From 26 September, Hauser & Wirth will present ‘Exotica,’ a solo exhibition of new, formally innovative works by Mark Bradford. A contemporary artist from the US, Bradford is best known for his large-scale abstract paintings created out of paper: from his early experimentation with the end paper used in hair salons to maps, billboards, movie posters, comic books, and ‘merchant posters’ that advertise predatory services in economically distressed neighbourhoods. Referred to frequently as ‘social abstraction,’ Bradford’s work is rooted in his understanding that all materials and techniques are embedded with meaning that precedes their artistic utility. In partnership with Bridge+, a local social enterprise in Hong Kong, Hauser & Wirth and Mark Bradford devised a learning program to accompany the exhibition that engaged with a group of teenagers from Sham Shui Po introducing them to the processes of screen printing and photo emulsion and Bradford has collaborated with them to realise a mural in the Bridge+ space depicting a map of Hong Kong. In ‘Exotica’, Bradford probes the impact of colonialism and concepts of ‘otherness’ through the lens of individual experience. 

Hauser & Wirth, G/F, 8 Queen’s Road Central, Central, Hong Kong.