Urban solitude is often linked to population mobility, cost of living, and a high percentage of people living alone. Young adults who move to a new city for university or for work may find themselves experiencing loneliness for the first time as they leave existing social ties behind and struggle to establish new friendships. In a large city, there is little that unifies us unless we actively seek out clusters and create sub-identities based on interests or culture.  To live alone and be content about it subsequently becomes a dominant social trend that transforms traditional values, culture and even aesthetics.

In a transforming Hong Kong landscape of the 21st century, this brand of solitary elitism offered a counterpoint to political optimism. The works of Kevin Fung, Wong Yeeki and Rosanna Li can be considered alongside the film noir of the 1930s and 40s, and the work of American artist Edward Hopper (1882-1967). Like Hopper, these artists were concerned with the negative effects of urbanization and increasing economic disparities. At the heart of their urban vision are the paradoxes of the foundational democratic myth. We are all created equal, and yet what makes us equal is our absolute, inviolable uniqueness and individualism. As a result, this collection of works is melancholy and longing that haunts our common psyche.  Set in a playground with no one to play with, we feel strangely content with our loneliness, even at times enjoy the solitary existence.
*viewing by appointment only

Gallery address: 23/F, Car Po Commercial Building, 18-20 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central

Grotto Fine Art is pleased to present “From Karma to Dogma”, a thematic exhibition on the interpretations of iconography through narrative approach, featuring artworks by two leading HK artists Chan Kwan-lok and Wai Pongyu alongside photography by Josiah Leung, a prominent fine art photojournalist. Inspired by a set of contemporary Thangka paintings, this exhibition explores how traditional religious icons and symbols are presented in contemporary settings and thereby transformed into powerful conceptual art forms.

“From Karma to Dogma” runs from November 27 to December 23 at Grotto Central.

Viewing by appointment only: please email us at info@grottofineart.com to schedule a visit.

Gallery address: 23/F, Car Po Commercial Building, 18-20 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central

Grotto Fine Art is thrilled to announce a special presentation of the ink work installation titled "The Inhabitant Islets" by Hong Kong artist Shum Kwan Yi. The exhibition will take place at Grotto Central from September 25 to October 13. "The Inhabitant Islets" depicts nineteen deserted islands that are devoid of ferry access but remain under constant television surveillance. Through her artwork, Shum raises questions about the preservation of privacy and our living spaces.

To visit the exhibition, reservations must be made in advance. Please email info@grottofineart.com to secure your appointment.

About the artist:
Based in Hong Kong, Shum Kwan Yi, Sim attained her Master of Philosophy and Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts at The Hong Kong Baptist University. Shum specialises in ink art. Her practice narrows down the gap between traditional aesthetics and daily-life experience in seek of the covert meanings embedded in landscape painting and the new definitions of the shanshui motifs in the context of our society.

Artist Reception: Sept 27 (Wed), 5:30 - 8 pm

Gallery address: Room 2302, 23/f, Car Po Commercial Building, 18-20 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central

Grotto Fine Art is delighted to present the summer group exhibition "Crescent Reverie" showcasing the works of SHUM Kwan-yi, LAM Yau-sum, WAI Pong-yu, HUNG Fai, Fiona WONG Lai-ching, YAU Wing-fung, and Kevin FUNG Lik-yan. This exhibition guides visitors through tranquil realms, where reverie unfolds, revealing the moon's ethereal wisdom. "Crescent Reverie" is open by appointment at Grotto Central from Aug 14 - Sept 1. To make an appointment, please email: info@grottofineart.com

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“Do you happen to know the nature of water or the moon? Water is always on the run like this, but never lost in its course; the moon always waxes and wanes like that, but never out of its sphere.”
– Su Shi "Former Ode on the Red Cliff"

Gallery address: 23/F, Car Po Commercial Building, 18-20 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central

This exhibition showcases a collection of artworks that delve into the mind of a traveler and explore a variety of experiences through the lens of one individual's journey.

The exhibition includes works by 6 artists:

CHAN Kwan-lok 陳鈞樂

KOON Wai-bong 管偉邦

LAM Yau-sum 林佑森

WONG Yee-ki 黃綺琪

YAU Wing-fung 邱榮豐

Angel Hoi-Kiu, HUI 許開嬌

**Viewing by appointment only**

Gallery address: Room 2302, 23/f, Car Po Commercial Building, 18-20 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central,

"The works in this series are grouped in two unique but related themes: our societal shift towards near complete digitization, and the new phase of space exploration and inquiry into the possibility of planetary colonization. Paired with natural motifs, each of the eight works in the series are based around one of these ideas and titled accordingly: Water Lilies/Video Games, Butterflies/Genome, Chrysanthemums/Metaverse, Lotuses/Robots, Sun Moths/Rockets, Lilies/Web3, Plum Blossoms/Webb Telescope, and Peonies/Zoom. Two triptychs based on cosmology are also included, Phoenix/Big Bang and Dragon/Wormhole, as well as an animation using some of these cut paper pieces reimagined in narrative form. "

Gallery address: 23/F, Car Po Commercial Building, 18-20 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central

A Chronicle of Mountain Making
The Beginning
In October 2020, I wrote five pieces of text about “mountains” to consolidate the main concepts relating to the works of the mountain making series. Grouped under the main title of A Chronicle of Mountain Making, the five pieces are Pangu, The Five Great Mountains, The Three Mythical Mountains, The Kunlun and The Sumeru, and the story starts with the creation of land and sky. In the writing, I imagined myself travelling back to the very beginning when the universe was a void, where I witnessed the death of Pangu, whose body became the land, and I saw the first formation of mountains and rivers. The Five Great Mountains indicating the five directions of the world (east, west, south, north and the centre) were a wonder of creation, and they would become the goals of explorers and conquerors, and inspiration for poets and writers in the years to come. Mountains are not only part of the Nature, but also a testimony of history and the humanities.

