Holly Lee Explained

Holly Lee ([1]), born 1953 in Hong Kong,[2] is an artist-photographer, best known for her portraits project, the Hollian Thesaurus. She was one of the pioneers of conceptual photography in Hong Kong, experimenting with Photoshop to create composite photographs[3] that were reminiscent of oil paintings.[4] Her work has been collected by the Hong Kong Heritage Museum[5] and M+ Museum.

Holly Lee has worked as a professional photographer since 1980. She was one of the founders of Dislocation, a monthly photography journal in Hong Kong active from 1992 to 1998.[6] In 1997, she re-located from Hong Kong to Toronto, Canada[7] where she and Lee Ka Sing, an artist-photographer, set up INDEXG (a gallery and art studio space).[8] The duo now publishes online on a weekly periodical, Double Double by Ocean Pounds.[9]

Career

In her first photography series, Pictures of My Friends, Artists and Others, Holly Lee photographed many artists and creatives in Hong Kong including Antonio Mak and Ann Hui.[10] She was inspired by the portraits by Richard Avedon, which she described as "naked and intense". This series of black-and-white portraits featured the subject in the foreground against a white background.

Holly Lee is best known for her works in the Hollian Thesaurus project. The project consists of twelve portraits created between 1994 and 2000, contemplating and exploring a period of change in Hong Kong leading up to the handover of Hong Kong. Lee explores themes of East and West cultural dialogues and identities, often juxtaposing historical and contemporary elements.

Using digital manipulation, Lee combined photographs, sourced imagery and 19th-century export painting from Guangdong to create the Hollian Thesaurus portraits. The portraits are reminiscent of Renaissance oil paintings—Lee added fine lines to mimic the cracks in old oil paintings, creating an air of nostalgia. Her most recognised portrait, The Great Pageant Show, presents a Miss Hong Kong beauty pageant winner in the style of Queen Elizabeth II presented in front of a Qing court painting.

Works in the Hollian Thesaurus include:

List of selected works

Sources:[11]

Awards

Sources:

Selected exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions
Group Exhibitions

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Hong Kong Art Archive. finearts.hku.hk. 2019-03-09.
  2. Book: Chang, Yuanchien Rita. Fast Forward to 2000: Recent Works by Asian Cultural Council Grantees, Catalog. Cultural Center of the Philippines. 1998. Philippines. 12–13.
  3. Web site: The Hollian Thesaurus: A Piece of Hong Kong Photography History - M+ Stories. M+ Stories. 25 October 2018. stories.mplus.org.hk. en. 2019-03-09.
  4. Book: Norman Jackson Ford, Edited by. Traversals (catalog). MAP Book Publishers. 2001. Hong Kong.
  5. Web site: Hong Kong Heritage Museum. www.heritagemuseum.gov.hk. 2019-03-09.
  6. Web site: 查考香港自1960年代以來的攝影實踐. Asia Art Archive. aaa.org.hk. zh-Hant. 2019-03-09.
  7. Book: Beyond the Portrait (exhibition catalogue). Hong Kong Heritage Museum, Leisure and Cultural Services Department. 2012. 978-962-7213-71-0.
  8. Web site: INDEXG, 50 Gladstone Avenue Toronto. indexg.com. 2019-03-09.
  9. Web site: Double Double. Ocean Pounds. en. 2019-03-09.
  10. Web site: Holly Lee Series - Ann Hui. Google Arts & Culture. en. 2019-03-09.
  11. Book: Contemporary Photography from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Hong Kong Arts Centre. 1994. 962-7630-06-3. Hong Kong.

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