Art | Autumn Salon opens, showcasing artists new and old alike

The inauguration of the annual “Autumn Salon” exhibition was held on Saturday night at Casa Garden, home to the Macau Delegation of the Orient Foundation, where 67 selected artworks from 32 local emerging and established artists were showcased to the public.
Featuring an array of traditional and abstract works, as well as “abstracts created in a classic manner,” the exhibited pieces include paintings, photographs and multimedia productions, among others.
This year’s salon winner is Lei Ieng Wait for his large oil painting titled “Dimensional Sequence.” According to Ana Paula Cleto, the coordinator of the Macau Delegation of the Orient Foundation, Lei is now eligible to travel to Portugal for a one-month art residency, followed by a solo exhibition at a prestigious Portuguese gallery.
Meanwhile, an honorable mention was awarded to Fan In Kuan for a sculpture titled “Domesticated Sweetness I.” The sculpture, which is hemispheric in shape and resembles a pomegranate, is made with black marble, stainless steel and copper.
Also the beneficiary of an honorable mention was Chan Ka Lok, for his series of three intricate and detailed line drawings, titled “Deer,” “Flying Squirrel” and “Whale” respectively.
Many of the other artists sought to capture elements of Macau in their work, bringing to the local exhibition a touch of the city itself. Tang Kuok Hou, for example, captures “scenic” landscapes of Macau and nearby areas in his photographs, which are often desolate and deliberately absent of subjects.
Likewise, Wan Ieng Meng’s “Brotherhood,” a watercolor piece on paper, depicts an urban scene that is unmistakably Macau, illustrating a fine microcosm of the city through which its mixed East-West cultural heritage can be effortlessly discerned.
Established in 2010 at Casa Garden, Autumn Salon has the stated purpose of bringing both emerging and recognized local artists together to exhibit their work in a single event. The project is jointly organized by the Orient Foundation and Art For All (AFA) Macau, with Alice Kok, the latter’s president, serving as the curator of the exhibition.
According to Cleto, another principle organizer, the annual event “was created in order to project local art, creating a space that allows artists to show their work,” as well as providing art lovers with the chance to purchase such artwork. Ultimately, it is hoped that the exhibition will help “stimulate artistic production in Macau, particularly [among the youth].”
The exhibition is open to the public at Casa Garden until November 30.

Faculty of Fine Art sorely needed

At Saturday night’s opening ceremony, Ana Paula Cleto of the Macau Delegation of the Orient Foundation, reiterated a stance she has previously made known on several occasions: that Macau sincerely requires a faculty of fine arts. Cleto argued that it is crucial that the government steps up to promote the establishment of such a school or department, in order to foster artistic talents among the local youth. She expressed her dismay that little progress had been made to this end so far.