Chen Kong Fang and Shoko Suzuki

Gomide&Co and Almeida & Dale are pleased to present for Art Basel Hong Kong 2024 an unprecedented project focusing in particular on the production of Chinese-Brazilian painter Chen Kong Fang (1931-2012), bringing together a group of works that bring out his experimental approach in homage to the tradition of Chinese painting and covers the period from 1960 to 1990. Alongside Fang’s work, the project also includes works by Japanese ceramist Shoko Suzuki (1929), who has lived in Brazil since 1962, with an emphasis on her production made in the country between the 1970s and early 2000s. Silence, solitude and meditation play a central role in the practice of both artists, and their works are important examples of the transcultural aesthetics of the Asian diaspora in the Western context.

Chen Kong Fang incorporated the aesthetics of Chinese painting in his work, but also absorbed influences from Western art. His search for the spiritual and mysterious essence of the subjects he painted is revealed through simple compositions, generally related to everyday themes, but endowed with theatrical features. Fang painted domestic scenes, landscapes and still lifes where objects appear animated, using plays of scale and framing that subtly deform the figures and give them a lively and human character. He sought to capture the physiognomic and spiritual characteristics of things, revealing mysterious aspects of the subjects he painted. In the mid-twentieth century, while most artists turned to abstraction, Fang remained faithful to figurative painting, always seeking an original language averse to trends.

For five decades, Shoko Suzuki has been working with meticulously handcrafted pottery, reflecting a devotion to tradition and a deep connection with nature. Her production comprises traditional designs such as vases, bowls, and plates, as well as pieces aimed at pure aesthetic contemplation, thus challenging the assumptions of utilitarianism and decoration commonly associated with ceramics. Unlike the mass production of objects, which is driven by novelty, her handcrafted work delves into what is essential and unchanging, opting for a limited repertoire of simple shapes, predominantly circular and oval, often close to organic forms, sometimes subtly adorned with drawings, abstract shapes and incisions made in the clay.

The unprecedented character of the project lies mainly in the joint effort of two São Paulo-based galleries to present, for the first time in China, a Brazilian artist of Chinese origin who remains unknown in international circles. In 1994, an exhibition of Fang’s paintings that was planned to take place in China was canceled due to the loss of his works. Throughout his career, Fang was awarded prizes at various art salons and enjoyed great success among collectors in Brazil, but he didn’t have the opportunity to return to his home country. The possibility of exhibiting his work in Hong Kong for the first time is a great honor and should contribute to the recognition not only of his work, but of the global panorama of the production of artists from the Asian diasporas.

Moreover, by bringing together two artists from different cultural backgrounds, Fang of Chinese descent and Suzuki of Japanese origin, the exhibition also provides a unique opportunity to explore the points of convergence between their practices, characterized by an aesthetic that highlights the sublime in everyday life. Although they belonged to groups of immigrant artists who worked in Brazil in the second half of the 20th century, Fang and Suzuki belonged to different artistic circles and, with the exception of a group show in 1997, had little or no opportunity to exhibit together. This exhibition establishes dialogues between their practices, contributing to a greater understanding of their works, which remain to a certain extent distanced from the hegemonic narratives about the art produced in Brazil.