Whitestone Gallery is honored to present De/construct, a group exhibition showcasing works by three Asian artists: Tsuyoshi Maekawa, renowned second generation artist of the Japanese Gutai movement, Chinese abstract minimalist Wang Yi and Korean artist Soonik Kwon who captures the essence of time through art practice. Together the artists express their unique interpretations of life and Eastern philosophy, including the aura and energy of life. They deconstruct concepts and avant-garde ideas thus to diversify the way of reading a painting by carrying out unique experiments on artistic practice, gesture and materiality. 

Distinguished artist of the second generation of Gutai Art Association, Tsuyoshi Maekawa(b. 1936, Osaka), makes use of burlap as a signature medium throughout his career. Maekawa’s works have a strong tendency toward abstract expressionism and is known for his incredible use of materials. The artist uses a sewing machine and his hands to intentionally create wrinkles and textures of hemp and burlap canvas: experimentally twisting, cutting, tearing, and shaping the canvas, creating protrusions and void depth, results in unprecedented works that blurred the boundaries between sculpture and painting. His at-the-time innovative methodology encourages the exploration of materiality and abstract concepts. With simple yet powerful lines like tidal currents and vivid colourful tones, Maekawa’s practice reveals rich emotions and avant-garde ideas, opening a dialogue between the artist, viewers, artworks, and the spaces they inhabit, connecting gesture marking, spirit and his philosophy.

Wang Yi (b. 1991) seeks to combine slow and exquisite classical painting techniques, standardized production of industrial materials, modernist design and architectural paradigms to form abstract expressions that illustrate social mechanisms and natural elements. Wang Yi is one of the new generation of Chinese abstract artists. Many of them conceal political or social commentaries in their creations, but those critique and confrontation of the realistic context are rooted in their diverse abstract art language. Wang Yi’s works use symbolic structures, colors, shapes, and materials as a medium to explore the relationship between urban development, ideology, as well as history and nature that we are experiencing; and also to integrate it with China’s unique circumstances, social mechanisms and cultural phenomena and grow new inner meaning.

Korean contemporary artist Soonik Kwon (b. 1959, Seoul) extends the charm and spirit of the Dansaekhwa movement in Korea, tirelessly using minimal “Dots, Lines, and Planes” to study and meditate in his brushwork, depicting every moment ‘as is’ including its aura and energy. Soonik Kwon mixes fine soil with pigments and superimposes a variety of coloration on the canvas to present a bright and vibrant color field. The “Interstate” series shown in this exhibition incorporates the artist’s unique philosophical views towards the relationship and harmony between the accumulation of time and physical space. Presented through the repetition of minimalist gestures that move across the canvas like whispers, viewers are left with a space of silence and contemplation. The gradation of hue and texture changes with the accumulation of brushstrokes on the surface of the painting, indicating the flow of instant moments and the results of the artist’s research.

Opening reception: 4 – 7pm, 6 July (Thursday)

Gallery address: 7-8/F, H Queen’s, 80 Queen’s Road Central