Dates September 21 – November 15 2018
Venue – Leo Gallery, Hong Kong – See address on Google Maps
Huang Yan's Tattoo Utopia has arrived at Leo Gallery in Hong Kong.
The show has previously been on display at such distinguished venues as the National Art Museum of China, the Louvre in Paris and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
The artist mixes photography, body painting and performance to create a stunning and unmissable event.
Many consider the artist's body paint works to be performance art as well as static pieces. That's because as the subject moves their body, new forms and shapes are created. This extends the metaphor of change and dynamism so prevalent in Chinese landscape painting.
A little-known fact about the painting is that it's actually done by Huang Yan's wife, Zhang Tiemei.
Much of the power of Huang Yan's work comes from the fact that nudity is often still highly taboo in China. The artist says he doesn't aim to mindlessly cause a stir but that his main aim is to challenge China to move old ideas towards modernity.
Huang Yan was born in 1966 in Jilin in the northeast of China. Growing up here, he was strongly influenced by the stunning mountains of Jilin and that's clear to see in the works on display here. Although he is now an accomplished visual artist, he was originally a poet.
Photography by Luke Bowles.