Off-street art: Hong Kong’s Pearl Lam Galleries reveals ’Hidden Street’ show

Street art displayed on the walls of an exhibition room.
Recently opened at Pearl Lam Galleries SoHo outpost in Hong Kong, 'Hidden Street' is a new exhibition of street art on show until mid-September
(Image credit: TBC)

A new exhibition of street art at Pearl Lam's eponymous Hong Kong SoHo gallery is attracting as much interest from surrounding elderly shop owners selling Chinese wares as younger visitors.

The works – by nine Hong Kong-based artists – have been created as part of a community programme to highlight the city's street art culture. Self-taught graffiti artist Bao worked with four other artists to create two large murals that take inspiration from the red, white and blue colours of the neighbourhood. 'Found' artefacts add an interesting collage-like effect, with mahjong tiles representing local birdlife and a Hong Kong post box. 'I don't usually feel comfortable in galleries but here it is totally different because we can do what we want,' Bao explains.

The gallery's ground floor and glass facade present a diverse range of murals and paintings; upstairs, a video documenting the creative process of turning the gallery into a street corner forms a further part of the exhibition.

Canadian artist Peter Yuill was responsible for the show's standout piece – an intricate hand-painted raven inspired by Norse mythology, which took 12 days to create. The artist, who regularly creates work for the likes of Montblanc and Converse, says he enjoyed the experience of painting at a large and 'impactful scale'.

Meanwhile, up-and-coming graffiti artist Sinic's contribution sees an organic fusion of Western and Chinese calligraphy along with advertisement posters he removed from local walls. 'I tried to maintain the back alley urban state so people can see what is happening to the old buildings in the area,' he explains.

In keeping with the spirit of street art, more work will be added later with community workshops and talks also planned in the coming weeks. Visitors can also hit the streets with a provided map showing the nearby locations of more of the artists' works.

A photo of street art displayed on a wall, featuring drawings of fish and a female character.

The works, by nine Hong Kong-based artists, are part of a community programme to highlight the city's nascent street art culture. Pictured: a piece by Cath Love

(Image credit: TBC)

Street art displaying a large drawing with a large eye in the middle of its body and its wings open holding onto a spear.

The standout piece of the show is this work by Canadian freelance artist Peter Yuill. The hand-painted raven was inspired by Norse mythology and took 12 days to create

(Image credit: TBC)

A graffiti street art painting with the words NOT FOR SALE graffit'd as the key words painted onto the image.

Up-and-coming graffiti artist Sinic's contribution is this organic fusion of Western and Chinese calligraphy along with advertisement posters he removed from local walls

(Image credit: TBC)

A multi-coloured (red, white and blue) graffiti street art that displays a neighbourhood .

Self-taught graffiti artist Bao worked with Hadrian Lam, Felipe Wong, Anny and Uns to create two large murals that take inspiration from the red, white and blue colours of the gallery's neighbourhood

(Image credit: TBC)

A street art of a collage-like effect featuring tiles representing local birdlife. Colours include red, orange, white and blue.

'Found' artefacts add an interesting collage-like effect with mahjong tiles representing local birdlife and a Hong Kong post box

(Image credit: TBC)

The gallery's ground floor and glass facade present a diverse range of murals and paintings in dark grey and black.

The gallery's ground floor and glass facade present a diverse range of murals and paintings

(Image credit: TBC)

A predominantly blue piece of artwork made up of lines in a slightly darker blue. Two cartoon style faces are noticeable inside square shapes.

In keeping with the spirit of street art, more work will be added later. Community workshops and talks will also be held

(Image credit: TBC)

A range of cartoon-style characters displayed in an array of colours.

Detail of Cath Love's colourful work

(Image credit: TBC)

A photo of a glass facade with various black lines and graffiti-style marks.

Glass facade piece, by the young street artist 4Get

(Image credit: TBC)

ADDRESS

Pearl Lam Galleries 

Shop No 1 G/F & 1/F 

SOHO 189 

189 Queen’s Road West 

Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

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Catherine Shaw is a writer, editor and consultant specialising in architecture and design. She has written and contributed to over ten books, including award-winning monographs on art collector and designer Alan Chan, and on architect William Lim's Asian design philosophy. She has also authored books on architect André Fu, on Turkish interior designer Zeynep Fadıllıoğlu, and on Beijing-based OPEN Architecture's most significant cultural projects across China.