Five moony crescents
Five moony crescents, an exhibition of new work by Henry Hu. Bringing together animation, paintings and photographs—this focused presentation highlights the artist’s continued interest in abstraction as a force that might signify life without directly defining it. Engaged with notions of mysticism, central to his practice is an enquiry into the spiritual end.
Prominently featured in this presentation is Light Jelly Sweet (begun in 2022), an ongoing series in which the artist furthers his exploration into the language and material process of abstract painting, investigating the physicality of the medium. What arises from Light Jelly Sweet, whether on canvas, board, or paper, are testaments of existence as imagined, invented, remembered, and observed.
The initial impression is one of self-generative creation, with vignettes of growth and decay symbolising biological life cycles. The buried fears, the old grudges, the wounded feelings are fused together in these artworks that reach for an understanding of vulnerability, turning inward and examining the subconscious landscape. It is the concept of perception—the perception of a past or a memory, and how we frown upon it—that is at the forefront of what unifies this series.
Henry Hu’s approach is both spontaneous and exact. Limiting his range of tonal palette within each work, the paintings combine a multi-layered technique of paint pours with an ecosystem of raw, earthly materials—mixing sand, gravel, twig, leaf, grass and wood. Each element tunnels into, intertwines with the other, a delicate manipulation of material that traces the ambiguity of nostalgia. The end result materialises as an account of time, consciousness made visible. At heart, the works are an embodiment of the natural world, to preserve what is fleeting, a piece of reflection, a quiet wonder.
Also on view are computer-generated animation. Conceived as an extension and companion to the static work, these motion images are a synesthetic field of shapes and rhythms, to suggest the ethereal or perhaps the transcendental—pixelated, fuzzy, blurred visuals that also make parallels with the digital world, advancing the artist’s constant search into new territories of abstraction. Seemingly dissimilar, the common thread linking the video imagery is an intimate study on the mechanism and limitations of memory, both personal and collective, interpreting the lost time, space and thought.
“Burning sun. Open air. Nature. The fields. The woods. A birch. A pine. An oak. Shades. Shadows. Clouds overhead. Streams beneath. They are gifts for a child. How unguarded we were, the early days.
Growth. In years, decades later. The course of life. Death. Grief. Senility. Greeted with apprehensions. Lingering regrets. We return to this gift, now for comfort, for answers. A pleasant solace.
Brisk. Bright. Soft hue. Pale tone. Easy on the eyes. Light Jelly Sweet. A sense of tenderness, clarity and calm. A balm for the soul. A clearing to yearn, to forgive, to let go if only for a moment.
Part bucolic splendour, part whispered serenity. A world tipped into stillness. A reminder that even in the darkness, there is still a reason to look up.”, Henry Hu writes.
Five moony crescents
3 July - 17 July 2023
Schoolhouse Studios
Melbourne, Australia
Five moony crescents, 2023, installation view, dimensions variable.
The Golden Rain Tree drips its powders down
The Golden Rain Tree drips its powders down, an exhibition of new and recent work by Henry Hu. Bringing together animation, paintings and photographs, this focused presentation highlights the artist’s continued interest in abstraction as a force that might signify life without directly defining it. Engaged with notions of mysticism, central to his practice is an enquiry into the spiritual end.
Prominently featured in this presentation is Light Jelly Sweet (begun in 2022), an ongoing series in which the artist furthers his exploration into the language and material process of abstract painting, investigating the physicality of the medium. What arises from Light Jelly Sweet, whether on canvas, board, or paper, are testaments of existence as imagined, invented, remembered, and observed.
The initial impression is one of self-generative creation, with vignettes of growth and decay symbolising biological life cycles. The buried fears, the old grudges, the wounded feelings are fused together in these artworks that reach for an understanding of vulnerability, turning inward and examining the subconscious landscape. It is the concept of perception—the perception of a past or a memory, and how we frown upon it—that is at the forefront of what unifies this series.
Henry Hu’s approach is both spontaneous and exact. Limiting his range of tonal palette within each work, the paintings combine a multi-layered technique of paint pours with an ecosystem of raw, earthly materials—mixing sand, gravel, twig, leaf, grass and wood. Each element tunnels into, intertwines with the other, a delicate manipulation of material that traces the ambiguity of nostalgia. At heart, the works are an embodiment of the natural world, to preserve what is fleeting, a piece of reflection, a quiet wonder.
