☞*Mak2*☜

All works © mak2 2024

Mak2 (b. 1989, Hong Kong) is a conceptual artist. Her work contemplates 21st-century issues through the study of philosophy, art history, culture, shifting socio-political environments, the Internet, and new technology. The aesthetic experience she crafts is bound by the dualism of humor and intense inquisitiveness. She creates, installations, paintings, drawings, video work, youtube videos, stand-up comedy routines, and Instagram filters.

 

Her iconic Home Sweet Home (2019-) series are triptychs on canvas that make use of the popular American life simulation video game “the Sims” and are each painted by three separate painters on the Chinese e-commerce platform Taobao. She uses "the Sims" as a virtual construction tool for her ideas of both utopia and dystopia in the context of Hong Kong. In the game, she creates bizarre environments such as bedrooms filled with CCTV cameras, lonely millennial hangout spots, and pools on roofs filled with flowers. She takes screen-captures of these digital fantasies and divides the resultant images into thirds. Each third is subsequently painted by a separate painter found on Taobao, who is given as little instruction as possible. Through fracturing the process of production and allowing external factors to intervene in the actualization of her artwork, Mak2’s "Home Sweet Home" series not only elucidates the inevitable disparity between fantasy and reality, but it also crafts a comment on authorship, “copy-cat” culture, and the complex narratives that construct her understanding of home.

 

Mak2 is also well known for her conceptual installations. Her work You Better Watch Out (2017), was included in an exhibition presented by MoMA PS1 and K11 Art Foundation titled ".com/.cn". Through the use of a giant snow globe, colorful balls, QR codes, and a CCTV camera, the artwork explores the troubling duality between contemporary modes of entertainment and the growth of surveillance states across the globe.

 

Mak2's artwork has been exhibited internationally in: Mirage or Reality, Shanghai K11 Art Mall, Shanghai, China (2021); The Principle of Hope, Beijing Inside-Out Art Museum, Beijing, China (2021); How Do We Begin?, X Museum, Beijing, China (2020), Home Sweet Home, de Sarthe, Hong Kong, China (2019); We Didn't Mean To Break It (But It's Ok, We Can Fix It), Pedro Cera, Lisbon, Portugal (2019); Whatever Works, Whatever It Takes, Goethe-Institut China, Beijing (2019); The Anything Machine, de Sarthe, Beijing, China (2018); Invisible Cities, Crow Collection of Asian Art, Dallas, USA (2017-18); com/.cn - Co-presented by KAF and MoMA PS1, K11 Art Foundation, Shanghai, China (2017-18); Reversal Ritual, de Sarthe, Hong Kong, China (2017); COMEINSIDE: EAT ME, PingPong 129, Hong Kong, China (2017); COMEINSIDE: BABY SHOWER, Gallery Exit, Hong Kong, China (2017); Artists' Film International, Whitechapel Gallery, London, United Kingdom (2016); The Second "CAFAM-Future" Exhibition, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China (2015); Artistic or Autistic - The Seventh

 

Annual Exhibition, Inside Out Art Museum, Beijing, China (2014); Almost Empty, Gallery Exit, Hong Kong, China (2014); and SOFT OFF: But I love it when your mouth is a little shut, ltd Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA (2013).

 

Mak 2 lives and works in Hong Kong.

 

 

Solo Exhibitions

 

 

2023

 

Love in Sky House, DE SARTHE, Abu Dhabi Art Fair, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

 

Love Pool, Peres Projects, Berlin, Germany

 

Palace of Love, Tao Art, Taipei

 

2021

 

House of Fortune, DE SARTHE, Hong Kong, China

 

2019

 

Home Sweet Home, DE SARTHE, Hong Kong, China

 

2018
The Anything Machine, DE SARTHE, Beijing, China

 

2017

 

COMEINSIDE: EAT ME, PingPong 129, Hong Kong, China

 

COMEINSIDE: BABY SHOWER, Gallery Exit, Hong Kong, China

 

2016

 

Art-It, HOCA Foundation, Hong Kong, China

 

2014

 

Almost Empty, Gallery Exit, Hong Kong, China

 

Fotanian Open Studios, Hong Kong, China

 

2012

 

Funny Stationery, Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre, Hong Kong, China

 

 

Group Exhibitions

 

2024

 

What We Are, DE SARTHE, Hong Kong, China

 

2023

 

Peres Projects, Art Basel Miami Beach, Florida, USA

 

System Update, DE SARTHE, West Bund Art & Design, Shanghai, China

 

Peres Projects, Art Basel in Basel, Basel, Switzerland

 

Bordercrossing: Possibilities and Interactions, Yuz Museum, Shanghai, China

 

Peres Projects, Kiaf SEOUL, Seoul, South Korea

 

Along the Way, THE SHOPHOUSE, Hong Kong, China

 

Perceptible Escapisms, DE SARTHE, Taipei Dangdai, Taipei

 

Peres Projects, Art Basel Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

 

Perceptible Escapisms, DE SARTHE, Art Basel Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

 

DE SARTHE, Art SG, Singapore

 

2022

 

On-Going, DE SARTHE, Hong Kong, China

 

Peres Projects, Art Basel Miami, U.S.A.

 

Peres Projects, Paris+, Paris, France

 

DE SARTHE, Asia Now, Paris, France

 

Peres Projects, Frieze London, London, U.K.

