Artist Angela Su’s exhibition representing Hong Kong at the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia is now showcasing at M+ with an adapted and site-responsive presentation. The exhibition stages Su’s research about Lauren O, an enigmatic figure with the power of levitation who played an instrumental role in the 1960s anti-war movement in the United States. Featuring a collection of her notes and study models, the exhibition illustrates Lauren O’s obsession with transformation and levitation.

This exhibition is also an invitation to the world of Angela Su’s idiosyncratic practice that combines her interests in the history of science and somatic experience with her wild imagination.

The exhibition is co-organised by M+ and the Hong Kong Arts Development Council.

Angela Su’s works investigate the perception and imagery of the body through processes of metamorphosis, hybridity, and transformation. Her research-based projects materialise into drawing, video, hair embroidery, and performative and installation works, which explore the interrelations between our state of being and the advancement of technology. Central to these projects are video essays and texts that weave together fact and fiction, and reality and fantasy. With a focus on the history of medical science, her works question dominant biomedical discourse and contemplate the impact of technology on the past, present, and future.

Freya Chou is a curator based in Hong Kong and Taipei. She is a member of the 58th Carnegie International’s Curatorial Council (2022) and guest curator of Hong Kong’s participation in the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia (2022).  She was in the curatorial team of the 6th and 7th Taipei Biennial (2008, 2010) and co-curator of the 10th Shanghai Biennale (2014). From 2015 to 2019, she worked at Para Site in Hong Kong as the institution’s inaugural Curator of Education and Public Programmes. During her four-year term, she curated exhibitions including Ellen Pau: What About Home Affairs?—A Retrospective (2018), Chris Evans, Pak Sheung Chuen: Two Exhibitions (2017), and Afterwork (co-curator, 2016). Chou has worked on research projects with several organisations, and edited and contributed to artist books, magazines, and exhibition catalogues. She was recently appointed as a co-curator of the 13th Taipei Biennial (2023) together with Brian Kuan Wood and Reem Shadid.

Established in 1995, HKADC is a statutory body set up by the Hong Kong Government. Its major roles include grant allocation, policy and planning, advocacy, promotion and development, and special projects. HKADC supports and promotes the development of ten major art forms in literary arts, performing arts, visual arts as well as film and media arts. It aims to foster a thriving arts environment by facilitating community-wide participation in the arts and art education, encouraging criticism, raising arts administration standards, and contributing on policy research.