De Sarthe presents Hong Kong-based artist Chan Ka Kiu’s solo exhibition, Late to the Party, concluding the gallery’s seventh annual de Sarthe Artist Residency (deSAR). An exploration of the human psyche vis-à-vis notions of fun, fame, fortune, and mortality, the exhibition features newly developed multimedia and installation artworks that collectively form an immersive journey through the artist’s imagined heaven, earth, and hell. Interspersed with references to religion, art history, contemporary commodities, as well as frivolous desires, the exhibition is a mischievous yet pensive response to the questions “What happens when you die?” and more importantly, “What does it mean to live?” Late to the Party opens September 9th and runs through September 30th.
Late to the Party started with the artist’s contemplation of the notorious “27 Club” - an informal list of popular musicians, artists, actors, and other celebrities who died at age 27. As the exhibition opens right on the verge of the artist’s 28th birthday, its title crafts a self-deprecating remark regarding Ka Kiu’s own desire for celebration and success. Utilizing varied found objects, video footage, and AI-generated imagery, the artist marries the familiar and bizarre in a constructed party-like environment. Filled with fictitious partygoers, the exhibition is an interpretation of what happens to humanity following the rainbow bridge.
With reference to Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights (1503-1515), the space is divided into three fluid areas, bound together by the artist’s use of red lighting and objects. Upon entering the space, a partition composed of floor-to-ceiling blinds separates the viewer from the gallery interior. Titled Peep Please (2023), the exhibition’s first artwork is a wall of red, venetian blinds on which colors reminiscent of a sunset or sunrise are projected. With light partially seeping through its slits, the artwork appears as if a sign or threshold that one must cross to be enlightened of the other side.
Beyond the enigmatic checkpoint is the first area – heaven. Visitors are greeted by three deities, namely Jesus, Siddhartha, and Lucifer, conversing – and singing a song – about humanity. Titled “IN LOVE” by 3 in 1 (2023), the three-channel video minutes a meeting between the higher beings via a mix of edited found and AI-generated footage. Displayed in three vertical panels, the videos are arranged to recall a church altar, yet of different faiths combined. As if a musical ensemble, the deities sing about love to a melody similar to that of a boy-band style love song. Thinking about love, life, and death as the ultimate equalizers, Ka Kiu’s artwork is laced with underlying themes of unity and oneness.
More information on the event can be found here.