“Interview the Interviewer II” — Chow Chun Fai’s Solo Exhibition at the 2025 Art Basel Hong Kong Insights Sector. Curated by Chris Wan.

Hong Kong artist Chow Chun Fai’s special project “Interview the Interviewer II” is featured in the Insights sector of Art Basel Hong Kong 2025, presenting his latest painting practice. This exhibition centers around Chow’s interview with Cheung Po Wah, a well-known former journalist, and combines his research into Hong Kong news archives from the late 20th century. By integrating private documents, newspaper clippings, television footage, internet memes, and Hong Kong film clips, Chow creates a multi-layered, holistic painting language experiment that explores the intersection of media, history, and personal memory, along with their translation into art.

As a veteran journalist, Cheung Po Wah reported on pivotal events such as Hong Kong’s handover, China’s WTO accession, and the Beijing Olympics. Her personal experiences and memories form a crucial foundation for this project. Chow navigates between the roles and perspectives of interviewer and interviewee, using a restrained yet sharp painting language to create fragmented yet interconnected new works. Chow is known for his Painting on Movie series and his wit and humor.

IIn this new project, he continues to use painting as a discussive medium, exploring its potential to evolve as an artistic language through playful interpretations of personal memories and public historical images. Through subtle changes in brushstrokes and tones, Chow explores the intersection of calm and passionate emotions, discussing the possibilities within the process of dehistoricizing and rehistoricizing individual and collective memories, and how art can respond to the spectral coexistence of personal memory, collective memory, and present reality.

“Interview the Interviewer II” not only examines how painting practice responds to societal change but also delves into the complex relationship between memory, archives, and historical representation. The project also engages with the concept of “Hong Kong as Method”, using Hong Kong’s contradictory history and identity as a perspective and methodology for understanding shifts in global geopolitics and economic structures.

About Artist

Chow Chun Fai, born in 1980, is a prominent Hong Kong artist known for his versatile artistry spanning painting, video, and installation. His work often explores themes of identity, memory, and urban life within Hong Kong’s vibrant milieu. Notably, his “Painting on Movies” series ingeniously reinterprets iconic scenes from Hong Kong cinema, blending film with visual art to offer viewers fresh perspectives. Chow’s exploration extends to urban landscapes, evident in his “Hong Kong Taxi” and “Urban Landscape” series, where he adeptly captures the city’s energy and character. Through meticulous detail and keen composition, his paintings evoke nostalgia while reflecting on urbanisation and cultural shifts. Chow’s unique fusion of realism and conceptualism provides insight into Hong Kong’s urban identity, prompting contemplation on modern urban complexities.

Chow’s work has been exhibited and collected in renowned museums and institutions, including Hong Kong Museum of Art (Hong Kong), M+ Museum (Hong Kong), Deutsche Bank (Hong Kong), 21C Museum (the United States), White Rabbit Collection (Australia), and so on, with reviews featured in publications like Artforum.

The new project “INTERVIEW THE INTERVIEWER I & II,” in collaboration with SC Gallery, represents a significant new development in his artistic career. After over a year of preparation, the first part premiered in early 2023 in Hong Kong, receiving extensive attention and discussion from local media. In this unique project, Chow created a series of fragmented, intersecting paintings that include historical events filled with personal memories and media images that evoke public memory and resonance. Through a stark painting style and metaphorical imagery, the artist reinterprets a personalized narrative of contemporary Hong Kong history.

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Art Basel Hong Kong 2025 Chow Chun Fai “Interview the Interviewer II” Backstage