What draws us to enjoy a piece of art? For sure, it is different for everyone, but nowadays, in our utilitarian society, there seems to be a surge of “quick art” distracting us from exploring what truly lies behind a genuine art piece – its mood and spiritual atmosphere.
Macau, the Asian wonderland of glitz, is no exception. This month, we are intoxicated by the buzz of Art Macao – a five-month mega arts and cultural event. On display, in the grand lobbies of the casino giants, there is no absence of digital-based installations, among others, conjured up by the convenience of today’s omnipotent technology waves to excite the senses of the mass public.
Increasingly, most contemporary art has lost the very essence of art. Its extravagant talk of inner drive, depth and content seems out of date and silly.
Art, packaged as digital art, conceptual art, multi-media (new media!) art and so on and so forth, continues to gain prominence; Its creators win the cheers of the commercial world of consumerism and are highly touted with expensive budgets of publicity stunts and amusing promotional gimmicks.
Undoubtedly, this serves Macau very well…
Yet, in contrast, there is someone in this territory whose works truly touch me with a spiritual spark in my heart.
He does not show us Eden, where everything is beautiful, but presents us with the real world in which we live and take part everyday.
His works are not for impetuous eyes, as there are no showy displays of impeccable techniques. They allow us to connect with ourselves as humans in this noisy and distracted world and bring us into a “deeper level of beauty appreciation and exploration through questioning our own soul”, challenging our social norms. He paints the hesitant minds of city people, the dark comedies of urban life, and some of our deepest, most delicate and raw emotions drawn from the dark corners of our hearts, and all with an inexplicable resonance.
Leo Yuen Wai-Ip was born in Macau in the mid-70’s, in the times of Macau’s Portuguese administration. He grew up in the 80’s when the city was quiet and slow, experienced the years of the handover of Macau’s administration to China in the late 90’s and its casino boom in the mid-2000s, and now lives in a Macau society of materialistic wealth, undergoing its political, cultural and social transformation. He started painting at a young age and became fluent in watercolour painting and pencil sketches, eventually settling on oil paints as his medium of creation.
Looking at his work, we never really see the ‘stoic realism’ present in most contemporary local works, where there are, sometimes, hollow depictions of the city’s iconic landscapes, landmarks, street scenes and buildings, or simply their direct visual representation in a variety of styles. Rather, he goes deeper than mere observations. We see that, in this creative process, he seeks, discovers, thinks, digests, concludes… he lives and feels. This process is part of the journey that defines him and his works today. A path which he continues to develop.
His works represent the mental image of a Macau living in historical times, yet undergoing a modern city’s rapid development. He presents a distant but empathetic view of Macau through his creations, connecting us with his times and societies. This goes on to open up our imaginations about the interactions of people, cities and societies. He says, “as the city grows, it feels like gaining and losing at the same time.”
His artistic expression is powerful and emotional. This is achieved through his passion for art and a deep empathy for human nature that is woven into his works.
He is nowhere else to be found. His true inner self exists in his works .
(To be continued).