Artist Ricky Yeung examines mental illness in Hong Kong in his first solo show in 22 years
Ricky Yeung’s exhibition (i)II focuses on mental problems, which he sees as having have risen in Hong Kong over the past 20 years
In his first solo exhibition in 22 years, artist and former art teacher Ricky Yeung Sau-churk examines what he sees is a rise in mental illness in Hong Kong.
“There is a close link between art and disease,” he says of his experimental series of acrylic paintings and found-object installations.
“Looking at art history, we can see that the Black Death (a deadly 14th century bubonic plague outbreak) inspired a lot of artists to describe people’s mindset at the time.
“Then, in more modern times, tuberculosis was the subject of many writers and artists. Today, there’s Aids and cancer.”
Held in the gallery of the Hong Kong Institute of Contemporary Culture Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity, Yeung’s exhibition, “(i)II”, features seemingly disorderly compositions – from figures curled up in a near-fetal position by a high brick wall to deliberately mismatched Chinese translations of psychiatric medication – to depict a chaotic state of mind.
