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A Hong Kong fantasy: colourful, moody paintings by two artists of factories and fast-disappearing places capture the way of life in the city

  • Artists Chow Chun-Fai and Stephen Wong’s joint exhibition, ‘A Mirage of a Shining City’, romanticises symbols of the city’s heritage
  • Some of the paintings feature characters from famous films set in areas of the city that have been demolished or face an uncertain future

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Hong Kong artists Chow Chun-fai (left) and Stephen Wong at their duo exhibition “A Mirage of a Shining City” at Tang Contemporary Art gallery. Photo: Tang Contemporary Art

Hong Kong is a favourite subject matter for residents Chow Chun-fai and Stephen Wong Chun-hei, who have been friends since art school and have, between them, committed large swathes of their home to canvas.

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The two men, both born in the 1980s, are highly skilled painters who create intricate, realistic representations while adopting perspectives that allow their monumental canvases to capture more than the eyes – or camera lenses – can see.

Their paintings are aesthetically pleasing and accessible, and seem innocuous and conservative, but when official policy is focused on promoting a unified national identity, idealising and romanticising symbols of the city’s heritage – as these two artists do – can be considered a political act.

The two usually occupy separate territories in terms of subject matter. Chow’s full-size cityscapes have captured parts of the city that epitomise the sometimes overwhelming experience of urban living: the bustling streets of Mong Kok, the noisy cha chaan teng cafes, the public housing estates.
Wong in front of his “Maybe the City is a Jail of the Stars” (2023). Photo: Tang Contemporary Art
Wong in front of his “Maybe the City is a Jail of the Stars” (2023). Photo: Tang Contemporary Art
Wong tends to turn his gaze away from the crowds. In 2022, his majestic “MacLehose Trail” series – the most ambitious of his rural Hong Kong landscapes – covered all 100km (62 miles) of the popular walking trail.
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