Complementing the series Light Jelly Sweet are v15 and Mount. Etna (both 2019), a pair of digital prints that distills the loss of childhood splendour—ruminating on the time before adulthood, back when everything was brand new, glaring, often exciting. Presented in dialogue with one another, Hu created the paintings using architectural rendering programs, beginning with basic builds, then altering and rearranging them into vertiginous structures.
Also on view are computer-generated animation. Conceived as an extension and companion to the static work, these motion images are a synesthetic field of shapes and rhythms, to suggest the ethereal or perhaps the transcendental—pixelated, fuzzy, blurred visuals that also make parallels with the digital world, advancing the artist’s constant search into new territories of abstraction. Seemingly dissimilar, the common thread linking the video imagery is an intimate study on the mechanism and limitations of memory, both personal and collective, interpreting the lost time, space and thought.
“Burning sun. Open air. Nature. The fields. The woods. A birch. A pine. An oak. Shades. Shadows. Clouds overhead. Streams beneath. They are gifts for a child. How unguarded we were, the early days.
Growth. In years, decades later. The course of life. Death. Grief. Senility. Greeted with apprehensions. Lingering regrets. We return to this gift, now for comfort, for answers. A pleasant solace.
Brisk. Bright. Soft hue. Pale tone. Easy on the eyes. Light Jelly Sweet. A sense of tenderness, clarity and calm. A balm for the soul. A clearing to yearn, to forgive, to let go if only for a moment.
Part bucolic splendour, part whispered serenity. A world tipped into stillness. A reminder that even in the darkness, there is still a reason to look up.”, Henry Hu writes.
The Golden Rain Tree drips its powders down
2 June - 18 June 2023
Airspace Projects
Sydney, Australia
The Golden Rain Tree drips its powders down, 2023, installation view, dimensions variable.
The Hive Itself a Teacup
The Hive Itself a Teacup, an exhibition of new paintings and photographs by Henry Hu. This focused presentation spotlights the artist’s continued interest in abstraction as a force that might signify life without directly defining it. Engaged with notions of mysticism, central to his practice is an enquiry into the spiritual end.
Prominently featured in this presentation is Light Jelly Sweet (begun in 2022), an ongoing series in which the artist furthers his exploration into the language and material process of abstract painting, investigating the physicality of the medium. What arises from Light Jelly Sweet, whether on canvas, board, or paper, are testaments of existence as imagined, invented, remembered, and observed.
The initial impression is one of self-generative creation, with vignettes of growth and decay symbolising biological life cycles. The buried fears, the old grudges, the wounded feelings are fused together in these artworks that reach for an understanding of vulnerability, turning inward and examining the subconscious landscape. It is the concept of perception—the perception of a past or a memory, and how we frown upon it—that is at the forefront of what unifies this series.
Henry Hu’s approach is both spontaneous and exact. Limiting his range of tonal palette within each work, the paintings combine a multi-layered technique of paint pours with an ecosystem of raw, earthly materials—mixing sand, gravel, twig, leaf, grass and wood. Each element tunnels into, intertwines with the other, constructing an architecture of forms, colours and texture. A delicate manipulation of material that traces the ambiguity of nostalgia. The end result materialises as an account of time, consciousness made visible. At heart, the works are an embodiment of the natural world, to preserve what is fleeting, a piece of reflection, a quiet wonder.
“Burning sun. Open air. Nature. The fields. The woods. A birch. A pine. An oak. Shades. Shadows. Clouds overhead. Streams beneath. They are gifts for a child. How unguarded we were, the early days.
Growth. In years, decades later. The course of life. Death. Grief. Senility. Greeted with apprehensions. Lingering regrets. We return to this gift, now for comfort, for answers. A pleasant solace.
Brisk. Bright. Soft hue. Pale tone. Easy on the eyes. Light Jelly Sweet. A sense of tenderness, clarity and calm. A balm for the soul. A clearing to yearn, to forgive, to let go if only for a moment.
Part bucolic splendour, part whispered serenity. A world tipped into stillness. A reminder that even in the darkness, there is still a reason to look up.”, Henry Hu writes.
The Hive Itself a Teacup
7 June - 1 July 2023
Five Walls
Melbourne, Australia
see also:
The Hive Itself a Teacup, 2023, installation view, dimensions variable.
From the Series ‘Light Jelly Sweet’
From the Series ‘Light Jelly Sweet’, an exhibition of new work by Henry Hu. Featuring animation, paintings, and photographs—together the selection spotlights the artist’s continued interest in abstraction as a force that might signify life without directly defining it. Engaged with notions of mysticism, central to his practice is an enquiry into the spiritual end.
