September 16, 2022
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Expanding Traditions, Hock Aun Teh
1 October to 29 October 2022
Mon – Sat, 10:00-16:30
Reid Gallery, The Reid Building, The Glasgow School of Art
Preview: Friday 30 September 2022, 17:00-18:00 / 18:00-19:00 / 19:00-20:00 (book your preferred time slot/s)
“Art derives from life. My art is about humanity and about my true self, my energy, and my emotional response to both the phenomenal changes of Nature and all the lives that exist in it.” Hock Aun Teh
Hock Aun Teh (郑傅安) (b. Malaysia), was the first graduate of The Glasgow School of Art’s Drawing and Painting Department from Asia, (studying 1970-1974).
“I would like to dedicate this exhibition to my former school, which nurtured me as a student, as I wish my work to be a new inspiration to all students.” Hock Aun Teh.
Teh was born to Chinese parents and grew up in Sungei Gedong, a remote village in Malaysia and did not know where Glasgow was until he applied for a visa. He was trained originally in Malaysia focusing in traditional Chinese ink painting, focusing on birds, bamboo, flowers and landscapes with waterfalls. Teh considers his work contains four different cultural elements: his sense of colour which is bright and strong, and is unmistakably tropical; the calligraphic effect, which is Chinese; the materials, which are Western and his techniques, which are unique and personal to his ways of working.
“As ever, Hock Aun is breaking new ground. His art has gone through several transformations over many decades, most recently springing from what Wordsworth called ’emotion recollected in tranquillity’… [Teh] goes to his studio, looks at a bare canvas, and waits for the feelings to come – sensations of lightness or weight, direction or diffusion, explosion or concentration.” Julian Spalding, Expanding Traditions, Hock Aun Teh, (2022).
Expanding Traditions showcases a selection of recent paintings by Hock Aun Teh, as well as earlier works including sketchbooks from his time studying at The GSA in the 1970s. An exhibition catalogue featuring essays by Hock Aun Teh and Julian Spalding has been produced on the occasion of the exhibition. The catalogue is available for sale (cash sales only) in the Reid Gallery, and a digital version can be viewed here.
Artist Bio
Hock Aun Teh lives and works in Glasgow and is represented by Patrick Davies Contemporary Arts, London. He has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions around the world and in 2019, to mark his achievements, the Chinese Government named an arts centre after him – the Hock Aun Teh Arts Centre in DongLi Village, Fujian Province.
Hock Aun Teh’s works are in collections including GOMA, The Bulgarian National Art Gallery for Foreign Artists, and The National Art Gallery of Malaysia. He holds Black Belt 6th Dan in Taekwon-Do and is the Grandmaster and Founder of Tukido.
Expanding Traditions is free to attend and there is no need to book. For information and booking for the Preview see Eventbrite.
This exhibition is curated by Clare Cannon, who works in the School of Design at The Glasgow School of Art.
With thanks to sponsors:
