Last chance to see Hong Kong's most exciting eco-art

An exhibition of artworks inspired by the environment stood like silent protesters in the IFC mall this past week. A bleak landscape of coal and ash, a canister of Hong Kong Air Freshener in front of a dreary skyline and...you get the picture.

The display was a run-up to the major environmental art auction headed by local non-profit Clean Air Network (CAN). Unlike your typical tree-hugging campaign filled with throwaway tag lines and threatening statistics, the organization has come up with a new angle -- contemporary art. 

“We are engaging the imaginations of leading artists on the issue especially those who call Hong Kong home,” explains Joanne Ooi, Chief Executive of Clean Air Network.

CAN’s auction is set to take place on April 4 as part of Sotheby’s spring sales in line with hotly anticipated auctions such as the Ullens’ Collection.

It’s no small deal that CAN has won the support of Sotheby’s during one of their most critical periods of the year. Their auction not only brings visibility to issues of the environment but it also raises the profile of Hong Kong artists.

From the 40 participating artists more than half are locals. Ooi says that nine artists created works especially for the auction. Hong Kong artist William Furniss was one of them. Air pollution in particular is an issue that impacts his daily life as a location photographer.

“In Hong Kong you probably only have four or five days in the year where you can really actively photograph all day long,” he laments. The situation is so bad that Furniss has resorted to shooting primarily at night and capturing mostly abstract imagery.

His work "The Boy’s Done Good" is a photograph of a vase with flowers erupting in flames alluding to Hong Kong people’s disregard for the environment. It is estimated to fetch between HK$15,000 – 25,000.

Perhaps the most established local artist who created work for CAN’s cause is Wilson Shieh whose piece "Cloud Boys" is expected to receive between HK$65,000 – 85,000. Shieh takes a subtler approach to the issue in his delicate painting. He shows a sea of nudes clinging onto each other and floating in web-like formation amidst a darkening sky. 

Emerging local artists such as Nadim Abbas have also donated works with estimates reaching as high as HK$60,000. CAN says that in their entirety, the 51 works could raise more than $1.9 million.

There have been auctions in the city providing local artists a platform and supporting a good cause. But CAN’s auction is different. They have gone far beyond the regular exercise of gathering random art to auction off at an exclusive dinner. Instead the group has pulled together a cohesive selection of work, vigorously marketed the artists and exhorted the public to take notice of our environment.

“Great art forms a buffer zone to engage various problems,” says local artist Kacey Wong. “I got involved with the auction because I think it’s about time to act.”

Exhibition until March 27 at Oval Atrium, IFC Mall. www.hongkongcan.org

Sotheby's Hong Kong Spring Sales 2011 on April 1-4, Contemporary Asian Art Gallery, Hall 5
Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre