Shugoarts

TEPPEI KANEUJI, KESANG LAMDARK, LEE KIT
Material Analysis
15 November – 20 December 2014

ShugoArts is pleased to present “MATERIAL ANALYSIS” a three-person exhibition featuring Teppei Kaneuji, Kesang Lamdark and Lee Kit.

While Kaneuji, Lamdark and Lee have emerged from different cultural and geographical contexts, they show similarities in their approaches to and sense of material. While their thought process may differ, their choices of material are all informed by a clear understanding of how to convey their intentions.

Teppei Kaneuji creates artworks that turn formless masses into something tactile, emphasizing their physical existence. A liquid hardens giving shape to a work, an everyday object is covered in powder, creating a juxtaposition between the light powder and the object itself and thereby creating confusion in the mind of the viewer as to whether the powder in itself is the object. Recently, he has also worked on theatrical productions, using prints and paintings as materials themselves.

Kesang Lamdark is of Tibetan heritage but was born in India. He grew up in Switzerland, studied art in New York and now lives back in Zurich. Exploring his insider/outsider relationship with Tibet, he uses materials close to hand, such as plastic, empty cans and sometimes garbage, and tries to come to terms with Tibet and its culture in order to get a sense of his own identity. One senses that the works are established in the same ways as Tibet itself – within the gaps allowed by the constant presence of a neighbor. The works of Kesang Lamdark in the exhibition are courtesy of Rossi & Rossi, London and Hong Kong.

Lee Kit was born and raised in Hong Kong, but is now based in Taipei. Like the other two artists, he uses only materials available close at hand, including cotton fabric and cardboard. He takes logos, packages or television commercial song lyrics from the kind of famous cosmetics brands that everyone has heard of, or familiar striped or checked patterns, and recreates them in deliberately subtle pastel colors. Recently he has also presented installations using projectors, in which he presents both painted images of objects and the object themselves, thereby blurring the line between image and reality. The artworks don’t appear immediately as such, but instead have the ability to slip incognito into everyday life and subtly subvert our sense of normal.

We invite you to come and witness for yourself these talented artists’ careful choices of materials and the thoughts that inform them.

Teppei Kaneuji Born 1978 in Kyoto. In 2003 completed a graduate degree in sculpture at Kyoto City University of the Arts. Major solo exhibitions include “Towering Something” at Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, and K11, Shanghai (2013-14); “Melting City / Empty Forest” at Yokohama Museum of Art (2009); and, “Metamorphosis: Objects Today Vol. 6′′ at Gallery αM, Tokyo (2009).

Kesang Lamdark Born 1963 in India, resides in Switzerland. Completed his BFA at Parsons School of Design, New York, in 1995 and his MFA at Columbia University, New York, in 1997. Major solo exhibitions include “Headless Disco on Top of The World” at Grieder Contemporary, Zurich (2013) and “Son of Rimpoche” at Rossi & Rossi, London (2011).

Lee Kit Born 1978 in Hong Kong, resides in Taiwan. Studied for Master of Fine Art at the Fine Art Department, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006-2008. Represented Hong Kong at the 55th Venice Biennale 2013. Major solo exhibitions include: S.M.A.K., Ghent, Belgium (scheduled for 2015); ‘You.’, curated by M+ and West Kowloon Cultural District at the Cattle Depot, Hong Kong (2014); and “Every Breath You Take” at Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China (2012).