Light Jelly Sweet (2022-23)—the centrepiece of the presentation—is realised through a large suite of mixed-media paintings and lens-based works. Forgoing an explicit narrative structure, the artist furthers his exploration into the language and material process of abstract painting, investigating the physicality of the medium. What arises from Light Jelly Sweet, whether on canvas, board, or paper, are testaments of existence as imagined, invented, remembered, and observed.
The initial impression is one of self-generative creation, with vignettes of growth and decay symbolising biological life cycles. The buried fears, the old grudges, the wounded feelings are fused together in these artworks that reach for an understanding of vulnerability, turning inward and examining the subconscious landscape. It is the concept of perception—the perception of a past or a memory, and how we frown upon it—that is at the forefront of what unifies this series.
Henry Hu’s approach is both spontaneous and exact. Limiting his range of tonal palette within each work, the paintings combine a multi-layered technique of paint pours with an ecosystem of raw, earthly materials—mixing sand, gravel, twig, leaf, grass, and wood. The process is fluid, but ever precise and assertive. Each element tunnels into, intertwines with the other, constructing an architecture of forms, colours and texture. A delicate manipulation of material that traces the ambiguity of nostalgia. The end result materialises as an account of time, consciousness made visible. At heart, the works are an embodiment of the natural world, to preserve what is fleeting, a piece of reflection, a quiet wonder.
Also on view are computer-generated animation. Conceived as an extension and companion to the static work, these motion images are a synesthetic field of shapes and rhythms, to suggest the ethereal or perhaps the transcendental—pixelated, fuzzy, blurred visuals that also make parallels with the digital world—advancing the artist’s constant search into new territories of abstraction. Seemingly dissimilar, the common thread that links the video imagery is an intimate study on the mechanism and limitations of memory, both personal and collective, interpreting the lost time, space and thought.
“Burning sun. Open air. Nature. The fields. The woods. A birch. A pine. An oak. Shades. Shadows. Clouds overhead. Streams beneath. They are gifts for a child. How unguarded we were, the early days.
Growth. In years, decades later. The course of life. Death. Grief. Senility. Greeted with apprehensions. Lingering regrets. We return to this gift, now for comfort, for answers. A pleasant solace.
Brisk. Bright. Soft hue. Pale tone. Easy on the eyes. Light Jelly Sweet. A sense of tenderness, clarity and calm. A balm for the soul. A clearing to yearn, to forgive, to let go if only for a moment.
Part bucolic splendour, part whispered serenity. A world tipped into stillness. A reminder that even in the darkness, there is still a reason to look up.”, Henry Hu writes.
From the Series ‘Light Jelly Sweet’
14 April - 7 May 2023
M16 Artspace
Canberra, Australia
From the Series ‘Light Jelly Sweet’, 2023, installation view, dimensions variable.
Light Jelly Sweet & Other Moving Images
Light Jelly Sweet & Other Moving Images, an exhibition of new work by Henry Hu. Featuring animation, paintings, and photographs—together the selection spotlights the artist’s continued interest in abstraction as a force that might signify life without directly defining it. Engaged with notions of mysticism, central to his practice is an enquiry into the spiritual end.
Light Jelly Sweet (2022-23)—the centrepiece of the presentation—is realised through a large suite of mixed-media paintings and lens-based works. Forgoing an explicit narrative structure, the artist furthers his exploration into the language and material process of abstract painting, investigating the physicality of the medium. What arises from Light Jelly Sweet, whether on canvas, board, or paper, are testaments of existence as imagined, invented, remembered, and observed.
The initial impression is one of self-generative creation, with vignettes of growth and decay symbolising biological life cycles. The buried fears, the old grudges, the wounded feelings are fused together in these artworks that reach for an understanding of vulnerability, turning inward and examining the subconscious landscape. It is the concept of perception—the perception of a past or a memory, and how we frown upon it—that is at the forefront of what unifies this series.
Henry Hu’s approach is both spontaneous and exact. Limiting his range of tonal palette within each work, the paintings combine a multi-layered technique of paint pours with an ecosystem of raw, earthly materials—mixing sand, gravel, twig, leaf, grass, and wood. The process is fluid, but ever precise and assertive. Each element tunnels into, intertwines with the other, constructing an architecture of forms, colours and texture. A delicate manipulation of material that traces the ambiguity of nostalgia. The end result materialises as an account of time, consciousness made visible. At heart, the works are an embodiment of the natural world, to preserve what is fleeting, a piece of reflection, a quiet wonder.
Also on view are computer-generated animation. Conceived as an extension and companion to the static work, these motion images are a synesthetic field of shapes and rhythms, to suggest the ethereal or perhaps the transcendental—pixelated, fuzzy, blurred visuals that also make parallels with the digital world—advancing the artist’s constant search into new territories of abstraction. Seemingly dissimilar, the common thread that links the video imagery is an intimate study on the mechanism and limitations of memory, both personal and collective, interpreting the lost time, space and thought.
“Burning sun. Open air. Nature. The fields. The woods. A birch. A pine. An oak. Shades. Shadows. Clouds overhead. Streams beneath. They are gifts for a child. How unguarded we were, the early days.
Growth. In years, decades later. The course of life. Death. Grief. Senility. Greeted with apprehensions. Lingering regrets. We return to this gift, now for comfort, for answers. A pleasant solace.
Brisk. Bright. Soft hue. Pale tone. Easy on the eyes. Light Jelly Sweet. A sense of tenderness, clarity and calm. A balm for the soul. A clearing to yearn, to forgive, to let go if only for a moment.
Part bucolic splendour, part whispered serenity. A world tipped into stillness. A reminder that even in the darkness, there is still a reason to look up.”, Henry Hu writes.
Light Jelly Sweet & Other Moving Images
22 March - 10 April 2023
Articulate project space
Sydney, Australia
Light Jelly Sweet & Other Moving Images, 2023, installation view, dimensions variable.
Light Jelly Sweet part one
Light Jelly Sweet part one, an exhibition of new and recent work by Henry Hu. The show features paintings, photographs, and video installations—spotlighting the artist’s multidisciplinary practice and his explorations of abstraction as a force that might signify life without directly representing it.
The paintings combine a multi-layered process of paint pours with raw, earthly materials like sand, gravel, twig, grass and wood. The works are an embodiment of the natural world. A piece of reflection. A quiet wonder.
shading port, BEAMS. A series of photographs, captured in Mount Wutai, one of the sacred mountains in China. The pictures call attention to those little restful moments in life, and the certainty that all disturbances eventually calm.
Also on view are computer-generated animation. Conceived as an extension and companion to the static work, these motion images are a synesthetic field of shapes and rhythms, to suggest the ethereal or perhaps the transcendental—pixelated, fuzzy, blurred visuals that also make parallels with the digital world, advancing the artist’s constant search into new territories of abstraction. Seemingly dissimilar, the common thread linking the video imagery is an intimate study on the mechanism and limitations of memory, both personal and collective, interpreting the lost time, space and thought.
“Burning sun. Open air. Nature. The fields. The woods. A birch. A pine. An oak. Shades. Shadows. Clouds overhead. Streams beneath. They are gifts for a child. How unguarded we were, the early days.
Growth. In years, decades later. The course of life. Death. Grief. Senility. Greeted with apprehensions. Lingering regrets. We return to this gift, now for comfort, for answers. A pleasant solace.
Brisk. Bright. Soft hue. Pale tone. Easy on the eyes. Light Jelly Sweet. A sense of tenderness, clarity and calm. A balm for the soul. A clearing to yearn, to forgive, to let go if only for a moment.
Part bucolic splendor, part whispered serenity. A world tipped into stillness. A reminder that even in the darkness, there is still a reason to look up.”, Henry Hu writes.
Light Jelly Sweet part one
26 September - 9 October 2022
Project Gallery (Queensland College of Art)
Brisbane, Australia
Light Jelly Sweet part one, 2022, installation view, dimensions variable.
selected02
selected02, a presentation of recent paintings by Henry Hu. The selection distills the loss of childhood splendour—ruminating on the time before adulthood, back when everything was brand new, glaring, often exciting.
Children’s rhymes, myths, fables, legends. They all once filled our heads with ideas only we never seem to know what they were. This exhibition is the reaction. An object of reverence to any fairy tale, wonder tale, magic tale. A nod to the gift of anticipation. A gleaming dive into fanaticism. A leeway in which we too become children, again. A return to that world, to recreate.
Colour breaks loose in the paintings on view, rich abstractions melt onto canvases and glass frames, offering an open field of exploration. No figures, or landscapes are depicted, and yet there are allusions to playful gestures, as well as to nature.
