SWEET SORROW

Shown as a solo exhibition at Art Central with Blue Lotus Gallery, March 2018

Shown as part of a group exhibition ‘ALTER EGO’ in Macau, September 2018

Annual Arts Exhibition between China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries

curated by Vhils and Pauline Foessel, organised by the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR Government, 9 July – 9 September, 2018

Blue Lotus Gallery is proud to present Sweet Sorrow, Wing Shya’s photographic ode to our desolate human condition. Sweet Sorrow reads as a techni-colour love letter to the city that raised him: Hong Kong. Our city serves as a backdrop to what is really going on in the psyche of the “Me Generation” who grew up with smart phones and a heightened attention to all things visual. This epic production which came with price tag of 3 million hkd, involving a creative team close to a 100 people.

Shya is concerned with a generation who grew up with the new age of information technology. He explains, “the Me Generation is resourceful and privileged in all material aspects... However, the pedestal of being blessed does not grant many of them happier lives, and in fact, in response to the vast changes of the society, the infinite consumption of information and material abundance; feelings of detachment and isolation in these people are prominent.”

The cinematic is always present in the work of Wing Shya having started as the still shots photographer on the set of Wong Kar-Wai’s epic films. The perfection of design achieved in each scene is apparent from a photographer well versed in the language of fashion and cinema, and yet this body of work speaks volumes of something true to the artists’ heart: the human condition and the beauty in its’ messy endeavour to try understand itself. Cute yet dirty, gritty yet glowing, imagine dystopian scenes where a chain smoking Little Bo-Peep and Mini Mouse turn to Cosplay and bondage at a party with the Yakuza, My Little Pony and The Avengers in a Hong Kong urban wasteland reminiscent of Gotham City.

The place is of great important, as Wing Shya explains during an interview with CNN:, “Hong Kong city is a collage. This is my creative source, the noise, the colour, the neon signs. Everything is very original. I use the colour, I make it more contrast, I make something un-matching, putting two different things together. Because Hong Kong is like that.”

Sweet Sorrow may be the most colourful and visually gratifying work to tackle a subject so intimate and personal, finding the sweet in the sorrow.

《Sweet Sorrow》（甜蜜悲傷）是 夏永康 內心默默燃燒的一個項目，這系列創造出他個人的藝術印記，並表達出他對香港年輕人感到被孤立的關注。夏永康 宣稱他從來不自覺自己為一名出色的攝影師－「直至我完成這系列」；這是一個完全自資，歷時近兩年才完成的項目。由華麗同時又衣冠不整的怪異演員，所組成一個超脫塵世的反烏托邦童話世界，當中可能缺乏完美而幸福的結局，但相反，這卻使我們期盼更多，或許我們甚至投射自身於其中。

一篇生動有趣、鋪張華麗的視覺故事，《Sweet Sorrow》迎接觀眾來到黑暗的城市，一起徘徊於真正香港人才懂的秘道，穿過隱藏的廟宇、昏暗的屋頂，看到樹木在破爛房屋之間爭奪空間；被遺棄的村莊、已廢棄的廁所，轉眼踏進城市中的一片荒原；後巷和搖搖欲墜的房間纏繞著，然而它們都在不久的將來被殺掉，被那種乾淨得刺眼的摩天大廈給取代。電線踐踏著電線，魚骨天線交織出花園，從天而降的水滴，一滴一滴落在年久失修的牆壁上繪出塗鴉，又如鮮血在少女的大腿間流淌。天真的盡頭和孤獨的刺癢，從來沒有像這樣豐富多彩地在視覺上放縱，如此甜蜜然而又充滿悲傷。這一系列照片演奏出香港人「ME世代」的視覺頌歌。正如 夏永康 在接受CNN採訪時所說道：「香港城市是一幅拼貼畫。噪音、顏色、霓虹燈，這正是我的靈感來源，一切都很原始。我利用顏色，並加強對比度，我創作出一些無法匹配的東西，將兩種截然不同的元素放在一起。因為香港就是這樣。」

《Sweet Sorrow》是一個壯麗的個人及創意挑戰，由世界知名的藝術家 夏永康 與 Blue Lotus Gallery 榮幸地展出的標誌性系列，同時也是 夏永康 作為一名前輩，給予香港年輕人的甜蜜信息，讓他們記起能夠束縕請火，並脫下口罩，以自身視人並相互聯繫。

Wing Shya

Born in Hong Kong 1964. Wing Shya’s work encompasses the realms of film, art and fashion. After graduating from Emily Carr Institute in Canada, Wing Shya returned to Hong Kong and founded the award-winning design studio, Shya-La-La Workshop. Shya, who is renowned in typography and an outstanding graphic designer, has won numerous design awards for contributing numerous designs to the Hong Kong music and pop culture industries. 

In 1997, appointed by Film Director Wong Kar-Wai as still photographer and graphic designer; Shya began collaborating with WKW on films Happy Together, In the Mood for Love, Eros and 2046. By the year 2019, the collaboration has evolved into numerous projects as conceptions of both individuals, ranging from motion pictures to art videos catering to top-tier luxury brands like Saint Laurent, and more.

A now-recognized director, Shya began his venture in filmmaking by collaborating with musicians like Jacky Cheung and Vanessa Mae on music videos. In Spring 2010, Shya debuted his block-buster feature film, Hot Summer Days and continued to work on the sequel, Love in Space, which was released in Fall 2011. In 2010, invited by Rodarte; Shya conceived of a fashion-art film for their Maggie Cheung Collection, and in 2011, he was invited by YOOX to conceive of Lost Paradise, an art/fashion video for thecorner.com, China. Over the course of the 2010s, Shya continued to work on various videographic projects for commercial initiatives like Sacaii, MOTHER magazine, i-D magazine and musicians like Li Yuchun. In year 2020, Shya is expected to release a feature film produced by WKW.

Wing Shya made his return to fine art In March 2006. Invited by the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi, Tokyo; Shya was the first foreign photographer to exhibit at the museum with his inaugural show, Distraction/Attraction. In 2007, he was selected to exhibit in In Fashion 07, curated by Marion de Beaupré at Art Basel Miami, in which his works were first collected by an international calibre. In October the same year, he had a solo exhibition, Jealousy, at Xintiandi, Shanghai. Shya also took part in China Design Now in 2008, which was exhibited at V&A Museum. During the early 2010s, Shya exhibited with Louise Alexander Gallery of Italy and +81 Gallery both in Tokyo and New York. In November 2017, Shya showcased his well-received retrospective show at SCoP Shanghai, curated by Karen Smith, which the same show travelled to Xie Zilong Photography Museum in Changsha in the Spring of 2019. Curated again by Karen Smith, Shya exhibited his works in the year 2020 edition of Kyotographie.