Trevor Yeung: Courtyard of Attachments, Hong Kong in Venice
Collateral Event of the 60th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia
Venice, Italy
April 20 – November 24, 2024

M+, Asia’s first global museum of contemporary visual culture in the West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC) are pleased to present the exhibition Trevor Yeung: Courtyard of Attachments, Hong Kong in Venice, Collateral Event at the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. This solo exhibition of brand-new works by Hong Kong-based artist Trevor Yeung is curated by Olivia Chow, Assistant Curator, Visual Art, M+, and marks the sixth collaboration between M+ and HKADC at one of the world’s most prestigious platforms for international contemporary art. In his Venice presentation, Trevor Yeung explores sentimentality, desire, and relationships of power through the concept of attachment, which manifests as feelings of connection with objects as well as a longing for someone special. The exhibition articulates the artist’s intimate experiences and keen observations of the relationships between humans and aquatic systems, drawing from references that include his father’s seafood restaurant, pet shops, feng shui arrangements, and the fish he kept as a child.

Courtyard of Attachments Hong Kong in Venice consists of eleven new artworks, four of which are
specific to Venice and respond to the architecture of the exhibition venue. The site-specific works are Pond of Never Enough, Salty Lover (Venice), Gate of Instant Love, and Night Mushroom Colon (Hong Kong in Venice). Yeung articulates his fascination with artificiality in nature and urban space with aquariums that are fully operational but contain no fish. The landscapes of these fishless aquariums saturate the exhibition with a palpable sense of absence and allude to the fragile equilibrium that characterises our relationships. The other works are Mx. Trying-My-Best, Two Unwanted Lovers, Night Mushroom in Shade (Teak Cabinet), Rolling Gold Fountain, Little Comfy Tornado, the stealth that doesn’t hurt/the scratch that doesn’t help, and Cave of Avoidance (Not Yours).

At the heart of the exhibition are the works Little Comfy Tornado and Cave of Avoidance (Not Yours). Little Comfy Tornado consists of a miniature tornado whirling inside a small fish tank placed atop a tower of stacked plant stools. It is connected to a professional-grade filtration system through a network of tubing, a seemingly excessive support mechanism that evokes a sense of unease. Cave of Avoidance (Not Yours) is an immersive installation that recreates the interior of a pet shop, with aquariums devoid of fish. By omitting the fish from the meticulously arranged row of tanks, Yeung leads us to reconsider our motivation for creating artificial environments designed to condition or control another living being. These two works encapsulate Yeung’s approach to the exhibition, in their combination of familiar elements of Hong Kong visual and material culture to craft an immersive environment that brings deeply felt emotions to the surface. This has been an enduring interest for the artist throughout his career, and it takes on a new eloquence in Venice.

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