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Fionnuala McHugh

The first thing you notice about the American artist Mark Bradford – especially in Hong Kong – is his height. He is a couple of centimetres over two metres (six foot seven) tall and as slender as a wand. He is now 62 and an acclaimed artist, but for at least half his life, people have assumed he is a basketball player.
That, and race, are identity issues that feed his art. In 2003, he made a video of himself called Practice in which he attempts to play basketball in a billowing Gone With The Wind, slavery-era Antebellum hooped skirt in purple and gold, the official colours of the Los Angeles Lakers.
You can watch clips of it on YouTube. It happened to be filmed on a breezy day so there he is, being repeatedly blown over, flailing as he tries to get up, looking both ridiculous and touching, tall yet somehow tiny.
Bradford, who is gay, says it is about struggle. Clearly, practice – a word relevant to both athletes and artists – makes perfect.

In 2017, Bradford represented the United States at the Venice Biennale. In 2021, Time magazine listed him as one of its 100 Most Influential People.
He is, in every sense, a highly genial presence. When I first encounter him, he is standing outside The Bridge+ art space on Apliu Street in Sham Shui Po, democratically beaming down at curious passers-by.
In the adjacent doorway, there is a haphazard Hong Kong collage of fliers advertising single rooms for rent, cheap movers, speedy decorators – a perfect framing device, because Bradford has based a whole section of his artistic practice on gathering similar printed material in Los Angeles.
He calls this paper trail of lower-income American life his “Merchant Posters”. He forages for them, piles them on top of each other, glues them together, cuts them, sands them. Dangling from wire fences, they had a flimsy existence, gone with the passing wind; in the studio, he gives them monumental heft and height.
No Bradford work is small. And, these days, no Bradford work is cheap. In 2018, when his abstract, mixed-media work Helter Skelter I sold for almost US$12 million (including fees), it was the highest price achieved at auction by a living African-American artist.

The son of a hairdresser, who worked for years in his mother’s salon, he is now a stalwart of the art world. He is in Hong Kong for the opening of his new show “Exotica” at Hauser & Wirth, a glamorous location in which to exhibit the labours of his imagination.
The reason he is in less glossy Sham Shui Po, however, is to stimulate the imaginations of students from local schools. For the last decade, Hauser & Wirth has been running a programme called Learning, in which its artists are encouraged to engage with local communities. Under that umbrella, its Education Labs are a more recent and, literally, more hands-on addition.
Bradford launched the first in 2021 in Menorca, where Hauser & Wirth has a gallery, with a group of young students from the island’s art school. For two weeks they collaborated on creating migration maps, chiselling out routes that they painted over, destroyed, then painted again.
The following year, Bradford conducted an Education Lab in Los Angeles in which, again, a youthful group generated world maps to draw attention to the global refugee crisis.
Hong Kong is his third Education Lab. In January 2023, when Bradford came to the city for the opening of Hauser & Wirth’s new gallery, he was taken on a tour of Sham Shui Po by its district officer, Paul Wong Yan-yin. Bradford was struck by familiar sights.
“You could see the new migrant communities, and the sellers in the streets and these global markets you see all over the world,” he says.

Wong took him to The Bridge+, which is run by Vivere Sky Social Enterprise, a community organisation founded by Legislative Council member Kenneth Fok Kai-kong – the grandson of the late property developer Henry Fok Ying-tung – who is keen to foster youth art.
In June, The Bridge+ sent applications to 25 schools about the “rare opportunity” for anyone aged 15 to 17 interested in art to work with an international name. Nine schools responded; six of them sent a total of 16 students who had volunteered.
As well as working on a mural in September, students attended a silk-screen-printing workshop, run by David Jasper Wong, the founder of studio Marble, Print & Clay, for several days during July.
It is safe to say that of all the Hong Kong people involved in this project, Wong was the most thrilled. Bradford may be an international art star but he is almost unknown to the general public here, including local art teachers. Wong, however, had studied fine art at Pepperdine University in California and is a big Bradford fan.
A decade ago, on a trip to Los Angeles, he had been stunned by Bradford’s massive, layered Bell Tower at the airport, and he visited Bradford’s work at the 2017 Venice Biennale. When he was contacted about the project, he says – and he puts a hand on his still-joyous chest – his heart leapt. “I’m super happy!”

