Media

“Mexican Big Bang: Paintings by Roberto Turnbull”
Famous abstract painter to exhibit first time in East Asia

08 Sep 2015

(From Left to Right): Consul General of Mexico in HK and Macao Amb. Alicia Buenrostro Massieu, Artist Mr. Roberto Turnbull, Director of UMAG Dr. Florian Knothe

The University Museum and Art Gallery (UMAG), in collaboration with the Mexican painter Roberto Turnbull and with the support of the Consul General of Mexico in Hong Kong and Macao, will  present “Mexican Big Bang: Paintings by Roberto Turnbull” exhibition from September 9 to November 29, 2015. A selection of 26 remarkable artworks will introduce the work of the famous abstract painter for the first time in East Asia, displaying the painterly and architectural styles and themes that influenced his works.

An opening ceremony of the exhibition was held at UMAG today (September 8). Officiating guests included Consul General of Mexico in Hong Kong and Macao Amb. Alicia Buenrostro Massieu and Mexican artist Mr. Roberto Turnbull. The ceremony was hosted by UMAG Director Dr. Florian Knothe.

Painter, sculptor and engraver Roberto Turnbull was born in Mexico in 1959, and his work has been internationally shown and collected since 1983. His paintings are often collages that contain sketches—figurative and abstract in style. Half factual document, half utopia, sometimes a dream or nightmare, many of Turnbull’s depictions are characterized by warm and bright colours and geometric forms that relate his two-dimensional work to three-dimensional sculpture and architecture.

Since the 1990s, Turnbull has experimented extensively with printing techniques and created unique prints by spreading a layer of paint onto a glass or metal plate upon which he draws and from which he prints before the pigments dry. This technique has allowed him to produce multi-layered images, many of which show fragmented bodies and an unconventional perspective that depicts figures and objects that do not respond to any predictable logic. In more recent years, Turnbull has built upon this method of constructing imagery, as he has abandoned representation or reflections of reality. The painter has developed a geometrism that forms a new kind of abstract or minimalist art.

Public guided tour with the artist
Speaker: Roberto Turnbull, Mexican artist
Date: September 12, 2015 (Saturday)
Time: 15:00
Venue: 1/F, Fung Ping Shan Building, UMAG, HKU, 90 Bonham Road, Pokfulam
Language: English
Registration: Free. 

Details of the Exhibition
Period: September 9 (Wednesday) to November 29, 2015 (Sunday)
Opening Hours:
09:30 – 18:00 (Monday to Saturday)
13:00 – 18:00 (Sunday)
Closed on University and Public Holidays
Venue: 1/F & 2/F Fung Ping Shan Building, UMAG, 90 Bonham Road, Pokfulam
Tel/Email: (852) 2241 5500 (General Enquiry) / museum@hku.hk
Admission: Free
Website: www.umag.hku.hk/en/

Connect with UMAG on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/umag.hku
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UMAG_HKU
Weibo: http://www.weibo.com/5411839295/profile?topnav=1&wvr=6

About University Museum and Art Gallery of the University of Hong Kong (UMAG)
UMAG was founded in 1953 as the Fung Ping Shan Museum. It was originally established as the Fung Ping Shan Library in 1932 in honour of its benefactor. For more information on UMAG, please click here.

Media enquiries:
UMAG Communication Officer Miss Elena Cheung, Tel: (852) 2241 5512, Email: elenac@hku.hk    

Burial (Entierro)
2015
Oil on canvas
80 x 100 x 3 cm

Piedra De Sacrificios
2015
Acrylic paint on canvas and felt
80 x 100 x 3 cm

Flags (Banderas)
2013
Copperplate engraving
60 x 100 cm