Novalis Art Design is pleased to present "PHYSIS GLITCH - Reclaiming the Ineffable," an exhibition by Italian artist Roberto Davolio, supported by the Consulate General of Italy in Hong Kong and the Italian Cultural Institute in Hong Kong. Curated by Federica Viola, this exhibition explores the intersection of technology and artistic sensitivity, challenging our perception of reality in the digital age.

Davolio's captivating images, infused with vibrant colors and geometric forms, invite viewers to engage all their senses.  He uses an innovative device, "Hermes," to interact directly with the camera's lens, projecting colors and shapes onto the subject. This process disrupts pre-programmed algorithms, creating unforeseen visual possibilities and revealing hidden dimensions of reality.  The resulting photographs are not mere representations but reinterpretations, prompting contemplation and a deeper understanding of our connection to the world around us.

Opening reception: 27 Feb, 6 - 9 pm

Gallery address: G/F, 197 Hollywood Road

Novalis Art Design is pleased to present “Produzione Privata,” a solo show by Michele De Lucchi, supported by the Consulate General of Italy in Hong Kong and the Italian Cultural Institute in Hong Kong. In this exhibition, Michele De Lucchi showcases a captivating array of handcrafted design objects that embody the spirit of experimentation and craftsmanship.

Produzione Privata, established in 1990 by Michele De Lucchi and Sibylle Kicherer in Italy, is an innovative design firm that champions the art of craftsmanship and the importance of handmade objects. The company operates outside conventional industrial production, collaborating closely with artisans to create distinctive design pieces in small quantities. This approach allows for a focus on creativity and personalization, offering clients a range of customizable options in furniture, lighting, and accessories.

Opening Reception: 13 Feb, 6 - 9 pm

Gallery address G/F, 197 Hollywood Road

Novalis Art Design is pleased to present Primitive, Studio Nucleo’s first solo show in Hong Kong showcasing the ‘Primitive’ series. The exhibition is kindly supported by the Italian Cultural Institute in Hong Kong and is part of BODW in the city. The artist will be present at the opening reception.

By synthesizing past influences with forward-thinking vision, Studio Nucleo creates objects that are both surprising and deeply grounded. Their Primitive series exemplifies this ethos, transcending conventional boundaries to merge functional design with sculptural art. In these pieces, shape, texture, and colour intertwine to form a dramatic juxtaposition of geometric forms, establishing a dialogue between past and present, tradition and innovation.
In recent years, Studio Nucleo’s work has taken on new urgency in the face of the climate crisis. While their practice has long embedded craftsmanship and local materials, there is now a deeper focus on sustainability, particularly using recycled and recyclable materials. The Primitive series reflects a growing commitment to ecological responsibility, integrating principles of the circular economy into their design process. By rethinking the life cycle of their materials, Nucleo offers a new, more environmentally conscious model for contemporary design and our lifestyle.

Opening 28 Nov 2024, 6 - 9 pm

Gallery address: G/F, 197 Hollywood Road

Novalis Art Design is pleased to present EROSIVA, Costanza Gastaldi’s solo showing her newest series of photographs exploring female intimacy and illness. The artist will be present at the opening reception.

The exhibition presents for the first time a comparison between the widely exhibited and internationally acclaimed Loto Nero, and her newest series Erosiva. The technique used in both series is the extremely rare and fascinating héliogravure au grain, an ancient printing process dating back to the 19th century that allows a photographic image to be etched in low relief through various chemical processes on a copperplate. This very fine-grained technique can capture both the subtle nuances of grays and the depths of blacks from the original plate. This gives the prints a precious tactile quality, prolonging and amplifying the creative gesture through its manual nature and making it almost permanent over time.

Opening Reception: 17 Oct, 6 - 9 pm

Gallery address: G/F, 197 Hollywood Road

Novalis Art Design is pleased to present *zam1 m4 gat1 dou3 juk6* Go Hung’s solo show exploring the issue of homelessness in Hong Kong. There will also be a panel discussion with HK local charities for homeless on 21 Sep, please also keep an eye out for that.

