Calligraphy Rhapsody: Retrospective Exhibition of Georges Mathieu / KAF x MOCA: Transpacific Stream

To celebrate Hong Kong’s annual art month and to foster cross-cultural dialogue and inspire through the arts, K11 Art Foundation (KAF) presents a remarkable international arts campaign. Headlining the programme is Calligraphy Rhapsody: Retrospective Exhibition of Georges Mathieu, co-presented with the Consulate General of France in Hong Kong & Macau, showcasing the preeminent artist’s works spanning four decades. KAF x MOCA: Transpacific Stream, an all-digital collaborative video art programme co-presented with the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) will also be screened on KAF’s newly revamped official website, connecting audience across distances. 

Calligraphy Rhapsody: Retrospective Exhibition of Georges Mathieu
Co-presented by K11 Art Foundation and the Consulate General of France in Hong Kong & Macau, Calligraphy Rhapsody: Retrospective Exhibition of Georges Mathieu presents the major pictorial evolutions of Mathieu’s oeuvre to the public with significant oil paintings by the French painter spanning the 1950s to 1990s loaned from important private collectors.

Curated by Catherine Kwai, Calligraphy Rhapsody begins with Mathieu’s early works which emphasize calligraphic gesture and speed extending into the paintings from the “cosmic shift” period starting from 1984. His potent intrinsic energy for boundless abstraction is exemplified in the exhibition by the six-metre-wide canvases that Mathieu specially created for his Grand Palais retrospective in 1978. Marking the artist’s centenary in 2021, this exhibition celebrates Mathieu’s fierce and poetic expressivity as well as his bold visionary spirit while introducing this French pioneer of free abstraction to a new audience.

A painter, philosopher, and pivotal instigator of lyrical abstraction, Georges Mathieu (1921–2012) shifted away from figuration and pursued a gestural abstraction away from geometrical abstraction. In the late 1940s, Mathieu began curating exhibitions, cultivating a connection between the new School of Paris artists in postwar France and the Abstract Expressionists in New York. By the 1950s, he was organising performances where he would paint in front of audiences live, anticipating the Happenings of the ’60s. He also synthesised the spirit of Asian calligraphy with abstract language, inspiring philosophical debates and pictorial revolution.

KAF x MOCA: Transpacific Stream programme
Screening four pairs of curated films on the newly revamped KAF official website
To say the global pandemic has set in motion sweeping societal changes is an understatement. Yet, despite tremendous challenges over the past year, the uncertain landscape has also fostered a wave of creative solutions. In response, museums and galleries have gone virtual to connect with audiences across vast distances. K11 Art Foundation also embraces this paradigm shift as it proudly launches its new official website, now housing a wide array of online programmes, artist interviews, documentations and resources, all accessible from the comfort of home.

Debuting on the newly revamped official website, KAF has collaborated with the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) to present the inaugural digital programme, KAF x MOCA: Transpacific Stream, screening a themed curation of four pairs of video works.

Further augmenting the agenda of art and cultural happenings this month, KAF also presents an additional lineup of cross-cultural projects. Art lovers can explore our wide array of art programmes and exhibitions at K11 MUSEA, or join our art tour to kick start your art week experience.

To know more, please visit KAF’s website.