An exhibition entitled “I’ll be gone, you’ll be gone” by French artist Yves Étienne Sonolet at the Macau Art For All Society (AFA) gallery is the first part of the “Urban Identity – New Immigrants Artists” exhibition series for artists this year, according to an statement by curator Alice Kok Tim Hei.
According to Kok’s statement, Sonolet is a visual artist working in video and installation. He has a wide range of interests such as sociology, politics, culture, technology, history and certainly, in art. Solonet’s work expresses curiosity about exploring cultural identity and dissecting the urban environment, which the artist expresses through exhibitions, multimedia creations, and adapting video for stage productions, Kok points out.
The title “I’ll be gone, you’ll be gone” is a reminder of death at the back of our minds…and “we are standing in front of the all-pervasive forces of consumerism to make profit without restraint. But then, when the notion of the crowd eventually disappears, will the anonymous be able to reclaim autonomy of identity? Or simply a fundamental sense of being oneself,” according to Kok.
Solonet moved to Macau in 2008 and he has been recently discovering Macau as a historical centre without crowds once again due to travel curbs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kok underlines.
For the exhibit called “Possible Paths”, Solonet has created an interactive video installation in which, as the audience approaches the screen, the people in the video disappear gradually, leaving the St Paul’s Ruins standing still, almost 400 years after they were built, Kok points out.
The exhibition runs until August 28 at AFA Macau on the 1st floor gallery of Tak Chun Macau Art Garden at 265, Avenida do Dr. Rodrigo Rodrigues. It is open daily (except Sundays and public holidays) from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is free.
As part of the government’s COVID-19 epidemic prevention measures, all visitors entering the venue are required to wear a facemask.
For enquiries, call 2836 6064 or visit the website www.afamacau.com.
Photos: Camy Tam