Opening reception: Sept 3 (Sat), 2-6pm
Gallery address: 2/F, East 17, No.17 Main Street East, Shau Kei Wan

Time defines the human order. Our ancestors invented tools and systems for the measurement of time; standards of managing activities and as a medium for interpretation of our very own existence. With such a unit of insight and inference, we built tension as we venture across borders, into the void and towards the great beyond.
Apart from the lightness and heaviness brought to many of us by Kundera, artists have come to realize the push and pull, physical mechanics, psychiatric hallucinations and other unknown forces.

<Day Day to Day Day> presents to you the creation of 10 artists with the thoughts, observations in our daily lives, and reflections of the life they accumulated over time.

Curated by Hong Wah & Kwan Siu Yu
Featuring: Fok Pak Hin, Issac Wong Hong Tik, Kimmy Tam, Lau Ching Hei, Li Tsz Mei, Mui Hoi Ying, Tsz Chung Taylor Chan, Yeung Lok Yiu, Hong Wah, Kwan Siu Yu

Opening and Performance: 3pm 9 July (Sat); Guide Tour by the artists: Same Day at 4pm

Gallery address: 2/F, 17 Main Street East, Shau Kei Wan

Time and time again, we witness life’s distortion and deformation under immense pressure.  Distress and burden have crushed us to the point of collapse.  The mightiness of authority and our insignificance contrast sharply.  We have no choice but to conform.   Any confrontation is futile.  Life appears to suspend in midair as we can hardly find our places and meanings in today’s world.  I am also unassured and incapable of changing the status quo.  Such a bleak future leaves me floating weightlessly in uncertainty; at the same time the weightiness of oppression drags me back to the ground with suffocating pressure. 

The title of the present exhibition, "The Unbearable Lightness", captures my complex emotions of weightlessness and heaviness towards today’s society.  Using contemporary landscape as narrator, the collection is set in three chapters: “The Floating Life”, “The Secret Texts” and “The Inhabitant Islets”.  They chronicle my experiences, dilemma and inner struggle in bearing this invisible weight of lightness. 

Opening Reception: May 14, 2022 (Sat), 2-6pm

RSVP: info@grottofineart.com

Gallery address: 2/F, East 17, No.17 Main Street East, Shau Kei Wan

Grotto SKW is proud to present XIE Chengxuan first solo exhibition - A Man, A Man, and A Man.
Winner of Grotto FA Award 2020 at CUHK, Xie is an exciting young painter with unparallel skillsets, maturity and complexity. This collection is about the human figure, human activities, emotions and metaphors. Xie takes inspiration from Renaissance anatomy to Romanticism and Edgar Allen Poe’s mystery and the macabre. His subjects are strangers yet hauntingly familiar that connects with the audience with an unnerving string. Xie’s world lies beneath absurdity and chaos which is, indeed, an reflection of our time.

Gallery address: 2/F, 17 Shau Kei Wan Main St E

How to turn a year of wasted time into a new passion.

Opening reception: June 18 (Fri), 5-8pm
Venue address: Grotto SKW - 2/F, East17, No.17 Main Street East, Shau Kei Wan

Born in Hainan Island in 1982, Wai Pong-yu to Hong Kong at the age of 2. Since Wai graduated from the Department of Fine Arts of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2006, he became a professional independent artist. Fierce and dynamic, his use of biro lines fabricates an idyllic plane and extends beyond the vision, forming sensitive and poetic imageries on the paper. Wai’s paintings have been widely collected by private sectors and public institutions. In 2008, Lake Dreams, one of Wai’s largest works, was collected by Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.

Gallery address: 2302, 23/f, Car Po Commercial Building, 18-20 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central

Grotto Fine Art is proud to present a solo exhibition by renown Hong Kong artist Chan Kwan Lok. Born in Hong Kong in 1992, CHAN Kwan-lok graduated from the Fine Arts Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2015. Chan is keen on exploring the feasibility of lines through depictions of the motions of human and nature. Using rhythmic lines to construct a rigorous yet subtle framework, Chan portrays ordinary objects, people and marine animals to create a whimsical fantasy.

Opening reception: May 12, 2021 (Wed), 3-8pm ｜ RSVP: info@grottofineart.com
Gallery address: 2/f, East 17, No.17 Main Street East, Shau Kei Wan

Grotto Fine Art is pleased to present "Borrowed Space _ Borrowed Time", the gallery's third solo exhibition of Bouie Choi Yuk-kuen. Amidst the urban imagery, Choi intends to depict how the object attempted to collide with the negative space but in vain. While the landscape often reminds us how insignificant we are, the high-rise buildings, the enormous creature, the giant...these objects not only contrasted but also projected the artist's state of mind. If a painting is a carrier of infinite borrowed space and time, Choi is attempting to reconnect the gap between the real and the unreal, the indescribable space and time with the light of hope, and her army of urban imagery.

Gallery address: 23/F, Car Po Commercial Building, 18-20 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central