Tsang Kin-Wah () is a visual artist based in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. His earlier work, particularly his "wallpaper art", was known for its combination of beautiful illustration and painting, and for its use of profane or obscene words. More recently, he has explored topics related to politics and religion via large-form, multi-media installations that combine music, video and light projections.

Early life and education

Tsang was born in

Shantou Shantou, Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized as Swatow and sometimes known as Santow, is a prefecture-level city on the eastern coast of Guangdong, China, with a total population of 5,502,031 as of the 20 ...

, Guangdong Province, China, and moved to Hong Kong as a young child. He studied art at the

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public university, public research university in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong. Established in 1963 as a federation of three university college, collegesChung Chi College, New Asia Coll ...

and the

Camberwell College of Arts Camberwell College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art and design university in London, England. The college offers further and higher education programmes, including postgraduate and PhD awards. ...

in London on a

Chevening Scholarship The Chevening Scholarship is an international scholarship, funded by the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and partner organizations, that enables foreign students to study at universities in the United Kingdom. History The C ...

Wallpaper Art

His wallpaper art creates large-scale wallpaper installations that evoke the floral designs of William Morris in a style that has become known as word-art installation. It combines foul language with floral patterns (the text is arranged to form flowers and plants), highlighting the organic force intertwining nature and human; the surface being the text and the attached emotions as shouts to be discovered by the visitor.

Multimedia installations

Kin-Wah Tsang's most recent work explores topics in philosophy, religion, and popular culture through immersive multimedia installations. One of the first such installations was "Ecce Homo Trilogy”. The installation's idea is centered upon "

Ecce Homo ''Ecce homo'' (, , ; "behold the man") are the Latin words used by Pontius Pilate in the Vulgate translation of the Gospel of John, when he presents a scourged Jesus, bound and crowned with thorns, to a hostile crowd shortly before his crucif ...

", a phrase that was both used by Pontius Pilate at the last judgment and as the title of a book by Nietzsche. By placing these two references together, Tsang questions the impartialness of judgment. The next major installation was "The Infinite Nothing,” a phrase also coming from Nietzsche. The installation consists of separate video installations that represent transformative journeys through stages in life. Following up on this work, his latest work "Nothing" continues to explore the idea of existence. It is the first commissioned exhibit of the $3 billion

West Kowloon Cultural District The West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD, ) is a large arts development in Hong Kong. Designed and planned by Foster and Partners, the district comprises with 17 venues. Major establishments include Xiqu Centre for Chinese opera, the Freespa ...

Prizes and commissions

* In 2005, at the age of 29, Tsang won the US $25,000 Sovereign Art Foundation Prize. * In 2014, he was chosen to represent Hong Kong at the 2015

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

. * In 2016, he created the first solo show for the

. at M+ Pavilion. * In 2016, Tsang is part of a major group show of Chinese artists at the Guggenheim museum in New York. For example, see .

Museum and other collections

* A3 Collection, Kadist Art Foundation, USA * Asian Art Museum, USA * Burger Collection, Zurich, Switzerland * Camberwell College of Arts, the London Institute, London * CODA Museum, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands * Deutsche Bank Collection, Hong Kong * DSL Collection, Paris *

Guggenheim Museum The Guggenheim Museums are a group of museums in different parts of the world established (or proposed to be established) by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Museums in this group include: * The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, Ne ...

, New York * MAXXI, Rome *

Mori Art Museum The is a contemporary art museum founded by the real estate developer Minoru Mori. It is located in the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower in the Roppongi Hills complex, a commercial, cultural, and residential mega-complex in Tokyo, Japan. The museum's ...

, Tokyo * Museum of Design Zurich, Switzerland * Hong Kong Heritage Museum, Hong Kong *

Hong Kong Museum of Art The Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA) is the first and one of the main art museums of Hong Kong, located in located in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, near the Victoria Harbour waterfront, providing a scenic view of Hong Kong’s skyline. It is a publ ...

, Hong Kong * M+ Museum, Hong Kong * New Asia College, The Chinese University of Hong Kong * Sovereign Art Foundation, Hong Kong * The Sigg Collection, Switzerland * UBS Art Collection * William Lim's Living Collection, Hong Kong

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kin-Wah, Tsang 21st-century Chinese artists Hong Kong artists People from Shantou Alumni of the Chinese University of Hong Kong Alumni of the University of the Arts London