10 Works to Watch at Art Central 2025
Art Central Hong Kong brings more than 100 galleries and 500 artists to the Central Harbourfront from 26-30 March 2025. Navigate the highlights with us.
As Art Central Hong Kong marks its decade milestone, this year's edition presents an ambitious showcase under the direction of curator Enoch Cheng. The fair unfolds through distinct sections: Yi Tai Sculpture and Installation Projects showcases monumental works; Legend celebrates artists born before 1970; NEO platforms emerging galleries; and Cinema Central hosts daily video art screenings. Here's our essential guide to the fair's most compelling works.
1. Temple (2025) by Dai Ying
Presented by Yiwei Gallery
Art installation
Los Angeles-based Yiwei Gallery brings Dai Ying's masterful meditation on femininity and creation to the Yi Tai Sculpture programme. The immersive installation, crafted from vermillion xuan paper, invites visitors to step inside what the artist envisions as a symbolic womb. The structure's circular motifs and organic forms create a contemplative space that speaks to the sanctity of creation. Artists shwocased at Yi Tai Sculpture and Installation Projects also include Roxane Revon, presented by The Locker Room (New York), Shinduk Kang presented by Galerie Pici (Seoul, New York) and Mark Lawson Bell presented by Swanfall Gallery (London).
2. Cola (2009) by Dean-E Mei
Presented by Astar Gallery
Digital print on photo paper
Taiwan's avant-garde pioneer Dean-E Mei continues to challenge conventional artistic boundaries. This striking piece, presented by Astar Gallery Taipei, exemplifies Mei's sophisticated approach to found objects and their cultural resonance. Known as Taiwan's answer to Duchamp, Mei's work offers a penetrating commentary on contemporary Asian society.
3. Rainbow Man and Woman (2008) by Ay-O
Acrylic and mixed media on canvas
The newly inaugurated Legend section presents this seminal work by Japanese master Ay-O. The piece exemplifies his characteristic 'Rainbow' style, developed during his involvement with the Fluxus movement. Following his recent retrospective at M+, this showcase affirms his position as a crucial figure in post-war Asian art. The Japanese Fluxus artist joins an impressive roster including Eikoh Hosoe, Emily Kam Kngwarray, Lee In Seob, and May Fung in this celebration of established masters.
4. Way Home Night (detail) (2022) by Sujin Lee
Wool felt
Under the NEO platform, Lee's delicate wool felt sculptures transform everyday anxiety into poetic meditation. The work captures fleeting moments of contemporary anxiety with remarkable subtlety, transforming everyday scenes into poetic meditations on human vulnerability. Her work joins 32 other artists in curator Enoch Cheng's second edition of this emerging gallery showcase.
5. Our Birthdays (uncut) (2025) by IV Chan
Performance, duration variable
In this commissioned performance piece, Chan deftly weaves together elements of Chinese cinema, vampire mythology, and B-movie aesthetics. The work offers a sharp commentary on horror genre tropes while exploring themes of motherhood and cultural identity.
6. Virus Becoming (2022) by Shu Lea Cheang
Single-channel video
Screened in Cinema Central, this ambitious video piece extrapolates from Cheang's feature film UKI. The work presents a provocative vision of post-human existence, challenging conventional narratives about technology and identity.
7. A Brazen Rift (After Branzi) (2025) by Nadim Abbas
Commissioned Installation
Hong Kong artist Nadim Abbas presents an architectural intervention that pays homage to Andrea Branzi's radical 1960s vision. The site-specific installation draws clever parallels between urban crowd dynamics and art fair footfall patterns.
8. Symbiosis (2025) by Roxane Revon
Presented by The Locker Room, New York
Silk panels, mycelium, wheatgrass roots
The Locker Room gallery presents Revon's ambitious mixed-media installation, where photography meets mycology. The work charts an elegant visual progression from figurative representation to natural abstraction.
9. Puzzle #30 (2016) by Satoshi Otsuka
Presented by MJK Gallery
Cibachrome, mounted on acrylic glass rulers
MJK Gallery presents Otsuka's innovative technique of assembling strip-cut photographs beneath clear acrylic rulers. This methodical deconstruction of natural imagery challenges our perception of absolute truth, while his illuminated clock pieces capture the ephemeral quality of twilight.
10. Hand(2021) by Jiahao Qiu
Presented by Swanfall Gallery
Ink on paper
In this compelling showcase of contemporary ink painting, Qiu employs fishhooks as metaphors for desire and societal tension. The work appears alongside Miao Jialong's ceramic fossils that blur technological and organic boundaries, and Fernando M. Romero's layered explorations of communication through paint.
The fair runs from 26-30 March 2025 at Central Harbourfront, Hong Kong. For more information, visit: https://artcentralhongkong.com/