My Family and My City 我家我城
My Family and My City: People and History
2008-2009 / Total: 25 paintings and 5 woodcut prints / Exhibition: “My Family and My City – People and History”, Pacific Place, Hong Kong 2009 / Catalogue: My Family and My City – People and History, 2009
This collection of portraits can be divided into two sub-groups. A small part of the collection, depicting some of the painter’s family members, tells the stories of two generations of a Chinese family. The painter’s long-time friends, appearing in the larger part, are all quintessential Hongkongers. A few of them are public figures; while most are not. All are portrayed against a background that tells stories behind each of them. Together, the whole series of stories, to a certain extent, epitomizes a period of history.
Portraiture is very often at the margins of Chinese painting. The subjects of traditional figure painting were usually beautiful ladies, notable literati, Buddhist and Taoist figures, or legendary characters. Even now, it seems that present-day life and people are rarely the concern of painters in the Chinese medium. This painting project, in which all pieces are portraits, is an attempt to show something different. Some other pieces are woodcuts, but all the prints are multi-colour.
我家我城:人與歷史
2008-2009 / 作品: 水墨25張,木刻版畫5張 / 展覽: 「我家我城:人與歷史」, 香港太古廣場, 2009 / 目錄: 《我家我城:人與歷史》2009
這批寫真畫像,全部實有其人,整個系列可以分為大小兩組。較小的一組是家史,畫了家庭中的若干成員,呈現了其中兩代人的一些經歷。較大的一組是為一些認識多年的朋友造像,這些人都可說是地道的香港人,其中有好幾個是公眾人物,但大多數人與你我相若。每一個畫像中的主角,所設的場景都帶着背後的故事。總體來看,整個系列的故事在一定程度上可以視為一個時代的縮影。
寫真在中國畫史上雖說是古已有之,但卻並不興盛。傳統的中國人物畫往往是畫美人、名士、道佛或神仙。即使今人作畫,只要使用傳統工具,題材意念往往是一仍舊貫,甚少繪寫現代人的生活。現在這個系列是新的嘗試,全部寫真。此系列中有幾件作品是木刻,但印出來的全是套色版畫。
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“Fong So’s project may be divided into two parts. The first part depicts his relatives, while the second consists of long-time friends. Viewers can trace his family history, as well as the appearance and personality of his old friends, and hence have a better understanding of the image and type of these figures… ‘History’ is ‘His story’, and everybody has a story of his/her own, making up pieces of a personal history, all bearing the imprint of the times. By displaying the whole series of portraits with stories behind, people can reconstruct the history of an era.”
— Anita Y.F. Wong, Curator (History), University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong (Catalogue essay “Portraits from Life: Figure paintings by Fong So, 2009)
「方蘇寫真的對象,包括家人和好友兩個系列。觀衆可通過這系列的人物肖像,看到他的家族歷史,以及老朋友的意態和性格特質,從中窺見這些人物在他心目中的形象和品貌。…… 所謂歷史,也就是人的故事,每件作品各有背後的故事,箇中人物各有不同面目,也各有本身的心路歷程。畫作烙下他們所屬年代的印記,正好編織成香港過去半世紀時代的縮影。」
— 黃燕芳‧香港大學美術博物館舘長(歷史)(目錄專文《得意傳神:方蘇的人物寫真》‧ 2009)
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“Apparently, not all of them [people portrayed by Fong So in this series] know one another. But their relations crisscross at many points, weaving a web of families, friends, activists, comrades and civic organizations, thus gleaming a picture of social movement and civil society… Many of Fong’s friends are connected with social movements promoting various causes – as organizers or participants… Wherever they were born, Hong Kong became their home. For them, the city has never been ‘a borrowed place in a borrowed time’.”
