The Cat Street Gallery is proud to present Dragon Garden, an exhibition featuring works inspired by the iconic Dragon Garden in Hong Kong. All of the works in the exhibition will be sold to aid the conservation of this unique heritage site.
In 1949 Hong Kong philanthropist Dr. Lee Iu Cheung bought land in Sham Tseng, and for the following 20 years lovingly planned, designed and landscaped Dragon Garden to become one of Hong Kong’s hidden cultural treasures in the New Territories, only 30 minutes drive away from Central. A man far ahead of his times, Dr. Lee's conservationist and environmental building principles can be seen in all aspects of the garden's stunning new architecture of a Chinese classical style and natural landscaping. Dragon Garden became internationally famous as a key location in the 1974 James Bond film 'The Man with the Golden Gun' and today it is embarking on an organic rehabilitation process so that it can be enjoyed by the Hong Kong public once again. For more information on Dragon Garden please contact Lindsay Robertson on lindsaylulu@gmail.com
Each highly sought after artist will present their own vision of the Dragon Garden:
Australian artist Paul Davies creates compelling paintings which draw heavily upon modernist architecture. His vision of the garden’s empty swimming pool is both compelling and classically retro. Architect turned artist Kacey Wong creates installation and sculptural works which respond to his environment and was recently a key figure in the Shenzen Biennale. Building upon his acclaimed Drift Cityseries, the artist presents himself as a human skyscraper in the garden. Olaf Mueller, one of Hong Kong’s premiere celebrity photographers is known for his surrealistic composition and dramatic staging. He will be working with superstar Kay Tse for his theatrical Dragon Garden shoot. Scottish sculptor Kirsteen Pieterse draws on an enduring interest in the landscape and the structures that man builds within it in her architectural sculptures. She will respond to the garden by cultivating an abstracted sense of it in her acrylic and wooden sculptures. Hong Kong based painter and sculptor Richard Winkworth will channel his response to the garden into encaustic wax on wooden panels, highlighting both organic forms and processes. The high fashion photographer and stylist team Baldovino Barani and Holly Suan Gray have created a fantastical couture shoot in the Dragon Garden, employing a highly sophisticated design aesthetic. Hong Kong mixed media artist Esther Yip Lai-Man is known for her delicate paper assemblages and will be applying her unique creative process to motifs from the Dragon Garden. Hong Kong graphic artist and illustrator, Jonathan Jay Lee will fuse his contemporary graphic style with the serenity of the Dragon Garden.