He says the students had never heard of printmaking: “It’s not popular in Hong Kong.” But they learned how to wield squeegees and print large versions of Bradford’s “Merchant Posters”, many of which signal America’s property crisis, with titles including We Buy Houses, Transitional Housing and Flip Houses Free Classes.
Bradford wanted these to be translated into Cantonese but he learned that Hong Kong has its own property issues, hidden in plain sight on small posters advertising tiny rooms to rent in subdivided flats that, also, deserve to be printed large. This has been his education.
“The kids took me outside and showed me little placards and I wasn’t expecting that,” he says. “I was, like, ‘Oh wait… this thing has legs.’”
A mention of property developers’ outsize role in the city comes as a surprise to him. These are not the only unexpected moments.
The plan had been for the students, like their predecessors in Menorca and Los Angeles, to create a migration map. It had to be abandoned when it became too dangerous to cut into the huge 3.76m by 2.25m (12 foot by 7 foot) layered-and-glued hoarding sent over by his studio, which was thicker than usual. Instead, the students made a mural – Los Angeles’ words, Chinese characters – and their printed posters have been put on display.
It helped me find myself
Yeung Tsz-sang, student and programme participant
None of the students involved came from an ethnic minority. Perhaps, if another opportunity comes up, they will step forward too.
The entire project could be seen as a nudge towards bigger possibilities. During the opening, the students commented on the mural’s scale, as well as the insight into another landscape and the height – and hugs – of Bradford.
“It helped me find myself,” says Yeung Tsz-sang, 17, from Tsung Tsin Christian Academy. He spoke of youth suicides, the stress of studying and, with quiet sincerity, how he is seeking, exactly as Bradford once did, his artistic way in the world.
“Mark Bradford’s Education Lab ‘Merchant Posters’”, The Bridge+, 82 Apliu Street, Sham Shui Po, until October 20.
“Mark Bradford: Exotica”, Hauser & Wirth, 8 Queen’s Road Central, until March 1, 2025


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Mark Bradford poses with students in front of a mural in Sham Shui Po created as part of gallery Hauser & Wirth’s  Education Lab in Hong Kong. The American artist’s exhibition at the gallery runs until March 1, 2025. Photo: Ivan Chan

Mark Bradford is in Hong Kong for the opening of his new show “Exotica” at Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Sean Shim-Boyle

Installation view of Bradford’s solo exhibition “Exotica” at Hauser & Wirth Hong Kong. Photo: Hauser & Wirth

Bradford works with Education Lab participants in Sham Shui Po. Photo: Ivan Chan 

Bradford (left) stands with David Jasper Wong (second left) and participants in Hauser & Wirth’s Education Lab in Hong Kong. Photo: Ivan Chan 

Why artist paints then-and-now scenes of Hong Kong? He could no longer recognise the city

Chow Chun-fai next to his painting As Tears Go By 1988 at Mahjong School Portland Street (2024), part of his solo exhibition “Map of Amnesia” at Tang Contemporary Art in Central, Hong Kong. His paintings in the show depict city scenes as they are now and once were. Photo: Jelly Tse

A Moment of Romance 1990 on Connaught Road Central (2024) by Chow Chun-fai, part of his solo exhibition “Map of Amnesia” in Central, Hong Kong. Photo: Jelly Tse

All About Ah Long 1989 at Shatin Inn Restaurant (2024) features in Chow Chun-fai’s show of new paintings. Photo: Jelly Tse

A Moment of Romance 1990 on Granville Road (2024) by Chow Chun-fai, featured in his solo exhibition “Map of Amnesia”. Photo: Jelly Tse

The Lucky Guy 1998 at Lucky Café (2024) by Chow Chun-fai, part of the exhibition “Map of Amnesia” in Hong Kong. Photo: Jelly Tse

The Longest Summer 1998 at Lin Heung Tea House  (2024) is among the Chow Chun-fai paintings on show at Tang Contemporary Art. Photo: Jelly Tse