The exhibition title 針唔拮到肉 (zam1 m4 gat1 dou3 juk6) refers to the first part of the Cantonese proverb 針唔拮到肉唔知痛 (zam1 m4 gat1 dou3 juk6 m4 zi1 tung3) which literally translates into ‘you will not know of the pain until the needle pokes your flesh.’ It means to not understand the dilemma or difficulties (of something) until one has to face or deal with it. Go Hung uses this to describe homelessness. You will never truly understand the hardship the homeless face until you have experienced homelessness yourself. In this exhibition, Go Hung attempts to explore the issues faced by the homeless, tapping into his own personal fear of becoming homeless, as well as his observations of the homeless around him in Hong Kong.

Opening reception: 12 Sep 2024 5 - 8 pm

Gallery address: G/F, 197 Hollywood Road

a|n Gallery and Novalis Art Design proudly present “Good Day, Hollywood Road”, featuring two esteemed Hong Kong artists, Chan Sai Lok and Chui Pui Chee, to explore the historical and cultural significance of Hong Kong through the lens of Hollywood Road, an  iconic area known for its rich cultural and artistic heritage as well as its position as an art trading centre.

Throughout their careers, both Chan and Chui have dedicated themselves to reflecting the subtle cultural nuances of Hong Kong and its residents. They adopt a quiet yet powerful approach to presenting their subjects. Although their artistic techniques differ, the works seamlessly converge, collectively portraying multiple layers of Hong Kong’s cultural identity. The exhibition allows the audience to explore the delicate balance between modern and traditional artistic media.

Opening Reception: 1 Aug, 5 - 8 pm The artists will be present at the opening.

Gallery address: G/F, 197 Hollywood Road

You are warmly invited to the opening reception of “Alessandro Busci, Smoking”. The exhibition is Busci’s first solo exhibition in Asia, supported by the Italian Cultural Institute in Hong Kong. Busci generates delicate signs as a sapient calligrapher, outlining dark flashes, nocturnal lights, hypnotic monochrome landscapes with difficult promise. A dark vision of the urban drama in the world. His paintings full of gestures that prophesy the oily, petroliferous worlds, of atmospheres where hope persists only through some rare concession of a few touches of yellow or orange.

Opening Reception: 20 June, 6 - 9 pm

Gallery address: G/F, 197 Hollywood Road

Novalis Art Design is pleased to present “The Room I’m In”, a solo show by Michele De Lucchi supported by the Consulate General of Italy in Hong Kong and the Italian Cultural Institute in Hong Kong. In this exhibition, Michele De Lucchi explores the complex interaction between human beings and the surrounding environment, between the flow of past time and the liveliness of the present. He invites us to reflect on our ability to communicate and our constant effort to give meaning and value to everything around us.

Opening Reception: 30 May, 6 - 9 pm

Gallery address: G/F, 197 Hollywood Road

Francesco Lietti has been living in Hong Kong since early 2006 and his love of this vibrant, eclectic city is immediately apparent in his works, which derives from the mnemonic imagery of the artist, who lives in symbiosis with the themes of travel and discovery.

When first visiting Hong Kong in the summer of 2005, the painter experienced an overwhelming sensation: fascinated by the variety of colours, the rich smells, and the plethora of images he was drawn to return and stay. This exciting metropolis is something you cannot just put into a frame: something would spill out; something would be missing; one can catch the details, but he or she would never be able to capture the entire picture. The artist portrays this through simple and direct forms. He paints naïve visions that often have a humorous quality, describing the city in an almost caricatured magnificence. Through the use of striking colours the painter captures the essence of Hong Kong’s famous harbour skyline and makes it his own. His paintings hover between reality and fantasy. Using strong blocks of paint to represent the buildings, Lietti also includes smaller patches of textured colour, which dance across the cityscape, giving it that dream-like, ephemeral quality. The artist works in acrylic and oils on canvas and also adds collage to give his paintings texture and depth. He then finishes his pieces with a thick, glossy resin, further enhancing the brightness of the colours.

Opening reception: 11 April, 5 - 8 pm

Gallery address: G/F, 197 Hollywood Road

On the occasion of the Italian Design Day 2024 (IDD), Novalis Art Design hosts an aperitivo at the gallery alongside the show ‘META+MEMPHIS’, presenting design pieces from the Memphis Group, and the Meta Memphis collections of 1989 and 1991.

