Exhibitions to see this month

This month’s exhibitions revisit subjects that have been popular throughout art history

ALISAN FINE ARTS

Chu Teh-chun

May 12 to July 10

The late Chinese-french abstract artist Chu Tehchun was a pioneer of fusing western abstract art with traditional Chinese calligraphy. He studied at China’s National School of Fine Arts—alongside fellow superstars Zao Wou-ki and Wu Guanzhong—before moving in 1956 to Paris, where his style matured and where he lived until his death in 2014. As part of Le French May festival, Alisan Fine Arts is showing 16 pieces by Chu, most of them works on paper. A documentary about Chu’s life will also be screened at Tai Kwun in June. alisan.com.hk

BEN BROWN FINE ARTS

What is a Head?

From May 15

After its launch in London, this exhibition, which features paintings of human heads by two of Britain’s leading figurative painters, Frank Auerbach and Tony Bevan, comes to Hong Kong. Inspired by the philosophers Descartes, Sartre and Heidegger, Auerbach explores the complexities of the mind, while Bevan focuses on muscle and sinew—the physicality of the head. Together, they reflect on and reshape the way we see one of the most common subjects in art. benbrownfinearts.com

LÉVY GORVY

Eternal Seasons

Until May 31

This two-part exhibition explores how the seasons have been depicted in art over the past 150 years. The first instalment, which closed at the end of April, showcased pieces by masters such as Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin and Pierre-auguste Renoir. The second, open now, moves into the late 20th century and present day, featuring works by big names such as Joan Mitchell, Takashi Murakami, Yayoi Kusama and Zao Wou-ki. levygorvy.com

HAUSER & WIRTH

Jack Whitten

Until July 31

The late American artist Jack Whitten was celebrated for the innovative methods he used to apply paint to canvas and the many ways in which his work explored his experiences of living as a black man in America. His bold, experimental art blurs the boundaries between abstraction and figuration, and sculpture and painting. This show—his first solo exhibition in Asia—features rarely seen paintings, sculpture and works on paper made between the 1960s and the 2010s. hauserandwirth.com