Once Lost, Now Found, a dual exhibition by Mondrian Hong Kong
As the cultural heartbeat of Asia’s international art scene, Hong Kong transforms into a vibrant canvas every March, bringing forth a myriad of artistic expressions. The city becomes a stage for captivating exhibitions, avant-garde installations, and creative dialogues that extend well beyond the confines of galleries—often spilling onto the streets, where one might stumble upon a fleeting yet profound encounter with art.
Among these cultural highlights is The Corner Shop at Mondrian Hong Kong, a dynamic exhibition space nestled in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui. True to its name, this intimate venue—situated at a prominent street corner adjacent to the hotel—has evolved into a hub for artistic experimentation, live music, and community-driven creative engagements. Complementing this is the hotel's 40th-floor rooftop garden, offering an immersive, panoramic setting where installation art converges with the architectural grandeur of the city’s skyline.
From March 20 to May 4, Mondrian Hong Kong unveils Once Lost, Now Found, a dual exhibition featuring works by Liao Jiaming and Aaron Lam Kwok Yam. Spanning both of the hotel’s distinctive art spaces, the exhibition explores themes of identity, memory, and the ephemeral nature of existence.
At the core of Once Lost, Now Found lies a poetic, imagined pursuit—one that invites audiences to reflect on the uncertainties of contemporary life, weaving through the interplay of personal history and collective experience.
Liao Jiaming: Unraveling Narratives Through Medium and Memory
Liao Jiaming, a multidisciplinary artist, delves into the narratives embedded within imagery and the dynamics of power they evoke. His practice spans photography, video, installation, and performance, often engaging with themes of gender, corporeality, and self-identity.
For Once Lost, Now Found, Liao presents a selection of past works alongside newly commissioned pieces, each offering a compelling exploration of intimacy, loss, and shared desire. Open Yourselves (Ourselves)transforms an article of the artist’s own clothing into a poignant medium, using gel transfers to imprint images on fabric—an evocative gesture that conjures reflections on relationships and longing.
The Creator stands as an interactive fusion of 3D holographic projections and custom trading cards, seamlessly integrating personal sentiment with the visual language of digital dating culture. Visitors can engage with the installation by inserting tokens to receive a randomly dispensed card—an artistic encounter at the intersection of chance and fate.
On the rooftop garden, Liao’s latest work, How to Stay Balanced on Water, materialises as a video installation depicting a performer precariously poised on the water’s surface at an abandoned ferry pier. A poetic juxtaposition of Hong Kong’s urban landscape and a transient state of being, the piece resonates with themes of impermanence and alternative modes of existence.
Aaron Lam: Bridging Tradition, Migration, and the Passage of Time
Aaron Lam, an installation artist, examines identity, memory, and emotional entanglements through a lens of migration and mobility. His works frequently reflect on the interplay between personal and collective histories, rendering abstract yet deeply evocative narratives.
Among the highlights of Once Lost, Now Found is Neuron, an installation first exhibited in Tokyo, inspired by the biological renewal of human cells. This piece encapsulates psychological tension and the fragile, hypersensitive nature of human existence, immersing viewers in an introspective meditation on time and transformation.
Lam’s newly unveiled work, Moving, takes on an innovative sculptural form—merging elements of a traditional Chinese altar with the structure of a shoe rack. Symbolizing both heritage and adaptability, the piece incorporates motifs of red lanterns, lotus blossoms, and auspicious clouds, evoking reflections on migration and the pursuit of spiritual and everyday fulfillment.
A Dialogue Between Art, Memory, and Self-Discovery
Through their evocative creations, Liao Jiaming and Aaron Lam Kwok Yam craft a dialogue between the lost and the rediscovered, the transient and the eternal. Their works do not merely recount personal narratives but extend an invitation to audiences—encouraging contemplation of their own identities, histories, and fleeting moments of existence. In a city that constantly reinvents itself, Once Lost, Now Found is a poignant reminder that what we seek may already reside within us, waiting to be rediscovered.
“As part of our Inspired by People philosophy and cultural programming, it is really exciting to host two exceptional artists, who work and create in Hong Kong, and will take visitors during Art Month on a journey that starts on the quintessential cinematic Tsim Sha Tsui streets to the top of the building with city’s iconic skyline as a backdrop to their creations.” Says Dirk Dalichau, Mondrian Hong Kong General Manager.
