Visual Arts

Galerie Huit is delighted to present the long awaited solo exhibition of one of Hong Kong’s most influential comic artist Joseph Wong. Titled ‘The Charm of Old Master Q’, the exhibition features classic original drawings by Joseph Wong and, for the first time ever, 3-dimensional Old Master Q artworks, including life-size sculptures, collectible figurines and pottery pieces, illustrating how Old Master Q transcends time and medium with its humor and social significance. The exhibition will be held from 4 December 2015 to 10 January 2016 at Galerie Huit.

Different from the previous exhibitions Joseph Wong held at Galerie Huit, ‘The Charm of Old Master Q’, apart from exhibiting 2-dimensional original drawings in black and white, as well as in color, will introduce 3-dimensional works that have been developed over the past few years in the artist’s studio. While the general public has always looked at Old Master Q as a comic figure that is flat on paper, Joseph Wong has been trying to discover novel perspectives to present and express the character, reinventing comic as a form of art instead of mere popular culture.

In this exhibition, the most anticipated new works are the 3 Life-Size Sculpture of Old Master Q that are created and shown for the first time. By creating the Old Master Q character as 3-D figures that can be touched and felt, Joseph Wong brought his 2-dimensional humor and characters into our 3-D reality. The sculptures come in 3 colors: original, violet and blue. Made of fiberglass with a silver mirror plating finish, the sculptures are unique pieces, with only 3 pieces in the world, that will be collectibles to any art collectors and Old Master Q lovers.

It is no doubt that Old Master Q has captured the hearts of readers across generations. Created in 1962, the comic and characters humorously portrays various social situations since 1960s in Hong Kong such as poverty, influence of foreign culture and the intimacy of local communities. It thus reflects as well as represents the experience and mentality of many Hong Kong people from the 1960s to 1980s, documenting the ever-changing social trends. To offer something that illustrates how comic has grown with us through history, Joseph Wong has designed a limited edition (3 styles, 500 pieces each) vinyl figurine of Old Master Q in the style of 1962. 1968 and 1985. Each piece comes with a wooden case with laser cut images on the case, individual edition number and Joseph Wong’s autograph.

A truly eclectic exhibition, ‘The Charm of Old Master Q’ will also show pottery vases designed by Joseph Wong, and 2-dimensional works including acrylic on canvas, black and white original comic drawings and colored drawings by Joseph Wong.

In the main exhibition hall, a Hong Kong style teahouse library will be set up and classic Old Master Q comic books will be exhibited as an archive, while recent copies will be displayed for visitors to read to create an interactive communication with the audience.

Created in 1962, Old Master Q comic has reflected the Hong Kong society in the past from the 1960s to 1980s, and when Joseph Wong took up his father’s passion and continued creating the comic since 1980s, Old Master Q has also taken up a more contemporary approach and evolved with the present society. Not only is Old Master Q a comic for leisure read, but it is also a social documentary that resonates with many Hong Kong people, representing the collective memory of them. Joseph, in his recent development of 3-dimensional artworks, has demonstrated that Old Master Q has transcend time and medium, and will continue to grow with Hong Kong as time goes, and surprise comic and art lovers in the future. The public exhibition opens on the 4 December 2015 and runs through to 10 January 2016.