement of shape, color, space and motion.
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