 

Peres Projects, The Armory Show, New York, U.S.A.

 

Peres Projects, Kiaf SEOUL, Seoul, South Korea

 

Peres Projects, Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland

 

Utopian Reality, DE SARTHE, Art Basel Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

 

DE SARTHE, Taipei Dangdai, Taipei

 

2021

 

Urban Whispers, Woaw Gallery, Hong Kong, China

 

DE SARTHE, ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair, Shanghai, China

 

Mirage or Reality, Shanghai K11 Art Mall, Shanghai, China

 

The Principle of Hope, Beijing Inside-Out Art Museum, Beijing, China

 

Only A Joke Can Save Us, Present Projects, Hong Kong, China

 

DE SARTHE, Art Basel Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

 

What’s Next?, WOMANBOSS, Hong Kong, China

 

2020

 

A’fair, Wan Chai, Hong Kong, China

 

Unscheduled, Hong Kong Art Gallery Association, Hong Kong, China

 

How Do We Begin? – X Museum Triennial 1st Edition, X Museum, Beijing, China

 

Fragments: Post-Internet Art in Hong Kong and Beijing, Art Basel Online Viewing Room

 

2019

 

Hot Flows: Pearl River Delta Arts Retrospective, Ox Warehouse, Macau

 

Whatever Works, Whatever It Takes, Goethe-Institut China, Beijing, China

 

We Didn’t Mean to Break It (But It’s Ok, We Can Fix It), Pedro Cera, Lisbon, Portugal

 

Taipei Dangdai, Taipei

 

2018

 

Beckoning the Mutation, Club Pro Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA

 

Invisible Cities, Crow Collection of Asian Art, Dallas, USA

 

DE SARTHE, Art Basel Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

 

.com/.cn – Co-presented by KAF and MoMA PS1, chi K11 Art Museum, Shanghai, China

 

2017

 

Invisible Cities, Crow Collection of Asian Art, Dallas, USA

 

Reversal Ritual, DE SARTHE, Hong Kong, China

 

Marching in Circles, Long March, Beijing, China

 

COME INSIDE: BABY SHOWER, Gallery EXIT, Hong Kong, China

 

2016

 

Artists’ Film International, Whitechapel Gallery, London, United Kingdom

 

COME INSIDE Autograph Signings, OCAT, Shenzhen, China

 

Bori Bunder, Sir JJ College of Art, Mumbai, India

 

A Man Who Doesn’t Celebrate His Birthday, Clark House Initiative Mumbai, India

 

Bori Bunder, VT Station Platform B, Mumbai, India

 

Performance with C&G @ LUNG CHING Game Zone, Cattle Depot Artist Village, Hong Kong, China

 

Pop-up Shop: Conversations | ruangrupa: Toko Pura-Pura, Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong, China

 

Fashion ID, K11, Hong Kong, China

 

MaD The Free Markerteers Singing Performance with C&G, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hong Kong, China

 

2015

 

The Second CAFAM-Future Exhibition: Observer・Creator – The Reality Representation of Chinese Young Art, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China

 

Sparkle! Regarding Lightness: On Life’s Way, Oil Street Art Space, Hong Kong, China

 

Under the Influence, Floor 5 1/2, Hong Kong, China

 

After/Image, Studio 52, Hong Kong, China

 

The Second CAFAM-Future Exhibition: Observer・Creator, K11 Art Mall, Hong Kong, China

 

Glossy! Shiny! Fertility!, StarProjects, Hong Kong, China

 

2014

 

Artistic or Autistic – The Seventh Annual Exhibition, Inside Out Art Museum, Beijing, China

 

Shampoo Whatever #1, The A-lift Gallery, Hong Kong, China

 

2013

 

Regarding Lightness- The Weight of Lightness: Bio-gravity, Oil Street Art Space, Hong Kong, China

 

BOING!, Osage Gallery, Hong Kong, China

 

SOFT OFF (but I love it when your mouth is a little shut), ltd los angeles, Los Angeles, USA

 

SCM Annual, Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre, Hong Kong

 

2012

 

Cool Kids, Lane Crawford, Hong Kong, China

 

Media Art & The Environment : The Desert Metropolis, Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre, Hong Kong, China

 

2011

 

House of Sound, Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre, Hong Kong, China

 

Best Before, HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity, Hong Kong, China

 

2010

 

Micro Narratives: Invented Time & Space, Blue Room, Hong Kong, China

 

 

 

Public Collections

 

 

X Museum, Beijing, China

 

JPMorgan Chase Collection, USA

 

UBS Art Collection, Hong Kong

 

M+ Permanent Collection, Hong Kong

 

Yuz Collection, Shanghai, China

 

 

 

Selected Private Collections

 

 

Daisuke Miyatsu Collection, Japan

 

Divide by Zero Art Collection, Hong Kong, China

 

Tain Collection, London

 

Adrian Cheng, Hong Kong, China

 

William Lim, Hong Kong, China

 

 

 

Awards

 

 

2013

 

Creative Media Award – School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong, China

 

 

 

Artist Residencies

 

 

2022

 

West Kowloon Cultural District, Hong Kong, China

 

2016

 

Bori Bunder @ [En]counters 2016 - Hong Kong X Mumbai Art Exchange Project, Mumbai, India

 

2014

 

Inside-Out Art Museum, Beijing, China