January is usually a relatively quiet month for art in Hong Kong but not so at Pearl Lam’s eponymous Pedder Street gallery where the local gallerist is showing a solo exhibition of 16 works by artist Dale Frank.
One of the Australia’s most successful international artists, Frank is renowned for his manipulation of wildly different materials, pouring, melting and folding paint, chemicals, varnish, and resin to create intricate kaleidoscopic abstract images that are part painting, collage and sculpture. ‘It is not important to me if the image is flat or extends so far out from the wall that it touches the floor', he says. Indeed, in the past some of his works have literally slowly slipped off the canvas to create hypnotic stalactite-like goopy forms.
’His homeless eyes left you legless’, 2016, colour resin in liquid glass on Perspex
One of the most intriguing transformative pieces on show is, He had the personality of duck fat, comprising a large Perspex base upon which the artist has sculptured compression foam into a moon surface-like landscape before adding a layer of plutonium so that it glows an eerie green in the dark. The artist says he always adds the title after the works leave the studio. ‘I write a story and then move the lines and text around, breaking it up. I then divide it up according to the number of paintings,’ he explains.
’The English have a way with Trifle’, 2016, oxygenated fire retardant foam in liquid glass on Perspex
Sometimes, however, the seemingly random name fits the image surprisingly well, as with The English have a way with Trifle (above), where oxygenated fire retardant foam on liquid glass interacts with oxygen to create a surreal pink and burnished gold landscape.
All the works were created during 2016, so even familiar-looking pieces reflect Frank’s newest explorations. For instance, his trademark colour resin swirls are now layered on reflective liquid glass creating a mirrored effect that reflects the image of the viewer. ‘Everyone wants to be the centre of the world at the moment so why not make them the centre of the art?’ Frank asks with a laugh.
Filling his hollow hours with platitudes, 2016
From left, The English have a way with trifle, 2016; and He ended up running a wallpaper shop just outside, 2016
Grasshoppers as a term of affection, 2016
His death constantly nibbled at his future promise, 2016; and A face like two aged swollen testicles, 2016
INFORMATION
’Dale Frank’ is on view until 9 March. For more information, visit the Pearl Lam Galleries website
ADDRESS
Pearl Lam Galleries
601-605 Hong Kong Pedder Building
12 Pedder Street
Central
-
The Bombardier Global 8000 flies faster and higher to make the most of your time in the airA wellness machine with wings: Bombardier’s new Global 8000 isn’t quite a spa in the sky, but the Canadian manufacturer reckons its flagship business jet will give your health a boost
-
A former fisherman’s cottage in Brittany is transformed by a new timber extensionParis-based architects A-platz have woven new elements into the stone fabric of this traditional Breton cottage
-
New York's members-only boom shows no sign of stopping – and it's about to get even more nicheFrom bathing clubs to listening bars, gatekeeping is back in a big way. Here's what's driving the wave of exclusivity
-
This Gustav Klimt painting just became the second most expensive artwork ever sold – it has an incredible backstorySold by Sotheby’s for a staggering $236.4 million, ‘Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer’ survived Nazi looting and became the key to its subject’s survival
-
Meet Eva Helene Pade, the emerging artist redefining figurative paintingPade’s dreamlike figures in a crowd are currently on show at Thaddaeus Ropac London; she tells us about her need ‘to capture movements especially’
-
Maggi Hambling at 80: what next?To mark a significant year, artist Maggi Hambling is unveiling both a joint London exhibition with friend Sarah Lucas and a new Rizzoli monograph. We visit her in the studio
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekThis week, the Wallpaper* editors curated a diverse mix of experiences, from meeting diamond entrepreneurs and exploring perfume exhibitions to indulging in the the spectacle of a Middle Eastern Christmas
-
Artist Shaqúelle Whyte is a master of storytelling at Pippy Houldsworth GalleryIn his London exhibition ‘Winter Remembers April’, rising artist Whyte offers a glimpse into his interior world
-
‘Sit, linger, take a nap’: Peter Doig welcomes visitors to his Serpentine exhibitionThe artist’s ‘House of Music’ exhibition, at Serpentine Galleries, rethinks the traditional gallery space, bringing in furniture and a vintage sound system
-
Classic figurative painting is given a glamorous and ghostly aura by Polish artist Łukasz StokłosaThe gothic meets the glamorous in Stokłosa’s works, currently on show at London’s Rose Easton gallery
-
What's the story with Henni Alftan’s enigmatic, mysterious paintings? The artist isn’t sayingParis-based artist Henni Alftan's familiar yet uncanny works are gloriously restrained. On the eve of a Sprüth Magers exhibition in Berlin, she tells us why
