Organised to coincide with Earth Day, which took place globally on April 22, Mayfair gallery Unit London will be hosting an exhibition of new works by the influential Chinese artist Zhuang Hong Yi this month. Also entitled Earth, the exhibition will transform Unit’s gallery space with Hong Yi’s signature vibrant large scale pieces, as well as reimagining its flooring into a flowerbed that echoes the theme of the show.
Each of the new pieces on display melds Hong Yi’s Chinese heritage with Western influences and explores themes of nature, memory, energy and tradition. Hong Yi has chosen a variety of symbolic flowers for each piece to explore his personal experience of cultural cross-pollination living between Rotterdam and Beijing while also examining the environmental concerns this kind of global lifestyle, and the urbanisation and industrial expansion it brings with it, creates.
Exemplary of his painstaking attention to detail and craftsmanship, each of Hong Yi’s new works is created using carefully folded rice paper alongside a mix of pigments, oil and acrylic paints to create bold, 3D pieces which change colour and dimension depending on which angle they are viewed from.
With his works having previously been shown in institutions such as the Found Museum in Beijing and the Groninger Museum in the Netherlands, as well as at the Venice Biennale in 2013, this is a fantastic opportunity to see works by one of China’s most collectable artists up close.
As part of this year’s cultural programme, guests at the World Superyacht Awards 2019 will be treated to a special private view of Earth on May 18 as well as an exclusive preview of Unit London’s upcoming exhibition, Legacy & Disorder by Jake Wood Evans, which opens on May 21.
Earth runs from April 25 to May 18, 2019. For more information visit theunitldn.com and to register to attend the World Superyacht Awards click here.