In the series Painting the Yellow Mountain, Francis Hamel sets up a dialogue between the steep mountains of Huangshan and the inaccessible high-rises of Hong Kong.
Vertical forms and mystical vegetation
Francis Hamel’s painting the yellow mountain series was made over wo trips to Hong Kong and China between 2019 and 2020. It sets up a formal analogy between the vertical mountains of Huangshan and the skyscrapers of Hong Kong.
By choosing to depict the Huang Mountain(s) (or Yellow Mountain), he follows a classic traditional Chinese painting. Granite peaks emerging from mystical vegetation and mist are subjects that have been depicted many times, but here Francis Hamel uses a mode of representation, colors and play of light more suited to a Western painting culture. Nature is also present in Hong Kong’s paintings, proving that modern forms cannot free themselves from their relationship with the landscape environment.
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