MOU PROJECTS is pleased to present "Pomegranate," Pocono Zhao Yu's first solo exhibition with the gallery as well as in Hong Kong. Drawing inspiration from her childhood memories, textual research, and fictional narratives, the works featured in the exhibition revolve around the history of the pomegranate, the Age of Discovery, as well as the intertextuality of cultural motifs throughout human discoveries. Presenting Zhao's most recent installations, sculptures, and paintings, the story in "Pomegranate" unfolds through three interrelated chapters—"Voyage," "Retrospect," and "Childhood"—to chart the artist's own reflections on mobility, nostalgia, and personal history.

Greeting the viewers at the entrance of the exhibition is the sculpture series Explosive Juice of Reef (2023) scattered on the floor, which comprises numerous mixed-media pomegranate blossoms sprouting on dozens of stones made of industrial materials. A bizarre visual combination in itself—the organic growing on the inorganic—the work subtly hints on the theme of the first chapter "Voyage": the unknown expedition and the alienated transculturation that coexists with it. Occupying an entire wall of the exhibition space is a dual-color wallpaper depicting the historic discovery of the American continent by European navigators in the 15th century. The embedded readymade image is borrowed from a set of 15th-century prints titled Americae Retectio (The Discovery of America) (ca. 1589), in which navigator Amerigo Vespucci stands on a ship with a broken center mast, the sun slowly rises over the horizon, and mythic gods and sea creatures roam the surrounding ocean. In this exhibition narrative about voyages, the work alludes to the double-sided results of migration, pursuit, and conquest in the Age of Discovery, depicting the fear and desire under the guidance of the sun and the summons of the "new world."

Opening reception: 2-6pm, 5 August

Gallery address: 202, The Factory, 1 Yip Fat Street, Wong Chuk Hang