Asia Art Weekly News Bulletin – ISSUE 30 Week of 1 September 2025
(1) Hong Kong Debut Exhibition “Light Lingers in Gentle Skies” Explores Tech-Art Symbiosis
Artist Dawn Jian’s HK debut (Light Lingers in Gentle Skies, Aug 30-Sep 27) merges AI/digital art with traditional techniques, exploring screen addiction. Features interactive labs responding to SAR’s arts-for-wellness policies.
(2) Hong Kong photographer Lean Lui on ‘Girl’s Universe’ and the power of femininity
Hong Kong photographer Lean Lui explores femininity and power in her hazy, cinematic ‘Girl’s Universe’ series. Self-taught and internationally exhibited, she balances commercial work with fine art, drawing from life and Taoist philosophy.
(3) Korean design takes center stage as Design Miami opens first Asian edition
Design Miami’s Seoul debut (Illuminated, Sept 1–14) spotlights 170+ Korean/international works at DDP. Merging hanji paper, horsehair, and industrial materials, the show redefines craft through $72K+ collectibles, marking Korea’s design rise.
(4) Min Chiu Society at 65: Hong Kong’s connoisseurs bring their greatest treasures to HKMoA’s art exhibition
The Min Chiu Society’s Engaging Past Wisdom exhibition at HKMoA displays 500 Chinese art objects, reflecting 65 years of scholarly collecting and Hong Kong’s role in preserving Chinese cultural heritage.
(1) Hong Kong Debut Exhibition “Light Lingers in Gentle Skies” Explores Tech-Art Symbiosis
(Photo Credit: Hong Kong Chinese Culture Development Association)
Young artist Dawn Jian launches her first Hong Kong solo exhibition “Light Lingers in Gentle Skies” at Wyndham Social (33 Wyndham Street, Central) from August 30 to September 27, presented by the Hong Kong Chinese Culture Development Association (香港華夏文化發展協會). The show features Jian’s 2025 works examining human-screen coexistence, blending AI-generated imagery, data analytics, and traditional techniques like oil knife engraving. Interactive installations invite visitors to reflect on digital dependency in an era of blurred virtual/physical boundaries.
A 2013 graduate of Maryland Institute College of Art and “Top 10 Emerging Artist” (China Youth Art Residency), Jian creates a “dialogue space” to address Hong Kong’s societal pressures—digital addiction, fragmented attention, and eroding human connections. The exhibition aligns with the SAR government’s Arts Development Fund initiatives, offering community workshops for families, students, and vulnerable groups.
Hong Kong digital art pioneer Victor Wong praised Jian’s “innovative fusion of AI and traditional craft”, while association chairman Chow Sum-ming (周森明) emphasised art’s role as “a healing tool” for modern anxieties.
News Source: https://www.tkww.hk/a/202509/02/AP68b67281e4b0f2e74394cc30.html
(2) Hong Kong photographer Lean Lui on ‘Girl’s Universe’ and the power of femininity
(Photo Credit: Jocelyn Tam)
Hong Kong photographer Lean Lui, known for her dreamlike portraits exploring femininity, vulnerability, and power, creates work that blurs the line between fantasy and reality. Her signature hazy aesthetic, capturing friends and family in soft, cinematic composition, has earned international recognition, including features in Vogue and collaborations with luxury brands like Gucci and Alexander McQueen. Lui’s upbringing among strong female figures deeply influences her perspective, shaping her “female gaze” as a natural lens rather than a conscious choice. Her Girl’s Universe series, including White Barracks—a striking image of girls in naval uniforms holding guns—examines power structures and societal paradoxes, inspired by unsettling encounters like a security guard’s invasive fixation on one of her provocative works.
Lui’s journey into photography began organically; as a child, she staged photoshoots with her sister and cousins, mimicking America’s Next Top Model. Self-taught, she gained early acclaim at 20 as a finalist in Beijing’s Three Shadows Photography Award with her debut book, 19.29, which caught the attention of Dior’s then-creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri. Balancing commercial projects with fine art, Lui’s process varies—sometimes narrative-driven (like White Barracks), sometimes experimental, as with a photo taken by placing her camera on a washing machine to distort light. She draws inspiration from life experiences, Taiwanese dramas, and Taoist philosophy, avoiding direct adaptations of books or films to preserve ambiguity in her work.
