City Life 城市生活

City Life

1999-2000/ Total: 40 pieces/ Exhibition: City Life – Paintings by Fong So, UMAG, The University of Hong Kong, 2000-01/ Catalogue: City Life, 2000

This is a collection of paintings using traditional Chinese painting media, mainly ink and Xuan paper, to depict realistic scenes from life. The collection was shown in Fong So’s first solo exhibition at the University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong, from November 2000 to January 2001.

城市生活

1999-2000/ 作品: 40張/ 展覽: 城市生活 – 方蘇繪畫, 香港大學美術博物館, 2000-01 / 目錄: 《城市生活 ： 方蘇繪畫》2000

這個系列的畫作，使用的是傳統中國畫的筆墨和宣紙，但繪畫的是現今的生活情景，並於2000年1月至2001年1月在香港大學美術博物館展出，是為方蘇的首次個展。

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“…Fong So depicts different aspects of life in a metropolis, bringing into focus those who are old or neglected, and simple city folks, familiar yet extraordinary…. Within a period of only two years, he has managed to complete this group of paintings that are innovative in composition, fascinating in colour, and of subjects that stimulate thought and contemplation.”
— Anita Wong, Curator, University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong
(Foreword of the exhibition catalogue, 2000)

「方蘇……深入描繪出形形色色的都市生活，突顯被人遺忘的老弱一群和城市中的小人物，在平凡中展現他們的不平凡。……[他]花了上兩年時間完成了這批構圖獨特、色彩濃烈、發人深省的作品。」
—  黃燕芳. 香港大學美術博物館舘長 (展覽目錄前言 . 2000)

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“After painting city life for nearly two years, I still fail to give people a satisfactory answer when they ask me why I painted something like that. Finally, I can only say that we belong to our time and I am no exception. After all, we all bear the imprint of our time.”
— Fong So, “The story of City Life”, exhibition catalogue, 2000)

「我畫城市生活至今，快兩年了。人們問我為什麽畫這種東西，我的答案連自己也不滿意。最後我只能說，我們都屬於自己的時代，我也如是。說到底，我們全都帶着時代的印記。」
— 方蘇《城市生活的故事》 (展覽目錄 . 2000)

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Cover image
Horse Racing Day 賽馬日
2000, ink and colour on paper 水墨設色紙本, 123.5 x 179.5 cm
A crowded off-course betting centre of the Hong Kong Jockey Club in a horse racing day.
每逢賽馬日，香港賽馬會各場外投注站往往是擠得針插不進。

Project gallery
1. Living Ashore 上岸
2000, ink and colour on paper 水墨設色紙本, 166 x 144 cm
Two old women with bowed legs in an urbanized fishing town in Hong Kong.
都市化之後的小漁港，兩個彎腿的老婆婆。

2. Offering 祭
1999, ink and colour on paper 水墨設色紙本, 172 x 93 cm
Offering to ancestors and deities on the street: an old custom kept by many old folk in Hong Kong.
香港很多老人家仍奉行「燒街衣」的舊俗，拜祭祖先及神祇。

3. The Outpatients 候診
2000, ink and colour on paper 水墨設色紙本, 366 x 144 cm
A long queue of old women waiting outside a public clinic in the early morning.
公立診所清晨常見的人龍，候診的老婆婆特多。

4. Street Cat 街貓
1999, ink and colour on paper 水墨設色紙本, 152 x 83 cm
A hunch-backed old woman feeding a street cat in the evening.
[Hong Kong Museum of Art collection; permission of using the image granted by the Museum]
傍晚喂貓的駝背老婆婆。[香港藝術館藏品；此網頁經許可錄用此圖]

5. The Escorts 侍
2000, ink and colour on paper 水墨設色紙本, 183 x 144 cm
A young couple escorting an old woman with a zimmerframe.
一對年輕夫婦拱護着一個撐助行器的老婆婆。

6. The Rain 雨
1999, ink and colour on paper 水墨設色紙本, in two panels 二屏, each 每屏178 x 96 cm
It rained heavily during Hong Kong’s handover in 1997. And it rained on for one month.
香港九七移交時下大雨；雨持續了一個月。