LOVE IN THE DREAM: 10 CHANCERY LANE GALLERY CELEBRATES ITS 20TH ANNIVERSARY WITH AN EXHIBITION OF 44 ARTISTS

10 Chancery Lane Gallery opened its doors in 2001 with its inaugural exhibition of sculptor Wang Keping. Twenty years on the gallery presents a storytelling of art and its evolution during two decades in Hong Kong, China, Southeast Asia and beyond. The exhibition will allow a view of the gallery’s anchors as well as its visions for the future. The exhibition will present more than 44 artists to include artists of all generations and the world over. The gallery has been specially constructed with a new layout of walls so visitors can walk through the exhibition journeying to different rooms and artist that the gallery is proud to work with.

 

Katie de Tilly started 10 Chancery Lane Gallery when art in China was beginning to gain international attention and the development of contemporary art throughout the region was going through a pivotal moment. She saw what an exciting opportunity it was to gather the voices of these artists in Hong Kong and showcase them as well abroad. Over the years she organized more than 200 exhibitions including art fairs in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, Gwanju, Taipei, Singapore, Los Angeles, Dallas, New York, Miami, London, Madrid, Paris, Brussels, Sydney and Melbourne.

 

She has watched the contemporary art market grow from when there were a handful of galleries in Hong Kong to international players coming in to have over 60 art galleries in Hong Kong today. She bears witness to the art fair boom of Art Basel in Hong Kong and the soaring prices of the auction markets for contemporary art in the region. She has also been witness to the events of current years and how they will play out in the future of art making in Hong Kong. She has also been witness to the Hong Kong handover, the emergence of contemporary art from China on the international art scene, the beginnings of Beijing’s 798 art’s district, the first art fairs in Hong Kong and China and then pan-Asia, the budding of Hong Kong’s art scene from a handful of galleries to over 60 galleries including blue chip galleries and budding youngsters along with auction houses and major art dealers vying for the Asian market. She has worked with local artists in Hong Kong and felt their frustrations, hopes and dreams. She has worked with artists in Southeast Asia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar, where contemporary art was yet to get international attention yet seeing the importance of these pioneering art movements.

 

“The LOVE IN THE DREAM exhibition is truly a love story to reflect 20 years of passion and connection through art. Art is made by one soul and a gallery is there to create the dreams come true for the artist to connect their work with other souls,” de Tilly states. Katie de Tilly has watched the evolution and development of the artists she works with in awe.

 

The LOVE THE DREAM exhibition will be shown in a salon style to present the artworks, as one would live with them. The artists selected are in groupings.

1. The early works from China’s “Stars Exhibition” artists Huang Rui, Ma Desheng and Huang Rui will be in a small room showing one of Huang Rui’s most important works, “Guitar Story,” exhibited in the 1979 Stars Exhibition; Ma Desheng’s early 1979-1981 Wood Block Prints and Wang Keping’s sculptures spanning 40 years.

2. The painters and wall art section will merge the thoughts, ideas and textures of a vast group of artists in a vast group of techniques. Including a resin wall panel by the late Hung Liu, (currently showing a major retrospective at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery), an early work of American artist Julian Schnabel, new works by Pan Jian, a video work by Ken Mastubara and many others.

3. A room will be dedicated to artists from Southeast Asia with works by Tuan Andrew Nguyen, Htein Lin, Bui Cong Khanh and with a very large new photographic weaving made especially for the exhibition by acclaimed artist Dinh Q. Lê who will have a major exhibition at the Musée Quai Branly in Paris next year.

4. An area will be dedicated to photography showing the works of Shi Guorui, RongRong and inri, Xiao Lu, Cang Xin, Li Wei, anothermountainman as well as the rock photos of Gered Mankowitz among others.

5. A major shutter door work will be installed by acclaimed Indian artist Atul Dodiya.

6. An area will be dedicated to Hong Kong’s iconic Frog King Kwok as well as the on-going installation piece “THE FROG KING LU,” an immersive art installation in the toilet.