— Joseph M. Chan, Professor of Journalism and Communication, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Catalogue essay “Tracing History”, 2009)
「很明顯,畫中人不完全互相認識,但是彼此的關係也有不少交叉的地方,構成家庭、朋友圈子、活動組合、同志網絡、民間組織, 隱隱然顯着社會運動和民間社會的影子。……不少畫中人跟各種各樣的社會運動有關,不是組織者,就是參與者。…… 不管生在哪裏,香港對於他們從來都不是什麽借來的時空,而是自己的家園。」
— 陳韜文‧香港中文大學新聞與傳播學院講座教授 (目錄專文《為歷史留痕》‧ 2009)
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Cover image
New Year Wishes (Szeto Wah – retired educator and unionist, former Legislative Council member)
揮春 (司徒華,退休教育工作者及工會領導,前立法會議員)
2008, ink and colour on paper 水墨設色紙本, 69 x 93 cm
*This brush-and-ink portrait of Szeto Wah (generally known as Uncle Wah) is printed in 2008, as requested by a friend. First exhibited in 2009, the portrait was later on loan to the HK Alliance in Support of Democratic Movements in China after Szeto’s death in 2011. 此畫像於2008年應一位支持司徒華(華叔)的朋友所邀而繪製,首次展出是2009年。華叔2011年辭世,之後此畫像借供香港支聯會展出。
Project gallery
1. A 28-year Editorship (Lee Yee – veteran journalist, columnist)
廿八年間 (李怡,資深新聞工作者,專欄作家)
2009, ink and colour on paper 水墨設色紙本, 154 x 83.5 cm
*Lee Yee (1936-2022) is the founder of The Seventies (founded in 1970, renamed The Nineties in 1984, a Chinese language current affairs magazine). He was the chief editor of this monthly magazine from its first issue in 1970 up to the last issue in 1998. Then he worked as a columnist for another two decades and finished his memoirs before his death in 2022. 李怡於1970年創辦《七十年代》(政論月刊,1984年易名為《九十年代》)。他由1970年創刊起擔任總編輯,直至1998年休刊為止。其後他在報刊撰寫專欄逾二十年,2022年完成他的回憶錄後辭世。- FS
2. The Narrow Exit (Ching Cheong – veteran journalist)
窄門 (程翔,資深新聞工作者)
2008, ink and colour on paper 水墨設色紙本, 120 x 51.5 cm
*Ching Cheong has been in journalism for more than half a century. He was once detained and imprisoned in mainland China for espionage. This portrait was made for him on the request of some friends to receive him while he was released and allowed to come back to Hong Kong (in 2008). He continued on working as a journalist after his release. He is now living in the US. 程翔從事新聞工作至今已半個世紀。他曾一度在中國大陸繋獄,被指犯間諜行為。此畫像是他獲釋時我應一些友人邀約而為他繪製,迎接他回港。之後他繼續從事新聞工作。他近年已離港,現居美國。- FS
3. Under the Clock Tower (Mom in 1987, with her second son)
鐘樓之下 (媽與次子,1987年)
2008, ink and colour on paper 水墨設色紙本, 93.5 x 87 cm
*My mom moved from Guangzhou to Hong Kong in the mid 1950s. She emigrated to the US in 1987. This portrait is my impression of her, together with me, before she left Hong Kong. She then lived in San Francisco with my elder brother, until her death in 2015. I last visited her in 2014 [another piece included in the category Self-portrait]. 我媽媽在1950年代中期由廣州移居香港,1987年移民赴美。這張畫像是她離港前留給我的印象。之後她在三藩市定居,由我哥哥照顧,2015年辭世。我最後一次探望她是2014年 [另一圖件收錄於自畫像]。- FS
4. The Mourner (Brother Ling-bo next to the shrine of his deceased parents)
悼亡 (阿哥和他雙親的靈位)
2008, ink and colour on paper 水墨設色紙本, 93.5 x 83 cm
*Ling-bo, 15 o16 years my senior, is my half-brother from a different mother. He lived in Guangzhou with his parents all the time until their death in 1998 and 2008. He passed away in 2014. 阿哥是我同父異母的兄長,比我大十多歲。他與他父母在廣州同住,直至兩老在1998及2008年離世。他在2014年病故。- FS
5. A Good Practice (Chow Shek-fai – retired school headmaster, Taichi master)
操練 (周錫輝,退休校長,太極師傅)
2009, ink and colour on paper 水墨設色紙本, 200 x 125 cm
*Chow was a university friend of mine. He began to practice Taichi in his 20s and became a master. At the age of almost 60, I decided to learn a little Taichi. Naturally I turned to him. I offered this portrait of him teaching Taichi to his family as a souvenir after his death in 2011. 周錫輝與我早在大學時已認識。他很早開始修習太極拳,造詣高,授徒多。我年近六十時,為免筋骨僵硬,跟他學太極。他在2011年身故,這張畫像給他的家人作為紀念。
6. The Board 董事會
2009, woodcut 木刻, 66 x 66 cm
Before turning to art, Fong So was an editor of The Nineties Monthly, a current affairs magazine based in Hong Kong. This woodcut print is a group portrait of the board members of the holding company of The Nineties, alongside some other friends. They were the ardent supporters of the magazine and it’s editorial independence.
在轉為從藝之前,方蘇是時事刊物《九十年代月刊》的編輯。木刻《董事會》是個群像。這個群像中的人物,除了《九十年代》的控股公司的董事,還有幾位經常參加會議的好友,他們是這本雜誌和編採獨立的忠實支持者。