Axel Vervoordt Gallery is pleased to present the group exhibition, Vessel of Emptiness in Hong Kong. The symbolic power of the vessel serves as a gateway to understanding the profound concept of emptiness. Centred around five moon jars by Korean artist Kwon Dae-Sup, the exhibition features works by Shi Zhiying, Shen Chen, Otto Boll, Norio Imai, and Yuko Nasaka. These artists collectively explore the delicate interplay between presence and absence, form and void, as expressed through diverse artistic perspectives.
Kwon Dae-Sup (°Daejeon, 1952), a contemporary master of pottery, reinterprets the traditional Korean Moon Jar from the late 17th to the 18th-century of the Joseon Dynasty. Named for their rounded contours and milky white glaze evocative of the full moon, these jars symbolise purity, modesty, femininity, and fertility. Initially trained as a painter at Hongik University, Kwon encountered a Moon Jar in the 1970s that inspired him to devote his career to ceramics. His Moon Jars embody the duality of fullness and emptiness through their elegant simplicity. With smooth, unadorned surfaces and subtle asymmetries, they reflect the Zen aesthetics of beauty in imperfection and transience. As vessels, they stand as tangible expressions of śūnyatā—complete in their form yet open to boundless interpretations.
Complementing Kwon’s exploration, Shi Zhiying (°Shanghai, 1979) offers a visual meditation on the ephemeral nature of existence. Fusing Eastern and Western painting traditions, Shi portrays natural elements—seascapes, rocks, and gemstones—oscillating between emergence and concealment to capture the intimate relationship between objects and their surrounding spaces. Curator Dr. Shen Qilan notes that Shi’s canvasses forge a "new perceptual space," where the dance of form and void evokes both emptiness and fullness. Her brushstrokes, whether monochromatic or vibrant, pulse with an inherent rhythm, inviting viewers to perceive the interconnectedness of all things.
Shen Chen (°Shanghai, 1955), a trailblazer in Chinese abstract and experimental ink painting, delves into the tension between fullness and nothingness through his layered compositions. Drawing from traditional Chinese ink techniques and the American Colour Field movement, Shen applies acrylic paint in a way that mimics ink’s fluidity. His meditative process—layering vertical brushstrokes over a flat canvas—channels his qi (energy) to create horizontal expanses that suggest infinite space. A work is complete only when Shen senses his qi has dissipated, leaving behind a profound emptiness within the void.
German artist Otto Boll (°Issum/Geldern, 1952) challenges perceptions of space and form with his minimalist sculptures. Suspended as if floating, these works demand interaction—examination, approach, and shifting viewpoints—to be fully experienced. Boll’s creations hover between presence and absence, materiality and the unseen, with the voids between them acting like silent pauses in a musical score. This interplay of number, direction, and shape forms a tranquil yet polyphonic composition, inviting viewers into a sculptural dialogue with the void.
Norio Imai (°Osaka, 1946), once part of the avant-garde Gutai Art Association, defied artistic norms by crafting bulbous reliefs that blur the line between object and painting. By placing material beneath the surface, he created monumental monochrome white works from seemingly nothing. For Imai, white is the ultimate colour—a non-colour harmonising all hues, a landscape of nothingness and emptiness. His reliefs serve as vessels that contain and unveil this essence of the void.
Yuko Nasaka (°Osaka, 1938), another key figure from Gutai’s second generation, is known for her textured paintings of concentric circles that highlight materiality and process. Employing industrial tools like car lacquer and air compressors, she carves reliefs on rotating panels, mirroring life’s cyclical rhythms. Through rotation, her works are infused with movement and time, subtly critiquing industrialisation by revealing organic unpredictability beneath mechanical precision. In the later works from 2015 to 2017, Nasaka eschews coloured lacquer to emphasise raw texture, drawing viewers into her creative act.
In a world preoccupied with the tangible and the absolute, Vessel of Emptiness offers a sanctuary for contemplation. Each artwork acts as a vessel, beckoning viewers to explore the intricate relationship between form and void. Through their creations, these artists unveil a paradox resonant with śūnyatā: these vessels, though seemingly empty, overflow with the fullness of existence. By embracing the beauty of the unseen and the interconnectedness of all things, visitors are invited to look beyond the physical and uncover the infinite possibilities within the void.