A highlight of the exhibition—Quitting castle when real days break (2020)—in which paint, glitter and salt are fused together to constitute a fluid impression of reality. Being reactive to light and movement, the glass painting takes on sculptural characteristics in its constant change. Stripes of bright hue overlap or partly cross to such an extent one layer can be seen through another. The transparent surface sets off a dynamic change of colour perception, generating a sense of illusory depth.
Originated from retrieving the lost flights of childhood fancies, the paintings are reminiscent of a child’s preschool Arts and Crafts. From paints to prints, threads to fabrics, an organic experience built on the fact everything will age—considering how all thoughts mature, evolve, eventually flushed out with time.
“If childhood is, after all, an echo of time, every now and then, rings in a memory.
With our decades of growth. In our dearest of feelings. We smile at those memories.”, Henry Hu writes.
selected02
4 July - 16 July 2022
Sheffer Gallery
Sydney, Australia
selected02, 2022, installation view, dimensions variable.
selected01
selected01, an exhibition of recent work by Henry Hu. Bringing together diverse media—photographs, paintings, works on glass, digital prints and video installations—these projects provide an overview of his emerging creative practice.
To be presented in dialogue with one another, the show features selections drawn from multiple interlocking bodies of work. Starting off in the bright light. Two sets of photographs. passing parade and shading port, BEAMS—each of the two series offers the comfort of transience, languishing in the desire to be anywhere else. The pictures call attention to those little restful moments in life, and the certainty that all disturbances eventually calm.
Sea Sore Honey Lock, a series of multimedia paintings, sets the conceptual stage for the exhibition. From paints to prints, threads to fabrics. The works distill the loss of childhood splendor, ruminating on the time before adulthood, back when everything was brand new, glaring, often exciting. In an excerpt from the series statement, Henry Hu shares:
“Children’s rhymes, myths, fables, legends. They all once filled our heads with ideas only we never seem to know what they were. This series is the reaction. An object of reverence to any and every fairy tale. Wonder tale. Magic tale. A nod to the gift of anticipation. A gleaming dive into fanaticism. A leeway in which we too become children, again. A return to that world, to recreate.
If childhood is, after all, an echo of time, every now and then, rings in a memory.
With our decades of growth. In our dearest of feelings. We smile at those memories.”
Also on view are mixed-media works from series free corn ban_wih_bi_lg and @@@@ capcap!!!. Conceived alongside Sea Sore Honey Lock, these pieces are the skeletal keys that unlocked the progress, the self-reflections that advanced the growth.
selected01
30 March - 24 April 2022
ANCA Gallery (Australian National Capital Artists)
Canberra, Australia
selected01, 2022, installation view, dimensions variable.
selected00
selected00, a presentation of recent paintings by Henry Hu. The selection distills the loss of childhood splendour—ruminating on the time before adulthood, back when everything was brand new, glaring, often exciting.
Children’s rhymes, myths, fables, legends. They all once filled our heads with ideas only we never seem to know what they were. This exhibition is the reaction. An object of reverence to any fairy tale, wonder tale, magic tale. A nod to the gift of anticipation. A gleaming dive into fanaticism. A leeway in which we too become children, again. A return to that world, to recreate.
Colour breaks loose in the paintings on view, rich abstractions melt onto canvases and glass frames, offering an open field of exploration. No figures, or landscapes are depicted, and yet there are allusions to playful gestures, as well as to nature.
A highlight of the exhibition—Quitting castle when real days break (2020)—in which paint, glitter and salt are fused together to constitute a fluid impression of reality. Being reactive to light and movement, the glass painting takes on sculptural characteristics in its constant change. Stripes of bright hue overlap or partly cross to such an extent one layer can be seen through another. The transparent surface sets off a dynamic change of colour perception, generating a sense of illusory depth.
Originated from retrieving the lost flights of childhood fancies, the paintings are reminiscent of a child’s preschool Arts and Crafts. From paints to prints, threads to fabrics, an organic experience built on the fact everything will age—considering how all thoughts mature, evolve, eventually flushed out with time.
“If childhood is, after all, an echo of time, every now and then, rings in a memory.
With our decades of growth. In our dearest of feelings. We smile at those memories.”, Henry Hu writes.
selected00
10 February - 21 February 2022
Gaffa
Sydney, Australia
selected00, 2022, installation view, dimensions variable.
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