Art Macao is a five-month mega international art and cultural event that will be held from June to October this year, featuring a number of art exhibitions at various exhibition venues in Macao. The core event “Art Macao: International Art Exhibition” has invited international resorts and hotels in Macao to participate in the art fiesta. They will help bring incredible art pieces from both home and overseas to the city. Exhibiting art items are diverse, covering paintings, ceramics, sculptures, interactive installations and multimedia art. Art Macao will be showcasing the charm of contemporary visual arts with a diverse formula.
So how will the international resorts and hotels in Macao combine the coming art events with their unique venues to maximise the charm of artists’ creative pieces? What kind of role will the management of these resorts and hotels play in promoting art? In this issue, we have invited representatives from Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd., MGM, Sands China Ltd. and Wynn Macau Ltd. to share with us their take on these interesting questions.
Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd.: Unexpected Encounters
The theme of the exhibition at Melco is “Unexpected Encounters”, which aims to make full use of the hotel’s space and build an amazing visual art experience for the audience. Among all the exhibits, KAWS’ Good Intentions and Julio Le Parc’s Continuel Lumière au Plafond, for example, are exceptionally eye-catching.
KAWS’ toys are incredibly popular around the world. Not long ago, his massive toys stirred up quite a popular trend in Taiwan and Hong Kong. His most well-known and toylike, larger-than-life COMPANION figures which fuse features of Mickey Mouse, a clown and a skull, reexamine our concept of nostalgia. “KAWS’ Good Intentions is the most anticipated work at the exhibition,” Frederic Winckler, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing and Brand Officer at Melco, introduced. “The installation will be set up in an extensive area inside the hotel. With the smaller COMPANION hugging the leg of the larger one, the work also evokes a feeling of empathy, making viewers reflect on human relationships, especially that between parent and child.”
In comparison, Julio Le Parc’s Continuel Lumière au Plafond is a smaller art piece that consists of several mirrors hung on the ceiling. This immersive installation by Julio Le Parc showcases the artist’s control over lights and shadows and his art concept of bringing the audience an immersive art experience. Strips of mirror reflect light to create an intriguing movement of lights and shadows, leading to limitless speculation that is bounded only by one’s imagination.
Space is the most important matter for exhibitions. Displaying artists’ works in proper places is a matter of showing respect to the artists and their arts. “We collect art pieces around the world through different channels. But if we don’t have proper places to show them, it would be a waste of resources. Therefore, we have carefully selected art pieces based on the characteristics of different places. What’s more, the quality of the art piece is taken into consideration as well,” Winckler pointed out. “The exhibition this time showcases how contemporary art has transformed its traditional mode of expression. The exhibiting art pieces are from masters all around the world. They are the artists who explore the depth of art and aesthetics with various forms of attempts and expression. We are hoping that the audience would be able to appreciate and enjoy their art. If the exhibition could spark deeper thinking, then it would be amazing.”
“Modern art is not limited to any particular art form. Sometimes when we are appreciating art pieces we won’t even be able to identify what kinds of art they are. But this is exactly what makes art fascinating,” Winckler concluded. “In an era where the volume of information we are getting is overwhelming, creativity coming from daily life has become equally important as art education. Creativity in daily life can intrigue the public more easily, which is very beneficial to art promotion. Whether it is Morpheus Hotel or Voyages by Alain Ducasse, Melco’s resorts are all designed with unique and interesting elements. Walking in these beautiful architectures and having unexpected encounters with amazing art pieces will definitely be a wonderful experience.”
Exhibition date: 06/06/2019 - 31/10/2019
Venue: City of Dreams
