Gallery Visit and Afternoon Tea at The Repulse Bay
For a languorous change of pace, join us for a gallery visit with the artist Shen Ping followed with a classic afternoon tea at The Repulse Bay!
The Executive Committee is pleased to organize a visit to Artspace K, a newly established gallery in The Repulse Bay dedicated to promoting works by contemporary artists. Their current exhibition Remember Them? Old Businesses in Hong Kong through Eyes of Artists features four renowned Hong Kong artists from different generations and creative styles — Au Yeung Nai Chim, Shen Ping, Cassian Lau and Wai Wai. Their works celebrate the city’s long-forgotten and disappearing businesses from the 1960s and 1970s. Evoking nostalgia with every stroke, their creations of seemingly ordinary and everyday Hong Kong scenes take viewers on a journey through the city’s history and the craftsmen, merchants and shopkeepers who played key roles in its social and economic life.
After the visit, we will meander to The Verandah at The Repulse Bay for a classic afternoon tea with sandwiches, savoury pastries, homemade scones with clotted cream and assorted tea cakes. Over a brew of selected Peninsula tea and in the gracious setting of the former hotel, we can enjoy the beautiful sea view and remember once more the colours and sights of old Hong Kong.
About the Artists
Au Yeung Nai Chim was born in Xinhui, Guangdong in 1931. Au settled in Hong Kong at the age of seven. An art lover since childhood, he taught himself various types of art and media, including drawing, sketching and watercolour. For more than 70 years, he has persisted in sketching outdoors, with his footprints covering many parts of Hong Kong and China. In the mid-1990s, he spent five years setting foot in every corner of Hong Kong, producing nearly 2,000 sketches along the way. With his keen observation, he captures the urban scenes of Hong Kong, showcasing the city’s transition between periods in history and its unique blend of the old and the new. A strong Hong Kong sentiment is embodied in his works, a document of Hong Kong people’s shared memories. An outstanding Hong Kong painter, his works have also been collected by the Hong Kong Museum of Art, the Hong Kong Heritage Museum and the National Art Museum of China.
Shen Ping was born in Beijing in 1947 and raised in Shanghai. Shen went to Urumqi, Xinjiang in 1963 for work related to fine art. He furthered his studies at Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in 1974 and settled in Hong Kong in 1980. Shen Ping is specialised in watercolour, oil painting and Chinese ink painting. He finds Hong Kong a charming place and has travelled the streets and alleys to capture all aspects of the local culture. His goal is to record historical changes with his paint brushes, telling the details of Hong Kong people’s lives, using these ordinary moments as a way to draw viewers into the spirit of the era depicted. His works have been collected by the Hong Kong Museum of Art, the Hong Kong Heritage Museum and the National Art Museum of China.
Cassian Lau was born in Hong Kong in 1968 and moved to Canada with his family when he was five years old. In the mid-1990s, shortly after graduating from university, he moved back to Hong Kong and started a successful fashion retail business. However, he wanted to realise his artistic vision and decided to devote himself full-time to his art. His works present a pop art style, with cartoon characters or animals making regular appearances in bright, vivid colours that are contagiously joyful and positive. He hopes that people can discover something new every time they look at his work, as this is what makes art memorable and everlasting.
Wai Wai was born in Yau Ma Tei, Hong Kong and graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts with a film major in Creative Media from City University of Hong Kong. As a story lover, she loves visiting small shops in different industries in Hong Kong to get inspiration. In addition to documenting their daily activities with watercolour paintings, Wai Wai also likes to incorporate their individual stories into her works. In recent years, she has devoted herself to illustration, iron-gate painting, mural painting, teaching and silhouette work. She said, “Drawing is a bridge that helps us see beyond ourselves and to get to know others and the community we live in. It is amazing to see that small shop owners appreciate their shops from another perspective through my works.”