In her Kwun Tong studio, Lui crafts her evocative images. Whether sculpting silicone forms or directing her sister in couture-inspired shoots, she embraces a meditative approach to creativity, overcoming blocks through new experiences or philosophical reading. Inspired by filmmakers like Ang Lee and photographers like Torbjørn Rødland, Lui aims to evoke unspoken connections in viewers. “Art asks questions,” she says, “and offers answers in image form.” With exhibitions from Paris to Shanghai, Lui continues to redefine contemporary photography’s boundaries, celebrating femininity’s complexity through her lens.
News Source: https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3323481/self-taught-hong-kong-photographer-who-caught-eye-art-and-fashion-greats
(3) Korean design takes center stage as Design Miami opens first Asian edition
(Photo Credit: Yonhap)
Design Miami has launched its first Asian edition at Seoul’s iconic Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), running through September 14. Titled “Illuminated: A Spotlight on Korean Design,” the exhibition features 170+ works by 71 designers from Korea and abroad, blending traditional craftsmanship with contemporary innovation. The two-level showcase at Yigansumun Exhibition Hall juxtaposes ground-floor ceramics and sculptural objects with a basement-level “cathedral” of furniture and textile installations, where hanji paper drapes modern designs. Highlights include Choi Byung-hoon’s wood-and-granite “Afterimage of Beginning” series (priced over $72,000), Kim Min-jae’s fusion furniture trilogy, and Jeong Da-hye’s horsehair basketry, a 2022 Loewe Craft Prize winner.
Curator Cho Hye-young emphasized Korea’s “distinct materiality,” showcased through pieces like balloon-shaped stools and lamps wrapped in McDonald’s packaging paper—playful nods to tradition. Four Korean and 12 international galleries participated, with Soluna Fine Art presenting Jeong’s horsehair works that embody an “investment of time.” The exhibition’s “In Situ” format, part of Design Miami’s 20th-anniversary pivot, replaces traditional fairs with localized programming, spotlighting Seoul’s emergence as a global design hub.
At the VIP opening, Seoul Design Foundation CEO Cha Kang-heui honored DDP’s architect Zaha Hadid (posthumously), while Design Miami CEO Jen Roberts highlighted Seoul’s “vibrant” role in Asian design discourse. The Korea Herald’s Choi Jin-young predicted the event would elevate Korean design globally. Open daily (10 AM–8 PM), the exhibition merges heritage and avant-garde, from mother-of-pearl furniture to industrial-fencing chairs, cementing Seoul’s creative ascendancy.
News Source: https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10566882
(4) Min Chiu Society at 65: Hong Kong’s connoisseurs bring their greatest treasures to HKMoA’s art exhibition
(Photo Credit: HKMoA)
The Min Chiu Society, a group of Hong Kong’s private collectors, marked its 65th anniversary with the Engaging Past Wisdom exhibition at the Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA), opened on August 29. Comprising professionals like lawyers and entrepreneurs, members are dedicated to Chinese art, presenting 500 objects from the Neolithic era to the 20th century, including imperial robes and Zhang Daqian paintings. The society’s focus, rooted in Confucian principles of revering antiquity, emphasizes scholarly collecting, excluding contemporary art to maintain rigor, with members producing around 140 publications to share their research.
Established in 1960, Min Chiu evolved from safeguarding artifacts during the Chinese Civil War to sharing them through exhibitions and loans to global institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Early members, often Shanghai émigrés, preserved significant pieces through “rescue” efforts. The society collaborates with HKMoA every five years, transforming private collections into public treasures, with a mission to promote Chinese culture through scholarship and connoisseurship, as noted by HKMoA director Dr. Maria Mok.
Under chairman Lawrence Chan, Min Chiu has diversified, welcoming women and focusing on educating young Hongkongers about classical Chinese art. The exhibition highlights Hong Kong’s cultural role, blending private passion with public value. Mok emphasizes the society’s unique contribution, showcasing the city’s soft power through collectors’ dedication to preserving Chinese heritage, making Engaging Past Wisdom a landmark display of rarely seen masterpieces.
News Source: https://www.tatlerasia.com/lifestyle/arts/min-chiu-society-65-anniversary-art-exhibition
