mr clement

Born in Hong Kong at 1980.
moved to London at 2004 and Tokyo at 2016, currently living in Taiwan.

mr clement is the artistic pseudonym for my work as a sculptor and painter.

My practice often draws inspiration from comics and popular culture however I like playing with paradox and often approach my narrative sculptures and paintings through the lens of the Old Masters.

I enjoy finding small and interesting compositional elements in classical art but use a more direct way to express these elements, defined by my own minimalist aesthetic and humour. I have developed this approach as I feel it speaks to my main audience which has grown up with pop music, fast food, comics, TV and similar forms of visual entertainment.

The process of discovering recurring themes and hidden meanings in classical artworks not only gives me a new and profound contact with those works of art, Old Masters and even the bygone eras, it also helps extend my imagination, and enriches the stories and personalities of my characters.

I want my artwork to communicate complex emotions purely based on their form, without dependence on captions or titles. In my works, there are many allegorical characters in the form of cartoons – my main character LAPIN is a melancholic seeker, which is sometimes depicted through figurative dramatisation. This technique is enriched from my study of classical art, such as how a woman rests her hand across her chest or tilts her head in a Raphael portrait to depict a certain sensibility.

I believe having a romantically playful layer in the narrative makes my work special. I like the idea of subverting the boundary between contemporary art and classical art, and creating paradoxes through giving the original work of art new contexts and meanings.

2007 - 2009
Master of Arts Degree, Communication Art and Design
Royal College of Art, London

2013 Apr
Pictoplasma Berlin 2013, Guest presenter
Presented Pictoplasma Berlin

2011 Jun Pecha Kucha Sofia 2011, Guest presenter
Presented Pecha Kucha, Sofia, Bulgaria

2008 Feb Comicpress 2008, Guest presenter
Presented CHINA NOW, ICA, London

SOLO
2014 May Lapin World Tour: Chicago by Rotofugi Gallery, Chicago

2012 Aug Lapin World Tour – Los Angeles by Toy Art Gallery TAG, Los Angeles

2011 Jun Lapin World Tour – Sofia by Sofia Design Week 2011 & The Museum Gallery Of Modern Art, Sofia

2010 Dec Hide & Seek by The Basement Gallery, London

2010 Apr Loin des yeux, loin du Coeur by Artoyz Gallery, Paris

2006 Dec Yeah Kou Phobia launch Exhibition by Playlounge, London

2005 Mar Lapin World Tour #3 – London by Playlounge, London

2003 Jun Lapin World Tour #2 – Non-stop Game by Inknight Galleria, Paris

GROUP
2014 Sept Pictoplasma Mexio by Pictoplasma, Berlin and MARCO Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey, México

2014 Apr Young Art Taipei 2014 by Gai Art Gallery, Taipei

2014 Apr THE PICTOPLASMA PORTRAIT GALLERY by Pictoplasma, Berlin

2013 May WHITE NOISE Exhibition of Contemporary Character Design and Art by Pictoplasma and La Casa Encendida, Madrid

2012 Mar Asia Top Gallery Hotel Art Fair Hong Kong 2012 by AHAF, Korean, Hong Kong

2010 Sept Core Gallery Open Submission Exhibition for Deptford X 2010 by Core Gallery, London

2010 June Rejected 2010 by Menier Gallery, London

2009 July RCA FINALSHOW2 by Royal College of Art, London

2008 Dec Work in Progress Show by Royal College of Art, London