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Ariel ConantREPORTERA reporter with YoungPost since 2014, Arielcovers the LiberalStudies and Economicspages, along witheverything from art toextreme sports.
From video gamesaddict to benchpresschampion - howweightliftingtransformed
Bats have a bad reputation. They fly at night, look scary andsome of them might be vampires in disguise.
But Asia Society Hong Kong is here to defend bats. Their newexhibition, Bat Cave: Treasures of the Day and Creatures of theNight, features both traditional and modern art that celebratesthese misunderstood winged animals.
The exhibition turned the usually bright and cheerful ChantalMiller Gallery at Asia Society into a dark and kind of spooky bat cave. Each section of the gallery features art with a differenttheme, but they all have one thing in common: everything iscovered in bats.
Using bats in art was very popular during the Qing and Mingdynasties. In many Chinese dialects, the word "bat" sounds likethe word for "blessings", and so a picture of a bat became a
A bat cave full of art, not gadgetsMainland artist Sun Xun's latest artwork gives the bat cave a whole newmeaningBy Ariel Conant October 12, 2015
Home / News / Hong Kong / A bat cave full of art, not gadgets
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No Bat Mobile in sight as Sun Xun works on his mural.Photo: Asia Society Hong Kong
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symbol of good fortune. A lot of traditional Chinese art usesthis type of visual joke to tell a story or send a message.
There are more than 70 pieces on display. Each one shows batsin a different way. From cute, fat little bats painted onporcelain, to bats hidden in the detailed embroidery on a robe,bats are everywhere. And searching for the bats in each piece ofart is part of the fun.
But step into the brightly lit side space of the gallery, and youwon't have to search to find the bats at all. The entire wall hasbeen painted by mainland artist Sun Xun as a mural dedicatedto bats.
Young Post spoke to Sun as he was finishing his mural. Thespace was filled with cans of paints and brushes. It was the lastday of painting, so most of the mural was done, but Sun wasstanding high up on a ladder painting the last bats on the farend of the wall. He painted carefully but quickly.
Sun is known for his digital artwork, and you can see some ofhis animations on a television screen mounted on the wall.
But this time, he was inspired by China's traditional art. And heonly had four days to do it. He knew his mural would have to goalong with the antiques in the rest of the gallery.
"I think this exhibition has more traditional art," he says.
"So, I had to set up a new style to link the contemporary andtraditional art."
This bridge is clear when you look at his mural. There are rocksand mountains that look just like old ink paintings. But theswirling gold clouds look newer. And of course there are all thebats, too.
"The bat is not a bat," Sun laughs, looking at all the flyingfigures he painted. "It's from my brain and also my memory."
And Sun combined his memory of bats with what he knewabout traditional styles for painting other animals.
"I learned the dragon style from older drawings," he says. "So Iput them together. I used the dragon style to draw the bats."
Sun doesn't even know how many bats are on the wall he lostcount. "The wall decides, not me," he says, explaining that hedidn't do any planning before starting to paint. "I'm a tool."
Sun's new style also borrows the mindset of traditional art."This style of art isn't like Western art with lots of details," hesays. "It's more emotional, very quick. You think of nothingwhen you do it."
He points to an area on the wall behind him with some rocksand trees. You can tell it was painted quickly, because there aredrips of paint coming down from the lines.
This is because it's more about what feels right at the time.Because the shapes aren't detailed, adding a few strokes canchange a tree into a mountain, for example. "The same part,you can change it to anything," Sun explains.
For Sun, the Bat Cave exhibition is about more than just batsand antiques. "I don't think this exhibition is only about old art,
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Tag: Asia Society, Asia Society Hong Kong, Sun Xun, Artist, mainland, bat cave, Batman, Hong Kong, Ariel Conant
or only about dead art," he says. "Because I'm here." He sees itas a chance for people to see how Chinese culture and historycontinues to influence current art.
It's about looking at today, and remembering what came beforeit, Sun says. "Culture still lives and still develops."
Bat Cave is free for students and open until January 3.
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