Kwan Sheung Chi wins 2013 HUGO BOSS ASIA ART
Rockbund Art Museum
No.20 Huqiu Road
Shanghai
China
The 2013 HUGO BOSS ASIA ART – Award for Emerging Chinese Artists has been awarded to Kwan Sheung Chi, announced Larys Frogier, Director of the Rockbund Art Museum in Shanghai, together with Gareth Incledon, Managing Director of HUGO BOSS China Retail Co., Ltd.
Kwan Sheung Chi (born 1980 in Hong Kong) is the inaugural artist to receive this biennial award. The HUGO BOSS ASIA ART was established to recognize the significant achievements in contemporary art in Asia.
The artist was selected from a group of seven finalists—BIRDHEAD, Hsu Chia Wei, Hu Xiangqian, Lee Kit, Li Liao and Li Wei. The international jury for the HUGO BOSS ASIA ART 2013 was chaired by Larys Frogier and included Biljana Ciric (independent curator, Shanghai), Cosmin Costinas (Executive Director/Curator of Para / Site, Hong Kong), Yuko Hasegawa (Chief Curator of Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo), Hou Hanru (Artistic Director of National Museum for XXI (21st Century) Arts, Rome), Manray Hsu (independent curator and critic, Taipei), Clara Kim (Senior Curator of Walker Art Center, Minneapolis), Dr. Alexandra Munroe (Samsung Senior Curator of Asian Art of Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York), Jochen Volz (Head of Programmes of Serpentine Gallery, London), Azure Wu (Executive Editor of Art China magazine, curator and writer, Shanghai), Pauline J. Yao (curator, writer, and Senior Curator of M+ , Hong Kong), Peng Yu (artist working together with Sun Yuan, Beijing), Anthony Yung (Project Manager of Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong), Zhao Li (Professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing).
As Larys Frogier states: “The inaugural HUGO BOSS ASIA ART finalist represents an exceptionally accomplished group of artists from Greater China and we wish to commend all seven of the nominees for the intensity and originality of their artistic works. We have chosen to award the 2013 HUGO BOSS ASIA ART to Kwan Sheung Chi to value his rich, witty yet critical exploration of social and cultural challenges in this area. Using video, text and installation, Kwan Sheung Chi’s conceptual and performative work evokes these themes in a very unique and subtle way.”
“The HUGO BOSS ASIA ART Award complements our current art sponsorship program in a very special way,” explains Dr. Hjoerdis Kettenbach, Head of Cultural Affairs at HUGO BOSS. “We would like to extend our congratulations to the winner and express our gratitude to the jury and the Rockbund Art Museum for their dedication and cooperation.”
Kwan Sheung Chi’s work is on show as part of the finalist exhibition at the Rockbund Art Museum until December 8.
HUGO BOSS ASIA ART
HUGO BOSS ASIA ART is aimed to be an evolving platform combining a prestigious biennial award, a group exhibition for emerging artists and a research and education program. It embraces Asia as multiple sites to activate and analyze in relation to its ongoing mutations in a post-global era. In light of the transformations, art seen as the basis on which cultural exchanges and learning process can develop. Emerging artists in Asia do not only question the codes of art. They offer unexpected forms, experiences and meanings into the process of making and seeing pictures.
Publication
In relation to the HUGO BOSS ASIA ART 2013, the Rockbund Art Museum has published a catalogue that features projects by each of the seven finalist artists as well as specially commissioned essays, offering overviews of their practices. The catalogue, designed by Shanghai-based designer Du Yun, includes texts by Chen Taisong, Guo Juan, Ella Liao, Robin Peckham, Bernard Vizta, Wang Jun and Wang Yong, with an introduction by Larys Frogier. It is available for RMB 329 at the Rockbund Art Museum.
