Spotlight by Art Basel

The centerpiece of Lévy Gorvy’s booth at Spotlight Hong Kong will be 21.11.03, a major oil painting from the master's last decade. The expansive canvas, which has only been exhibited once before at the Pierre Gianadda Foundation in Switzerland, represents the autonomy that Zao harnessed in the new millennium, advancing his painterly engagement with atmospheric abstraction while transcending direct representation. The celestial 21.11.03 manifests Zao's desire “to paint that which cannot be seen, the breath of life, the wind, movement, the life of forms.” This impulse may also be seen in several important works on paper that will be on display including two monumental works from 2006 that Zao created with brushed India ink on paper, uniting charged calligraphic gestures with a command of composition developed over a long and accomplished career. Zao’s India ink on paper works were a focus of his recent 2019 retrospective at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.

Lévy Gorvy has worked closely with Zao Wou-Ki’s estate since the gallery’s inception. Its inaugural exhibition in 2017 presented paintings by the Chinese master together with works by American Abstract Expressionist Willem de Kooning. We are honored to again present his work of this master in Hong Kong.