The multiple has a long and distinguished history, including Marcel Duchamp’s readymades and boites en valises, and works by Claes Oldenburg, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Jeff Koons and Andy Warhol. Originally seen as a way of distributing art or ‘the distribution of ideas’ (Joseph Beuys), the multiple also give artists the opportunity to experiment with the creation of art using industrial processes of mass production. In celebration of this rich history, Amelia Johnson Contemporary is pleased to present MULTI{ple}, an exhibition featuring the works of Konstantin Bessmertny, Sally Smart, Kum Chi Keung and, showing for the first time in Hong Kong, artists Stella Vine and Peter Clark. Most of the works in the exhibition have been created using a degree of mass production or mechanization, yet retain a high degree of uniqueness and individuality either through some hand made variation or having been specifically created as a mass produced work.
For example, Peter Clark’s series of works consist of delicately complex images of dogs created from a combination of gliclée printing and collage using printed, patterned or weathered paper. Sally Smart’s multiples of her distinctive works made from mixed media collage, painted felt and silk-screen printed fabrics are assembled by hand and pinned direct to the wall. Using differently coloured materials and configurations, the exhibition will also show some of Kum Chi Keung’s unique multiples from his ‘bird cage’ series of works. MULTI{ple} will also include Konstantin Bessmertny’s acutely observed, satirical drawings presented in the form of a new series of etchings depicting the ‘The Seven Deadly Sins’ and prints by celebrated and at times, controversial British artist Stella Vine.
Peter Clark is a graduate of Manchester College of Art and Design and began his career as an illustrator and designer of animation for television. His three dimensional approach to his work, using old stamps, maps, letters, labels, cards and textiles is an expression of his interest in ‘making visual that which exists in words’. Sally Smart lives and works in Melbourne and graduated from the Victorian College of Arts, Melbourne. Her wall assemblages of painted felt and other materials combine mixed-media collage, intellectual sampling, and historical references to create fractured, epic spectacles that are part fantasy, part social critique. Hong Kong-born Kum Chi Keung studied Chinese painting and graduated from the First Institute of Art and Design in Hong Kong. His work ranges from site-specific installations and public art commissions as well as to small intricate, highly work intensive sculptures using miniature birdcages as building blocks. Konstantin Bessmertny was born in the former Soviet Union and graduated from the Fine Arts Faculty of the Pedagogical Institute, Khabarov and the Institute of Fine Arts, Vladivostok. One of Asia’s most established contemporary artists, Bessmertny‘s finely detailed work is characterized by the artist’s acute and gently satirical observations and references to art and historical and contemporary events. Stella Vine’s controversial paintings have divided art critics for their preoccupation with the present-day cult of tabloid celebrity. Having worked previously as an actress and hostess, Vine began painting nearly ten years ago. Since that time her work has gained the recognition of collectors, galleries and museums alike.
