Angela Su proudly presents: Lauren O—The Greatest Levitator in the Polyhedric Cosmos of Time
M+ brings Hong Kong artist’s successful participation in the Venice Biennale to local audiences for the first time since opening

Photo of Lauren O in her studio from Angela Su proudly presents: Lauren O—The Greatest Levitator in the Polyhedric Cosmos of Time, 2023. Courtesy of Angela Su and the archives of Lauren O

M+, Asia’s first global museum of contemporary visual culture in the West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong, and Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC) are pleased to co-present Angela Su proudly presents: Lauren O—The Greatest Levitator in the Polyhedric Cosmos of Time. The exhibition is an adapted and site-responsive showcase of the successful presentation by Angela Su, the local artist representing Hong Kong at the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Marking the fifth collaboration between M+ and HKADC at this acclaimed international art platform, the exhibition is the first response exhibition to Hong Kong’s presentation staged at M+ since its opening in November 2021. The exhibition will be on display from Friday, 9 June to Sunday, 8 October 2023 in the Cissy Pui-Lai Pao and Shinichiro Watari Galleries at M+.

In the wild imaginative world of Su, Lauren O is a legendary levitator who played an instrumental role in the 1960s anti-war movement in the United States. Presented in two parts, Lauren O—The Greatest Levitator in the Polyhedric Cosmos of Time illustrates Lauren O’s obsession with transformation and levitation. Su discovered the archives of the enigmatic figure, believed to be a modern myth, unearthing the fascinating life of Lauren O as well as her studies into levitation and polydedral forms.

The first part of the exhibition presents Lauren O’s study models of polyhedra, mostly from the 1960s, and her journal. Ranging from solid forms to open frames, the irregular polygons Lauren O constructed advance a theory of levitation that challenges classical ideas about geometry and the universe. Displayed on a cross-shaped plinth, the series of models reflects a process of reconstructing irregular polygons to configure nature and the shape of the cosmos. Lauren O’s journal reveals that her dream of levitation emerged from and alongside counterculture movements that sought to break social structures as closed and static as the classical polyhedra. Lauren O was believed to be involved in a 1967 plan to levitate the Pentagon in the United States in opposition to the Vietnam War. Her research on the event was recorded in the journal with over two hundred notes and illustrations.

The second part of the exhibition presents Su’s artistic interpretation of Lauren O’s beliefs. Lauren O was possibly a member of Laden Raven, an activist group catalysed by the US anti-war movement in the 1960s. The group’s raven symbol can be found throughout the exhibition, including in a series of hair embroidery works of birds titled Museum of the Trembling Conspiracy of the Murder of Ravens (2023). The exhibition will also feature The Magnificent Levitation Act of Lauren O (2022), a film that narrates the story of Lauren O and her involvement with Laden Raven.

Bernard Charnwut Chan, Chairman of the M+ Board, says, ‘We are immensely grateful for the fifth collaboration with our long-term partner HKADC to participate at the International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, with a vision to promote Hong Kong as the centre for East-meets-West international cultural exchange. I am truly excited to show our global visitors the best of Hong Kong contemporary art and the excellent curatorship that have taken stage in Venice. We will continue to nourish the development of Hong Kong art in new and inspiring ways.’

Kenneth Fok, Chairman of HKADC, says, ‘We are honoured to continue our partnership with M+ to present the work of renowned artist Angela Su to a global audience in Venice and bring the exhibition back to Hong Kong. The Collateral Event in International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia has been one of HKADC’s flagship projects since 2001. We will continue to promote Hong Kong arts and culture and present outstanding Hong Kong visual artists to the world on international arts platforms.’

Doryun Chong, Deputy Director, Curatorial and Chief Curator of M+, says, ‘Angela Su’s exhibition at M+ is an invitation to the unique philosophy and narratives she has built over the course of her career. This exhibition demonstrates Su’s strong commitment to constantly pushing her work and offers a glimpse into her idiosyncratic practice that combines her interests in the history of science and medicine with wild historical imagination.’

Freya Chou, Guest Curator, elaborates on the artist’s practice for the exhibition, ‘The backdrop of this exhibition evokes an aggregate counterculture movement in the 1960s, which is a timely reflection of the current global phenomenon and how counterculture can trigger change amid widespread social tension, allowing alternative ideas to emerge.’

Angela Su expresses her excitement for the opportunity to show the story of Lauren O to the Hong Kong audience, ‘I am thrilled to present at M+ a study of the enigmatic and multifaceted figure that is Lauren O, following the presentation in Venice in 2022. Through the exhibition, I hope to invite visitors to explore Lauren O’s fascinating mind and imaginative world.’

About Angela Su

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.

About Freya Chou

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.

Exhibition website: https://2022.vbexhibitions.hk/