In March, I saw the book Murals of Tibet at Art Basel Hong Kong, and I was amazed by what was clearly more than just a book. As I turned the book’s pages, looking at every image of these fantastic Tibetan Buddhist mural paintings, I was left with a lasting impression that was at least […]
Grace Ko
The Rooster of Reality
Every day, we face the world through our senses. We become absorbed in sights and sounds that make up our reality, and we become convinced, no matter how dream-like it may be, that the picture painted is real. But, when we analyse the nature of that reality, we seem at a loss to know exactly […]
Finding yourself and others through art
“If you could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint,” said the American artist Edward Hopper. Here, Hopper emphasizes the importance of painting as a language. Art has a power to free humankind but who is it freeing? The context of the works not only remains in the audience’s hearts, but […]
Ways of Seeing Life
Grace Ko The esteemed British art critic and author John Berger once said: “Art is one of the noblest achievements of man”. He advocated that the art critic must not only look at art from his personal point of view, but also from that of other artists, the conscious and unconscious mind of the spectator, […]
The Language of Flowers: Flower Artist Masao Mizukami
Grace Ko “To see a World in a Grain of Sand; and a Heaven in a Wild Flower; hold Infinity in the palm of your hand; and Eternity in an hour,” said English poet William Blake. Japanese flower arranging emphasizes interaction with the natural world to reach enlightenment. Japanese flower artist Masao Mizukami finds this […]
Ju Ming: Finding what has been thrown away
Grace Ko “Hell is in the living world, but the living world also has a paradise. Which way would you go? It’s your choice entirely.” The eminent Taiwanese sculptor Ju Ming wrote these thoughts about life at his first solo exhibition in Hong Kong in 2014. His artworks are inspiring and the path in his […]
Art and the Language of Change
Grace Ko What kind of language is art? Every time I read the gatha in Diamond Sutra, “Thus shall you think of this fleeting world: a star at dawn, a bubble in a stream; a flash of lightning in a summer cloud; a flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream,” I think of Dutch artist […]
The Art of Emptiness
Grace Ko Art has long captivated us and yet, even though art historians and philosophers have spilled much ink over its nature, we still can’t fully define it. Recently, notable American artist Trevor Paglen revealed what he thought art is, which really impressed me. “Art,” he said, “is about making invisible structures visible, the better for […]
Passing Through the Hands of Time
Grace Ko In October 2016, ancient Buddhist statues were a major presence at the season’s art fairs and auctions in Hong Kong, Beijing, and New York. There was an impressive range. Audiences could view Buddhist art from the Eastern Wei Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, originally from Tibet, Mongolia to Nepal and Central Asia, were […]