City War 1988 at Star Ferry Multi-storey Car Park (2024) by Chow Chun-fai is part of his “Map of Amnesia” show. Photo: Jelly Tse

A visitor to Tang Contemporary Art views Chow Chun-fai’s painting Chicken and Duck Talk 1988 at Tai Po Man Mo Temple (2024). Photo: Jelly Tse

Hong Kong Museum of Art 2014 (2014-2024) is among the new paintings by Chow Chun-fai on show at Tang Contemporary Art. Photo: Jelly Tse

Van Gogh painting auctioned for US$27.6 million, below estimates, at Christie’s Hong Kong

Auction staff hold up painting Les canots amarrés by Vincent Van Gogh, which sold at auction at Christie’s Hong Kong headquarters for HK$215 million (US$27.6 million) on September 26, 2024. Photo: AFP

Cristian Albu, deputy chairman and head of 20th/21st century art at Christie’s Asia-Pacific, poses with Vincent van Gogh’s Les canots amarrés (1887) ahead of its sale. Photo: Christie’s

Nymphéas (1897-1899) by Claude Monet, which sold for HK$200 million excluding fees at Christie’s inaugural evening sale at its new Hong Kong headquarters. Photo: Christie’s

Collectors eagerly took out their phones to photograph Claude Monet’s Nymphéas when it was brought out to be auctioned during the inaugural evening sale at Christie’s new Asia headquarters. Photo: Enid Tsui

Zao Wou-Ki’s painting 05.06.80 – Triptyque, which sold for HK$80 million at the Christie’s auction. Photo: Christie’s 

Visitors view an edition of British street artist Banksy’s Girl on Balloon (2003) at Christie’s Asia headquarters in Hong Kong ahead of it sale for HK$8.6 million. Photo: AFP

The leading lot of The Au Bak Ling Collection: The Inaugural Sale at Christie’s Hong Kong, which sold for HK$22.5 million. Photo: Christie’s

Auctioneer Liang-lin Chen holds up a pair of white gloves after the Faux Bois Basin was sold at the second attempt, meaning the first auction conducted by Christie’s at its new Asia headquarters was 100 per cent sold. Photo: Enid Tsui

Young naked women are their canvas – nude art of 2 anonymous Hong Kong artists challenges city’s conservative attitudes towards sex

Lousy’s body paint on a nude woman. The anonymous Hong Kong graffiti artist paints bold designs on young, naked women then photographs them in erotic poses. Photo: Lousy                                                         

Another of Lousy’s “kissfaces”, on Queen’s Road West in Hong Kong. Photo: Lousy

Lousy’s photobook “Yook”, published in 2020. Photo: Lousy

Matsushimaon’s body art on a nude woman. Photo: Matsushimaon

Professor Sonia Wong says there is not a lot of space in erotic or explicit artistic disciplines for women to express their sexuality, especially in Hong Kong. Photo: Professor Sonia Wong

Artist Lousy’s portrait. Photo: Lousy

World’s first AI arts museum to open in US in 2025, courtesy of Refik Anadol

People walk past an AI-generated video art installation by artist Refik Anadol entitled ‘Large Nature Model: Coral’ to promote power of technology and sustainability at United Nations Headquarters on September 20, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY MENTION OF THE ARTIST UPON PUBLICATION - TO ILLUSTRATE THE EVENT AS SPECIFIED IN THE CAPTION

An AI-generated video art installation by visual artist Refik Anadol called Large Nature Model: Coral shows at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on September 20, 2024. Anadol has announced he will open the world’s first AI arts museum in Los Angeles in 2025. Photo: AFP

Refik Anadol in front of The Grand LA (left) and Walt Disney Concert Hall (right), in Los Angeles. Photo: TNS

Anadol’s NFT Collection, a 360-degree immersive art room experience, is displayed during the first edition of the Digital Art Fair Asia 2021 in Central, Hong Kong on October 4, 2021. Photo: Nora Tam

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Currently showing at Hauser & Wirth in Hong Kong, acclaimed artist Mark Bradford made a Los Angeles-style mural with Sham Shui Po students


Currently showing at Hauser & Wirth in Hong Kong, acclaimed artist Mark Bradford made a Los Angeles-style mural with Sham Shui Po students.


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