The Come Together Show: Paintings & Photos in the Fringe Collection

Exhibition on view by appointment: https://bit.ly/3LN1DMR

 

“He say I know you, you know me

One thing I can tell you is you got to be free” - The Beatles

 

The artworks on show in this exhibition have been collected over the past 40 years.

 

One part of the exhibition features commissioned works, while another part is primarily made up of works that mark some decisive moments in the life of the Fringe.  Collectively they reflect, in one way or another, the purpose and reason of our being as an open arts platform during these years, supporting emergent artists, in whatever ways we could, to participate in forging a cultural identity for Hong Kong.

 

This exhibition can also been seen as a retrospective in two parts.  The first part comprises 13 commissioned works made between 1986 and 2011 by the following artists, in chronological order: Yeung Tong-lung, Chris Lo Sze-lim, Wong Shun-kit, Carolyn Fok, Leung Mee-ping, Ng Yuen-wa (Ching-wa), Esther Liu, Kith Tsang, Yuen Nim-chi, Wong Yan-kwai, Lam Tian-xing, Tsang Chui-mei and Chau Shik-hung.  The leitmotif here is the Fringe Club building, about which the artists were asked to make their own interpretations.

 

These artworks first appeared on the covers of some of our Fringe Festival and City Festival Programme Guides and became the key visual images for our promotional materials.  The main purpose was to raise people’s awareness of the visual arts at a time when only a handful of art galleries existed, and only a few of them showed the works of local artists.  A secondary purpose was to give recognition and financial support to the individual artists.

 

The second part of the exhibition comprises works by Antonio Mak, Frog King, Phillip Hui and others.  Some of the works were created by the artists at a seminal stage in their artistic development.  They also recapture the times of the thriving Rooftop Arts Studio, Frog King’s dynamic appearance at the Venice Biennale, the major revamp of the Fringe Gallery, and other significant moments.

 

On a certain level, the achievements of these individual artists mirror the progression that the visual arts have made so far in our city.  We believe that the visual arts flourished because they could, in an environment that is supportive, open and free.  Imagination, a key ingredient of innovation and creativity, should be able to soar unfettered, without fears and repercussions.  It is our hope that this will be allowed to continue.

 

Hong Kong Fringe Club