Hong Kong Hustle | Andy Warhol Art Exhibit

I admit to being a slight culture vulture. I enjoy frequenting museums and art galleries, reading those little descriptions of the exhibits and dreaming of a time before this crazy technological mega-mall we live in today. So when the 2nd largest Andy Warhol exhibit rolled into town, I embarked on a cultural outing with my accomplished and gorgeous New Yorker, Jaclyn Siu - an entrepreneur with a penchant for all things fashion - to spend a day appreciating the life and work of this great influential figure. The gallery is located at the Hong Kong Museum of Art, where the dominant color scheme was pink - more reminiscent of a Barbie store than a homage to a historical icon. Understandably, we weren't permitted to take any photos inside (but how we wished we could have!). Most of us tend to only associate Andy Warhol with his more publicized works: the infamous Campbell Soup series and iconic Marilyn Monroe screen prints. But people are rarely aware of the fact that Mr.Warhol was actually an artist of various styles. He was an acclaimed shoe illustrator in New York, a skilled photographer specializing in  expressive polaroids, and dabbled in other modes of innovative art techniques. Though I would have to agree that some of his work does verge on the over-eccentric (was an eight hour long take of the Empire State Building really necessary?).

As a Communications student, I took special interest in his use of advertising materials in his art, functioning as a stark reminder of the promotional culture that we live in. Given how the advent of Photoshop has made it ridiculously easy to replicate and generate similar images, I particularly admire artists like Warhol for not only being clearly ahead of their time but in the labour they put into their masterpieces. This respect is reinforced every time I lean in to get a closer look at the vivid brushwork that seems to almost suspend off the canvas.

The tour was rounded off with a mini shrine to Andy Warhols last visit to Hong Kong, little keepsakes of his handwriting on various hotel letterhead slips and a 'time capsule' of assorted belongings including - to me and Jaclyn's delight - vintage copies of Vogue and Glamour. Which inspired us to round off our day with a visit to Lane Crawford to admire a different kind of 'art'.

The exhibition is set to end on the 31st March 2013. So if anyone is looking for a way to spend a blank weekend, why not spend it feeding your aesthetic appetite whilst learning more about the life and times of an art legend?

Oh how we couldn't get enough of that wild technicolor escalator

Opening Hours:

Daily 10:00am – 8:00pm
Closed on Thursdays (Except Public Holidays)
Closed at 5:00pm on Christmas Eve and Chinese New Year’s Eve (2013.2.9)
Closed on the first two days of Chinese New Year