The British Council has collaborated with Phillips, the leading contemporary art auction house, to create a unique programme, Neon Spark, featuring the work of emerging British Chinese artist Faye Wei Wei, bringing to life the iconic Hong Kong art of neon sign making. This commissioned artwork, Frail Silver of The Climbing Stars was first exhibited as a centre piece at SPARK: The Science and Art of Creativity (SPARK), a three-day festival of ideas curated by the British Council in Hong Kong in January 2019.
The artwork is now on display at British Council’s Hong Kong office until 24 June 2019. This will be followed by a charity auction of the piece on 25 June, co-hosted by Phillips and the British Council. Proceeds from the sale will go towards establishing a new British Council artist-in-residence programme for an emerging Hong Kong-based artist in the UK.
Duality is a theme that ran throughout the SPARK festival, from science and art through to collaboration between Hong Kong and the UK, or simply through the use of two languages (English and Chinese). The artist Faye Wei Wei embodies this duality - being British of Chinese descent - and the artwork which she has designed also reflects this theme by combining the skill of a fine artist with that of a technician working with neon, glass and electricity.
The choice of neon as a medium is highly symbolic for Hong Kong, which was once famous for its illuminated street signs. With the development of new technologies, neon sign making is a dying art; Frail Silver of The Climbing Stars pays homage to the creativity and skill of the artisans whose work once lit up the city’s streets. Indeed, this piece was crafted by one of Hong Kong's last remaining neon light masters.
Details
On display from now until 24 June 2019
British Council - 1/F, 3 Supreme Court Road, Admiralty, Hong Kong
Opening hours:
09.00 – 21.00 Monday – Friday
09.00 – 20.00 Saturday
09.00 – 18.00 Sunday
Free admission
Visit the artwork and share your thoughts with us. We encourage any photos on social media to tag our social media channels:
Facebook: #BritishCouncilHongKong
Instagram: @britishcouncilhk
Twitter: @hkBritish
#BritishCouncilHK #FayeWeiWei #NeonSpark #Phillips
About Faye Wei Wei
British Chinese painter Faye Wei Wei graduated from the Slade School of Fine Art in 2016, where she was awarded the Cass Art Painting Prize, and has since gone on to exhibit internationally. She is a part of a new wave of passionate young artists giving new life to painting. Her bold, poetic works quiver with a lively, lyrical motion, combining classical poise with vibrant immediacy.