The Memphis Group was an Italian design movement founded by Ettore Sottsass in 1981 alongside Michele de Lucchi, Aldo Cibic, Matteo Thun, Marco Zanini, Martine Bedin, Nathalie Du Pasquier, and George Sowden. Active between 1981 and 1988, the Memphis Group defined ‘80s aesthetics and greatly revolutionised the design world.

Memphis sought to rebel against the ‘uniform panorama of good taste’ of the time, where the principle ‘form follows function’ reigned supreme. With Memphis, design has been liberated from rationality, and enters the realm of poetry. Form no longer had to follow function. Design could be loud, colourful, whimsical, with clashing patterns. Objects were liberated from function and instead became visual objects rather than just tools or pieces of furniture.

Opening reception: 14 March, 6:30 - 8 pm

Gallery address: G/F, 197 Hollywood Road

Novalis Art Design is pleased to present “da dove sto chiamando”, Italian artist Andrew Iacobucci’s first solo show in Asia supported by the Italian Cultural Institute in Hong Kong. In these works, the exploration delves around the limits and struggles of language. When thoughts need to be translated into something to be communicated and understood, they have to shed some of their ambiguity and the most liminal aspects of meaning. We all share that moment when we feel utterly unable to express what we felt ora complex thought that sounded perfectly formed in our mind in clear sentences. That indecisiveness, that feeling of inadequacy, that clear feeling that words are futile devices or incomplete.

Gallery address: G/F, 197 Hollywood Road

Novalis Art Design is pleased to present “For What It’s Worth: Ceramic Experimentations by Julie & Jesse”. Rust, used cardboard wrapper, ceramic shards, roadside saplings — these are all things that we come in contact with on a regular basis, yet are so ordinary that we don’t usually register having seen them by the end of the day, and may even want to remove them to tidy up a place. But for Julie & Jesse, what are considered useless and unwanted to most are treasures to them. Each find becomes an opportunity to unpack stories across time and space, hidden within the material. The duo’s eye for curiosity and investigative approach have not only driven their entire creative practice — it is how they make sense of the world. The new works presented in this exhibition are both documentation and fruition of their ceramic experimentations in the past decade. What they create is a testimony to their superb technical skills, but it is always poetic and personal.

Opening Reception: 30 Nov, 6 - 9 pm

Gallery address: G/F, 197 Hollywood Road

Art Next and Novalis Art Design jointly present ‘In Dialogue with Nature,’ a duo exhibition of Hong Kong painter Fung Chim and Italian photographer Costanza Gastaldi. Here, Fung Chim spotlights the often overlooked nature that we seeevery day within the city, while Costanza Gastaldi takes the viewer on ajourney deep into the forest full of mystery.

Fung Chim is an astute observer of the Hong Kong urban landscape he resides in, especially the spatial interaction between the artificial architecture and the trees that decorate the urban spaces. His works highlight elements of beauty that exist within the familiar landscape that we might walk past every day but fail to notice. He chooses to forgo the depth from conventional western perspective. Instead of creating a space viewers can project themselves into, Fung Chim foregrounds the pattern that is formed by the foliage of trees, sometimes contrasted with tiled walls, so that each element has equal presence and is not overlooked. In his works, every individual element is depicted in meticulous detail, each leave, flower petal, branch and tile are rendered with the same precision. In Orchid Tree, the detail in the tiled wall in the background is such that you can see the cracks within the tiny square tiles, how sections of the wall have faded in colour, and even faint shadows in indentations where tiles have fallen off. Though no humans are depicted in his paintings, it is in such details of wear and tear that indicate the human history within the urban fabric. Despite the  In his other paintings within this exhibition, Fung Chim focuses on the trees themselves and leaves the background white, letting the viewer admire the complexity and different characteristics of different trees. Sunshinetree, CommonRed Stem, Indian Almond are all common trees that we see dotted amongst boulevards and green spaces within Hong Kong. It is something we might see walking past our neighbourhood every day and yet how many of us have bothered to notice their names and individual character? With his signature style, Fung Chim brings the beauty of the neglected everyday nature around us and we are inspired to look more closely for moments of beauty in the mundane.

