TKG+ at Art Basel Hong Kong 2024｜Booth 1D03: Art Fair

For the 2024 edition of Art Basel Hong Kong, TKG+ is pleased to present Mit Jai Inn, Jane Lee, Michael Lin, and Jam Wu.

What is painting? Or more specifically, what is East Asian painting? The mainstream understanding of Asian painting usually revolves around traditional Chinese and Japanese painting, which has branched out from the roots of Han culture and ink traditions. In the diverse and nuanced East Asia/Southeast Asia, which comprises different ethnicities, cultures, linguistic groups, and even vastly different histories, the vocabulary and trajectory of painting are not only distinct from the systems established in the West which originated from Europe, but also markedly different from Chinese ink traditions. Artists like Mit Jai Inn from Thailand, Jane Lee from Singapore, Michael Lin and Jam Wu from Taiwan represent a cultural, geographical, and ancestral lineage that encompasses influences from the Minyue, Malay, and Pacific Island systems.

When we describe their work as using non-traditional painting methods, we risk marginalizing and othering a complex cultural ecology by asserting superiority. In fact, using techniques such as sewing, weaving, paper cutting, layering, or kneading as means of expression, the four artists affirm their subjectivity through their cultural heritage.

Mit Jai Inn (b. 1960) explores the boundaries of painting through repetitive manual labor, sublimating the continuous blending, layering, and mixing of pigments into observations of Thai society and politics. Jane Lee (b. 1963) redefines the balance between the two-dimensional and three-dimensional with assiduous layering, weaving, and daubing of paint. Michael Lin (b. 1964) encapsulates Taiwanese popular cultural memory in traditional Taiwanese floral patterns. Jam Wu (b. 1979) reinterprets the Austronesian culture, using weaving techniques that trace back to ancient folk traditions in his examination of contemporary social experience. Together these four artists infuse a new perspective into East Asian painting that is at once singular and authentic.

Despite coming from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, the works of these four artist share commonalities: excess stripped away, subtle wit tinged with grace, rationality coupled with social concern. A sense of keen insight pervades their practices, where they confront the human predicament with the same audacious vigor.

With this year’s presentation at Art Basel Hong Kong, TKG+ aims to offer a new approach to East and South Asian art for its global audience. Having participated in major art fairs worldwide, TKG+ celebrates its 15^th year of regional engagement, aspiring to catapult Asian contemporary art to new heights.