Motif and Material

On the occasion of Art Basel Hong Kong 2017, Tang Contemporary Art presents “Motif and Material”: a group exhibition curated by Bao Dong, an art critic and independent curator based in Beijing. The participating artists deals in their practice, which spans painting, sculpture, installation and photography, with the creation of links between the materials used in the fulfillment of their multi-media and interdisciplinary approaches.
The word “素材” (pronounced “sucai”, now commonly translated as “source material”) originally meant “motif”, the basic elements or theme of a piece of art or design. Addressing a discussion on artists’ methodologies and practices, the exhibition analyzes the implicit relationship between motifs (factors, elements), materials (substance, media) and methods.