What do Chinese artists think of art censorship in mainland China? Hong Kong exhibition offers an explicit examination

Mainland Chinese artist Wang Tuo’s show at Blindspot Gallery, touching on art censorship and China’s protest movements, has generated a lot of buzz in Hong Kong

For Wang, the show is also a test of Hong Kong’s new ‘red line’ and he hopes that he can still show his works in the city without any trouble

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In Wang Tuo’s two-channel video “The Second Interrogation” (2023), showing at Blindspot Gallery in Hong Kong, the artist character (left) and the censor character (right) are seen on two separate screens. Photo: Wang Tuo

Published: 1:15pm, 29 Mar 2023Updated: 1:31pm, 29 Mar 2023

In part one of The Second Interrogation (2023), the new video from Beijing-based artist Wang Tuo on show at Blindspot Gallery in Hong Kong, an artist describes two kinds of progressive Chinese artists.

The first are the Ai Weiweis of this world – boldly challenging the Chinese government’s red line. The second are the more subtle ones, whose quiet prodding of viewers plants more permanent transformation in society.

Mimi Chun, the gallery owner, asked Wang during the opening, “So which type are you?” That’s for the audience to decide, Wang replied.

The exhibition, which more than touches on art censorship and China’s protest movements, has generated a lot of buzz in Hong Kong where, since the introduction of a national security law in 2020, artists have become more interested in how their peers in mainland China cope with the restrictions on their work there – especially given the lack of exchange over the past three years when the border was shut.

Wang Tuo at Blindspot Gallery next to “The Angry Poet” (2023), a portrait of his “best friend”, an unnamed underground poet in northeastern China, part of his current solo exhibition. Photo: Enid Tsui

For Wang, this show is also a test of Hong Kong’s new red line. While he knows that this group of works would not be tolerated on the mainland, he hopes that he can still show them in Hong Kong without any trouble.

Visitors will first see a group of 16 paintings and sketches before they get to the two-part video that has given the exhibition its title.