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Chronos Trilogy Artist: Warren Carther Location: Lincoln House
A suite of three magnificent glass works of art, created by Canadian artist Warren Carther. Made of abrasive-blast-carved glass, each piece is painted with translucent paint and partially laminated to produce different optical effects by reflecting light in different ways. The effect is breathtaking!
The sculptures represent the past, present and future and are respectively named "Vestige", "Sea of Time" and "Approach of Time". Carther feels that time has a special quality in Hong Kong and his interpretation of this is found in each work. For example, the "Sea of Time" on the West side of the lobby represents the seamless passage of time from the past to the future, the sea analogy sharing a visual rhythm with the relentless advance of time. The final piece, the "Approach of Time", on the North East corner, shows the prow of a boat above the plan form of a boat's hull. The vessel represents a journey into the future while making reference to the Taikoo Dockyards of the past.
The three works were especially designed to integrate with the environment and created over 12 months in Carther's Winnipeg studio. The 25 ton commission includes the tallest free standing glass sculpture in the world - standing 13 metres high.
Warren Carther lives and works in Winnipeg, and his work is to date comparatively rare in Asia, even in North America. The Canadian embassy in Tokyo boasts one striking piece but the finest, by and large are to be found in Manitoba or Ontario. His work, however, has received notable awards in America as well as Canada and has been exhibited in Europe and Canada.
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Ad Infinitum IE and Ad Gloriam Artist: Zoya Frolova Location: Oxford House
Exquisite works by the world acclaimed Russian painter Zoya Frolova, two monumental paintings, entitled Ad Infinitum IE (literally meaning "without limit") and Ad Gloriam ("glory forever"), enliven the surrounding with their dramatic and superbly crafted images.
Ad Infinitum IE measures two metres high and six metres long, while Ad Gloriam measures four by four metres. In the two paintings, the ancient tales of flight, "Icarus" and "Horus" are explored and inter-woven into new visions of struggle and triumph by Frolova, who has been known for her unique application of ancient languages and mythologies in her works. Expressed in warm, vivid tones of orange and red, the paintings present Frolova's distinctive technique of applying glaze and varnish in rich layers. Both are stencilled with Latin phrases to further convey universal allegories of life and achieve greater depth and meaning.
Born in the Ukraine, Frolova studied monumental painting in the former Soviet Union. Her work was first shown in the U.S. in 1989 and for the past ten years, she has lived in New York. Frolova was in a group exhibition at the China Club, Hong Kong in 1990, and her paintings are in private collections throughout the world.
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Golden Pine Artist: Makoto Fujimura Location: Oxford House
A masterpiece by the internationally renowned American-Japanese artist, Makoto Fujimura, Golden Pine, which measures 7 metres by 5 metres, is painted with the traditional technique of Nihonga (literally meaning "Japanese painting"). It uses mineral pigments from semi-precious stones such as azurite, malachite and cinnabar, as well as thousands of gold and silver leaves and hundred-year-old sumi ink, applied on mulberry-gampi paper and laid over synthetic canvas.
Golden Pine is a site-specific work that interacts with and enhances its immediate physical environment of Oxford House. The painting echoes the reflection of the trees from the adjacent plaza in the massive glass wall at the base of the building and seems to produce a golden light of its own to respond to the late afternoon sun that illuminates it. In its aesthetic and material nature, Golden Pine also symbolizes the interaction of the traditions of the East and the West.
Fujimura lives and works in New York, where he has shown his artpieces at the Soho-based Dillon Gallery. His paintings are included in virtually every museum exhibition of contemporary Nihonga in Japan and he has had a two-part museum retrospective in Tokyo. His work hangs permanently in the famed Asian art collection of the St. Louis Art Museum as well as in many museums in Japan.
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The Watcher Artist: David Williams-Ellis Location: Oxford House
Gracing the lobby of Oxford House, the Watcher features a life-sized figure squatting on top of a pillar in the poise of a man contemplating and serenely watching over the passers-by. A magnificent contemporary bronze by the world acclaimed Welsh sculptor David Williams-Ellis, the sculpture measures 3.2 metres high and weighs half a ton.
David Williams-Ellis has pursued an international career of exhibiting and fulfilling prestigious commissions for more than fifteen years. A master of his medium, Williams-Ellis fashions his sculptures with a vigour and dynamism which recalls the romantic power of Rodin or Bourdelle and the more classical renaissance tradition of Italy where he trained. Now living and working between London, Wales and the North of England, he enjoys an artistic reputation for creating magnificent life-sized works, portrait pieces and contemporary figure bronzes for collectors from as far away as Europe, the United States and Japan.
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City Shadow I & II Artist: Allen Jones R. A. Location: Tong Chong Street, TaiKoo Place
Representing the vibrant, hustling and bustling of the Island Easters in abstract forms and bold colours, City Shadow is the second site-specific masterpiece created by Allen Jones R. A. for Swire Properties, following the completion of Two to Tango in 1997 now erected in the lobby of Dorset House and Devon House in TaiKoo Place. The pair of stunning outdoor sculptures (City Shadow I - female and City Shadow II - male), each weighs 2.5 tonnes and 4 metres high, are made of welded corten steel and painted in burgundy red with yellow trim.
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Suspense and Subjectivity Artist: Lincoln Seligman Location: Warwick House
Warwick House - West Linkbridge
A "trompe l'oeil" comprising three panels and a floating gold coloured "ingot" which continues down to the floor against the supporting existing architectural column.
Warwick House - East Linkbridge
A three dimensional artwork formed of three large panels each approximately five metres high by five metres wide, each panel painted in metallic base colours with pigment overlay. Superimposed on each panel is a floating red coloured "splash".
By British artist, Lincoln Seligman, these majestic murals are designed on a theme of red and gold panels which draw reference from gold taels, representing all that is precious and valuable, thereby adding immeasurably to the positive "Fung Shui" of the building. The rich glow which they emit gives a very positive and distinctive welcome to Warwick House.
Lincoln Seligman graduated from Oxford and has held one man shows in New York and London. His commissions grace the buildings and collections of the BBC, British Airports Authority, Broadgate, SmithKline Beecham, and the Berkeley Hotel among others.
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