K11 Art Foundation co-presents “Calligraphy Rhapsody—Retrospective Exhibition of Georges Mathieu”

_{Image courtesy of K11 Art Foundation and Comité Georges Mathieu / ADAGP, Paris - SACK, Seoul, 2021.}

To celebrate Hong Kong’s annual art month, foster cross-cultural dialogue, and inspire through the arts, K11 Art Foundation (KAF) presents a remarkable international arts programme at K11 Musea. Headlining the programme is “Calligraphy Rhapsody—Retrospective Exhibition of Georges Mathieu,” co-presented by K11 Art Foundation and the Consulate General of France in Hong Kong and Macau. The exhibition, which is the largest retrospective exhibition of Georges Mathieu in Hong Kong to date, showcases the preeminent artist’s works spanning four decades.

Curated by Catherine Kwai, “Calligraphy Rhapsody” features 14 major paintings tracing 40 years from Mathieu’s early work in the 1950s to his later “cosmic shift” period which started in 1984, as well as three large-scale paintings of six-metre-wide canvases that were specially created for his major retrospective at the Grand Palais in 1978. Marking the artist’s centenary in 2021, this exhibition celebrates Mathieu’s fierce and poetic expressivity as well as his bold visionary spirit while introducing this French pioneer of free abstraction to a new audience.

To complement the exhibition, K11 Art Foundation has also curated a series of educational resources and experiences both online and offline. TÖÖF serves as a participatory experience for all ages, where visitors are encouraged by prompts to approach the artworks from different angles and actively respond to them in the exhibition. For school-aged children, a tailor-made activity kit inspired by the artist’s creative practice provides a variety of simple art-making exercises, inviting them to unleash their imagination and express their feelings through art and the creative process. Additionally, specially curated online resources are also available to allow visitors to learn beyond the works showcased in the exhibition.