In this online symposium, the speakers will reflect on questions of art and social media and the Hong Kong "art diaspora," before and after 2019. The discussion will revolve around Hong Kong's art history since the 19th Century, the contemporary situation of Hong Kong art and artists abroad, and, in particular, artist Justin Wong's Daily Wish series and Hong Kong Book series.
Justin Chiu-tat Wong is London-based comics artist with more than ten years of experience in the industry. He started his illustrated career as a political cartoonist and editorial illustrator in 2007 and gained recognition for his daily political cartoon column, Gei Gei Gaak Gaak, which was first published in the popular Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao.
Wong has authored several graphic novels, including Lonely Planet, Hello World, That City, New Hong Kong, Big Time, and Je preferais ne, which have been published in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and France. In addition to his contributions to the world of comics, Wong served also as an Assistant Professor at the Academy of Visual Arts at Hong Kong Baptist University. His research interests include generative comics and the political cartoon movement in Hong Kong.
In December 2019, Abby Chen was appointed the Head of Contemporary Art at the Asian Art Museum. Chen manages the museum's contemporary art team, oversees an expanding contemporary art program, and forges partnerships with local and international artists. Prior to this, Chen was the Curator and Artistic Director at the Chinese Culture Foundation of San Francisco where she transforms the organization into an open and process-driven platform for contemporary art practice. She initiated the Xian Rui/Fresharp Artist Excellence Series since 2008, the first of its kind supporting mid-career artists of Chinese descent in US. In 2010, she organized the Gender Identity Symposium, a multi-city forum in Guangzhou, Beijing, and Shanghai, followed by the 2011 exhibition WOMEN 我們 (Shanghai, San Francisco, and Miami). Her most recent project is social-practice based experiments with artists including Lam Tung-pang, Summer Meiling Lee, and Xu Tan.
Abby's other curatorial ventures include Moment For Ink, challenging nationalism and sexism in traditional Chinese painting. The exhibition opened in various sites including Asian Art Museum, San Francisco State University, and traveled to Zhejiang Art Museum in China. She curated and loaned her exhibition to Yerba Buena Center For the Arts and Museum of Chinese in America in New York. Abby was the National Endowment for the Humanities 2012 Summer Scholar. She holds a Master of Arts in Visual and Critical Studies.
This event is organized by Global Hong Kong Studies @ University of California.