Yes, but is it art?

Hey – if Chin Tangerine can be an artist….

There will be a formal, official, definitive announcement after Easter, but while everything is winding down for the forthcoming four-day weekend, here is advance notice of Homage’ – Collages by Hemlock, an exhibition of collages to be held at Zee Stone Gallery on Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong (opposite the old police station) in mid-May. The on-line display linked to above is provisional. The exact choice of pictures, which will be in the form of limited-edition, signed prints, is yet to be finalized, as are the picture sizes, which will probably vary from as small as 1ft by 2ft to a heftier 4ft by 4ft, or even more. Prices are also not yet decided, but they will be affordable and the proceeds will go to a worthy cause. More on all of this in due course, you can be sure.

Doubters and skeptics say people won’t want a picture of Rita Fan on their wall. They are wrong. Some of the smaller works, like this, taken from the old Hemlock’s Diary days, would – I believe in all modesty – grace any bathroom, providing plenty for the viewer to sit and contemplate. A gift that goes on giving. The bigger ones, of which this partial close-up is an example, would be perfect for a luxury apartment on the Peak, an otherwise plain corner of a trendy sushi restaurant or the reception area of a Chief Executive candidate’s election campaign office. The possibilities are endless.

As for that question… It all depends. A quick search on Google suggests that we are talking about “The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.” (What? No mention of future gains in investment value?) It’s in the eye of the beholder, obviously. I like to think of these works as, at least, souvenirs of a particular time and place.

More gratuitous, laborious plugs to follow.

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7 Responses to Yes, but is it art?

  1. Smedley Tangbottom III says:

    It’s amazing what you can do on a computer with the cut-and-paste and rotate-image functions combined with a set of fingers apparently not yet affected by repetitive stress syndrome. You might get a bit more cash, though, if you can persuade Tracey Emin to come and piss all over them.

  2. John says:

    “I can’t believe you morons actually buy this shit” (Banksy)

  3. Lady Mar M'lud says:

    I meets lots of lawyer down in Wanchai. Good luck honey!

    Appropriation – defined at s.73(4) of the Crimes Act 1958 as the assumption of any of the owners rights. It does not have be all the owner’s rights, as long as at least one right has been assumed(Stein v Henshall). If the owner gave their consent to the appropriation there cannot be an appropriation(Baruday v R). However, if this consent is obtained by deception, this consent is vitiated.
    Property – defined at s.71(1) of the Crimes Act 1958 as being both tangible property, including money and intangible property. Information has been held not be property(Oxford v Moss).
    Belonging to another – s.73(5) that property belongs to another if that person has ownership, possession, or a proprietary interest in the property. Property can belong to more than one person. s.73(9) & s.73(10) deal with situations where the accused receives property under an obligation or by mistake.

  4. Mary Hinge says:

    Rita Fan really went to college?

  5. Tiu Fu Fong says:

    First, the wives of merchant bankers had their “art” hung in galleries and I said nothing, for I was not the wife of a merchant banker…

  6. Phil Haddon-Cave says:

    About 10, 15 years ago, when Photoshop and other design applications became popular, a new art form presented itself: computer art. It was a very pretty sort of decorative art: neat, clean, slightly surrealistic. And totally impersonal. Quite suitable as poster-art, to fill up a blank space here or there. But it didn’t have a soul. It didn’t stir, it didn’t question or emote. It was. essentially, wall paper.

    I don’t know what Hemlock’s artistic ambitions are -maybe the title of the article is a pointer that he is taking the P***- but I hope they are not too high, never mind the ‘charity’ aspect.

  7. Small Lychee says:

    Hong Kong has got talents ! I appreciate these fun but thoughtful works indeed. Go on!

    “Small Lychee”

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