When the mainstream art market, exhibitions, and galleries are filled with elegant and high-priced artistic creations, have you noticed some subcultural artists quietly rising? These non-mainstream arts refer to artistic creations that have not received formal art training, but precisely because there are no inherent rules and restrictions, these creations are more refreshing to the eye!
Local art gallery The Stallery recently collaborated with the trendy brand Carnaby Fair to host Hong Kong’s first CAP-ART exhibition “SUB9TURE”. The exhibition brings together 7 multimedia artists, including King, Zhang Ziyan, BOMS, DaddyBoy®️, Cynthia Omi, Ding Yue Golden Days, and MUSCHI. Among them are street artists, animators, illustrators, drag performers, and tattoo artists, coming from different backgrounds but all standing out with their unique styles among many artists. Carnaby Fair has also invited these subculture exhibiting artists to create a series of unique and wearable art pieces, allowing them to integrate their rebellious aesthetics into caps, t-shirts, and NFTs.
One of the highlights of this exhibition is definitely the popular local drain cleaner, King Yim Chiu-tong. This time, he walks into Shuisui Street to continue bringing his classic ink treasures to the audience! King Yim is a veteran local drain cleaner who, in order to promote his services, has been riding his motorcycle around various districts leaving behind “King Yim advertisements” for many years. He is hailed as a representative street artist after “Kowloon Emperor Tsang Zou-choi”, and his ink treasures not only have local characteristics but also represent the unique cultural sentiment of Hong Kong.
The founder of The Stallery, Zhang Ziyan, has also exhibited prints and sculptures with a theme of second creation in the past. His works include enhanced advanced visual media, digital platforms, future compositional elements, and strong colors and lines. Although naturally red-green color blind, it has not hindered his creativity, and audiences often see these two colors in his works. The artist likes to incorporate popular cultural elements of today, such as Japanese and Western cartoon characters, into his works, showcasing popular culture through his art. He is not limited by the medium of creation, having created prints, sculptures, calligraphy, embroidery, interactive performance art, and more in the past.
BOMS is a local street artist, and his creations are mostly graffiti. BOMS’ early works were mainly done with plastic colors and canvas. Since he started street dancing in 2008, he has been deeply influenced by hip-hop culture. His interests also affect his creations, so his mural works are full of playful street elements. The themes of his paintings mainly come from local Hong Kong events, and he transforms personal emotions into characters and words, creating a whimsical world of BOMS.
DaddyBoy®️, originally named Fubi Chan, is a local animator who has become successful through self-taught methods. His creative inspiration comes from the famous Cult film director Mù Dūn Fèi of the 1960s, and through his work, he pays tribute to him in an alternative way by reproducing classic scenes from Mù’s films.
Cynthia Omi is a fashion graphic designer and illustrator who has previously been involved in creating movie title illustrations for local films in Hong Kong. She has also created many murals, but now she mainly focuses on tattoo art. Due to her love and curiosity for the flora and fauna of the natural world, her works often incorporate her own fantasies about nature and she uses the characteristics of animals and plants to speak in her art.
Ding Yuejin is an artist who is extremely obsessed with Eastern and Western metaphysical numerology. He incorporates the knowledge of mysticism he has learned into the images and fantasy characters he creates. The Twelve Divinas is a story created by him in “Ri Yue Xuan Ming”. The characters in this series are drawn based on the traditional image of “Da Liu Ren – Twelve Divinas”. The artist’s creative story focuses on shaping the personalities of the 12 characters, with the work permeating the truth of the impermanence of the world.
MUSCHI (formerly known as Wilson) is a drag queen and fashion designer. With a unique aesthetic in clothing, he has designed performance outfits for celebrities such as Lady Gaga and Vincy Chan. In addition, MUSCHI has actively participated in many drag stage performances in the past, and now brings alternative fashion culture to galleries, leaving people eager to see what style and works he will present.
If you are tired of classical paintings, why not visit this exhibition, I believe it will bring you a very fresh exhibition experience!
“SUB9TURE”
Date: November 20, 2021 to February 13, 2022
Time: 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM
Location: The Stallery, G/F, 82A Stone Nullah Lane, Wan Chai
Learn more: The Stallery
