Rossi & Rossi is pleased to announce Dark, the gallery’s second solo exhibition of the work of Szelit Cheung (b. 1988). The Hong Kong artist carefully layers shades of orange, green and blue to produce meticulous spatial compositions on canvas that both define darkness and make viewers aware of it. Opening on 18 November, the presentation features new paintings that extend Cheung’s ongoing investigation into the essence of emptiness and void.

Buttressed by minimalistic interiors, the artist’s paintings trace the illumination of a space by a single light source, often through a window, a skylight or an opening in a wall. Cheung fixates on light: the basic element that makes up the human visual perception of dimensions. The luminosity in his works directs the viewer’s gaze to identify structures, whilst the perpetual ray of light in the frame halts the sense of time. This stillness – in which one’s mind finds comfort to linger – is akin to the state of encountering the sublime. In the exhibition’s forthcoming catalogue, art historian and curator Penny Dan Xu likens Cheung’s ‘negative images’ to Japanese architect Kengo Kuma’s ‘negative architecture’, in which structure is similarly unsubstantial, and meanings are not constructed through symbolic or narrative representation. Rather, Cheung’s works urge the audience to be present in order to build a reciprocal relationship in the viewing experience.

The thematic focus of Dark arises from the artist’s continual attempts to capture the essence of the void. Taking a turn from highlighting the sense of void and emptiness through complex architectural forms, the paintings in Dark are simpler in their composition, near the point of abstraction. Structural features, such as corners, openings and walls, still exist, but they dissolve into rudimentary forms and fade into a complex depth of colours. In this way, Cheung’s works straddle the line between figuration and abstraction, leaving viewers to decide what they see. 

Gallery address: 11/F, M Place, 54 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Wong Chuk Hang