Costanza Gastaldi’s series Sylvan Reliquary takes the viewer into a lush verdant scenery meeting halfway between the fantasized landscapes and the one journeyed in. In such a quest for the existential, the wandering of the artist puts forward on one hand the archetype of creation and death and on another, melancholia. Through her work, the viewer can freely lose themselves in the mysterious forest that she presents: ‘The light falls. The Silent Forest is full of emotions... Protected by the darkness, the ‘tree-bodies’ take cramped positions. Halfway between the craft of suffering and positions of love, they mingle, intertwine, overlap to finally unite as if in an aid to resistance. In this marvellous intrigue, in this abandonment, emerges the will to mix, this pursuit for exchange, that keeps persisting despite the reality of finitude.’ Costanza Gastaldi explores “our own sentimental geography”. Between darkness and light, she sculpts with prowess the landscapes of the mind’s spirit. Daydreams and reality converse and highlight the complexities of our emotions. The viewer is sucked into the depth by the deep darkness in each frame and finds themselves bewitch ed by the natural world teeming with details. The smoky nuances entice us and transform the artworks into true objects of desire. It is in a vast grayscale field of the noble black that the most significant elements in her craft materialize. Her work not only pushes us into self-reflection but also opens vast trails of exploration around broad subjects on aesthetics, politics and metaphysics linked to the relationship that man has with nature.

Opening reception: 19 Oct 2023, 6 - 9 pm

Gallery address: G/F, 197 Hollywood Road

Novalis Art Design is delighted to present Radical Legacies, an exhibition showcasing the legacies of Italian Radical Design with Gufram. The exhibition will showcase icons such as Bocca, the giant red lips sofa, Cactus, the cactus-shaped hall tree, and Pratone, the seat that resembles a giant patch of grass. The exhibition will also coincide with the launch of Snarkitecture’s (studio by Daniel Arsham and Alex Mustonen) latest collection with Gufram, The Sculpted Series, in Hong Kong. To celebrate such a special occasion, for the opening night, Novalis Art Design has invited Mr. Massimo Petovello, award-winning bartender, General Manager and Bartender-in-Chief of Mizunara The Library, to mix three exclusive cocktails inspired by the design icons of Gufram. Spaces are limited please RSVP to charmaine@novalisartdesign.com with the names of you and your guests attending.

Opening reception: 12 October, 6 - 9 pm

Venue: 1/F, Liang Yi Museum, 181 - 199 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan

Sex is everywhere. We are surrounded by sex, especially in this consumerist age, where sex has been used to sell products through a near-constant bombardment of imagery. The ready availability of online porn and other digital media has made the rampant consumption of sex possible. The proliferation of sexualisation in mainstream media has made it less taboo. Sex out of marriage is no longer frowned upon, we are urged to celebrate our own sexuality. This is indeed a thing to be celebrated! And yet, with sex becoming commonplace, it seems to have led to an increase in the mindless consumption of it.

More and more people are increasingly blinded to the power of sex, that in any act of sex, power is being exerted on, or being taken away from someone or something.Sex (be it the act itself, the projected image of it, manifestations in visual culture, or the desire of it) and power are inherently intertwined with each other.

This exhibition is an invitation to both the audience and the artists Lau Hong Lam, IV Chan, Florence Lam, and Batten and Kamp to re-examine this relationship between sex and power that permeates our society.

Gallery address: G/F, 197 Hollywood Road, Central

This is an exhibition of Japanese artist Katsumi Nakai’s defining oeuvre, despite being his later works from 1991 – 2011. In finding Milan, Nakai found freedom in his own terms, namely his signature style of ‘hiraku’ (opening) works. Since his first work in this manner in 1966, Nakai has continuously explored the different possibilities of ‘hiraku’（‮٦‬‭}‬٪ط) (opening), which is opening up from 2D into new space and dimensions. Nakai’s work is unique in its hybridity. His work is a cross between painting and sculpture, melding Eastern and Western influences (be it a conscious or unconscious decision). It is impossible to classify Nakai as one or the other, as his work reflects himself as a whole, whether that is his personality, or his life experiences from both the East (Japan) and West (Italy). Regardless of whether it was a conscious decision on Nakai’s part, the Eastern and Western influences have been absorbed by the artist through osmosis of simply living and experiencing culture from both Japan and Italy. Hence why viewers can get the sense of both Eastern and Western influences while looking at Nakai’s works.

Gallery address: G/F, 197 Hollywood Road

Novalis Art Design is pleased to present “DIS-PLAY,” the first solo exhibition of Italian artist Riccardo TEN Colombo in Asia, supported by the Italian Cultural Institute in Hong Kong. The exhibition will showcase TEN’s new project “Cromoblock”.

Playing allows us to create a spontaneous relationship with objects, to transform their use, meaning and form, to unite the real with the imaginary, to create a connection with the world of childhood and to prefigure our future. This is how Riccardo “TEN” Colombo combines craftsmanship with industrial production, collective art with individual art through play within the works of the “Cromoblock” series. TEN chooses an aesthetic that “creates a bridge” between the avant-gardes of the twentieth century and the metaverse. In fact, on the one hand these works involuntarily take us back to those moments of childhood when we lay on a carpet composing shapes and imagining fantastic worlds (as written by critic Ilaria Bignotti). On the other hand, they connect to a visual tradition that starts from constructivism and cubism, passes through the optical-kinetic art of the sixties and reaches contemporary graffiti and the most recent crypto art.
In these works, Riccardo TEN Colombo, a Turin-based artist who trained in the field of street art and the hip hop and punk culture of the 1990s, stages the game. He arranges it in the limited area of a board, and offers it to the spectator, giving them the opportunity to scatter it and put it back together. TEN creates an engaging artistic experience, as suggested by the title of his exhibition “DIS-PLAY” organized at the Novalis gallery in Hong Kong.

Gallery address: 197 Hollywood Road

We’re ringing in the new year of rabbit with a new show of Italian art by Marcello Morandini, Massimo Listri and some design pieces by Roger Selden and Barber Osgerby.

Gallery address: G/F 197 Hollywood Road

Novalis Art Design is delighted to present the exhibition ‘The Other Side of La Dolce Vita: Pier Paolo Pasolini with Tazio Secchiaroli in the locations of Accattone.

This exhibition is organised by the Italian Cultural Institute in Hong Kong under a series of programmes celebrating the 100th anniversary of Pier Paolo Pasolini and is part of the Italia Mia Festival.

In 1960, Pier Paolo Pasolini decided to make his first film depicting the urban underclass of Rome, as opposed to the glitz and glamour depicted in Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita. Together with Tazio Secchiaroli as photographer, they set out scouting the locations that will shape the film Accattone. The exhibition aims to bring together the two sides of Rome, showing the contradictions of a society that was heading towards an economic boom. Photographs by Tazio Secchiaroli, mostly unpublished, for inspections and filming are juxtaposed with his best-known photographs, those who made him famous as the first of the paparazzi, for the photographs stolen in Via Veneto.

Alone and with Pasolini he goes in search of the most suitable and descriptive glimpses of the Roman villages, creating a reportage of over 150 photographs that today are urban, architectural, and social evidence of Rome. Not simple photographs for locations, but an analytical reportage where the photographer’s gaze lingers on the population living on the street: children, women, a few men in empty and sunny streets. Shreds of walls, stories, lives. A sort of counterpoint to the glittering and glamorous life of Via Veneto, Cinecittà, of gossip, but seen by the same photographer who made the sweet Roman nightlife famous.

Gallery address: 197 Hollywood Road, Central

Novalis Art Design is delighted to present Sylvan Reliquary, a solo photography exhibition by Italian artist Costanza Gastaldi (b. 1993). This will be her second solo exhibition in Asia.

According to visual artist Costanza Gastaldi, optics is not restricted to just photography as its only proof of knowledge. In her new series “Sylvan Reliquary” she expresses and reinforces her statement through the power of imagination, the real touchstone between capturing reality (proving it) and experiencing it.

This new photographic series is the continuation of “Géographie Sentimentale”, 2013 and “Loto Nero”, 2018. It comprises fifteen shots articulated through a lush verdant scenery meeting halfway between the fantasized landscapes and the one journeyed in. In such a quest for the existential, the wandering of the artist puts forward on one hand the archetype of creation and death and on another, melancholia.

Gallery address: G/F, 197 Hollywood Road

The waste we discard and shut out from our minds lingers and haunts us. Walter Benjamin urges us to look seriously at what we have disposed of and the art of disposal itself. A ragpicker is a materialist historian who examines what is regarded as ‘waste’ in the present to piece together the history of a collective cultural identity. What we have abandoned still shapes us without us realising, much like how waste haunts us even after its disposal. In fact, the psychological phenomenon that occurs during the act of disposal draws a parallel with psychological trauma. When we throw something away, it ceases to exist in our minds, and yet it is physically still there, rotting away. Similarly, some may treat psychological trauma by blocking the traumatic memories, by ‘disposing’ of them, and yet they are still there in their minds festering, an ‘invisible’ menace. Artists perform as ragpickers of their own waste, handling memories, relationships, and emotions that they have not come to terms with. Waste thus also allows artists to construct their personal histories. This exhibition presents three ragpickers in Sharu Sikdar, Go Hung, and Wong Chun Kit Louis.
Curated by Charmaine Tam

Gallery address: G/F, 197 Hollywood Road

In 2020, in conjunction with the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Italy and China, the Italy-China Year of Culture and Tourism was announced and finally takes place in 2022, postponed by the pandemic. 2022 also marks the 200th anniversary of Italian Neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova’s (1757 – 1822) death. For this occasion, the Italian Cultural Institute in Hong Kong is delighted to organize the travelling exhibition Jodice/Canova, hosted at Novalis Contemporary Art Design Gallery, after various stops in Bassano del Grappa, Milan, Arezzo, Mexico City and San Marino.

Jodice/Canova puts in dialogue two Italian artists from different eras: one of the greatest sculptors of the European Neoclassicism and one of the major interpreters of Italian and International contemporary photography; a union that combines the ideal and real, body and soul, matter and image.

Gallery address: G/F 197 Hollywood Road

<Natura Morta, Oggetti Vivi> translates from Italian to ‘Still Life, Living Objects’. Though ‘Natura Morta’ is the Italian term for ‘Still Life’, it literally translates to ‘dead nature,’ referring to the tranquil and silent sense of the word ‘morte’. The title was chosen for this exhibition which features historic still life works on paper by Giorgio Morandi and Picasso, alongside lively contemporary design objects that exist within the same space as us, and thus are ‘living’ in real time, as opposed to the objects depicted in still lives, forever frozen in the time and space they were captured in. The ‘dead’ objects are silent and tranquil, constant, and unchanging within the picture frame. The ‘living’ objects may still change over time, a different face under each interplay of light and shadow, placement, or traces, marks gained from loving usage, wear and tear. Both converge in a visual conversation on objects, how we view them, and how we use them.

Gallery address: G/F, 197 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan

Novalis Art Design is pleased to present the first solo exhibition of Francesco Carozza in Asia with support from the Italian Cultural Institute – Hong Kong. "Colour provokes a psychic vibration", wrote Wassily Kandinsky in the chapter on The language of form and colour in his book "Concerning the Spiritual in Art" (1910). This "vibration" can also be found in the works of Francesco Carozza: it is a spiritual tension, the pure power of colour and material.

Francesco's style is instantly recognisable. His paintings, simple in their immediacy, conceal the artist's unceasing exploration and connection with the international pictorial tradition of the 20th and 21st centuries. Francesco's approach is ritualistic, almost obsessive. His creative gestures are reiterated on each canvas, in a constant search for the repetition and variation of the elements of painting: gesture, form and colour.

Gallery address: 197 Hollywood Road, Central

Novalis Art Design and Batten and Kamp are proud to present Elsewhere. The exhibition is born of artists’ mixed interests in nature and science fiction and is a family of ideas that have been evolving since 2020. Now it has culminated in seven somewhat otherworldly limited edition furniture and sculpture works. The collection combines inspiration from home land of New Zealand and the far reaches of space, and employs materials as disparate as 3D printed titanium, hand blown neon, digitally printed silks, bent plywood and natural boulders.

Opening reception: 2nd December 18:00 - 21:00

Gallery address: G/F, 197 Hollywood Road