Make Space: Inside the artist's studio.

Words by Emilia Sogaard

In the lead up to the exhibition, “Make Space: Subverting Tradition Through Art”, at the Norman Rea Gallery two of the exhibiting artists gave us a deeper insight into their art. This exhibition explores how art has been used to create safer spaces of expression and examine the political and cultural climates that have inspired artists.

Speaking with artists Martin Lever (Chinese name Li Wah) and Ant Savage from their studios it was a great opportunity to understand the influence of the places they have been and the spaces they have worked in. Martin Lever, now Yorkshire based, has spent the majority of his life in Hong Kong, moving there in the 1970’s.

“Above the Protests IV”, Martin Lever, Acrylic, Ink & Spray paint on Canvas, 76cm X 60cm.

Martin: Hong Kong is in my blood and to see what’s happened, between the protestors and the Hong Kong government, that deterioration into a battle of law and order, with police on the front line in Hong Kong, which is traditionally a very peaceful place, to see essentially students, majority of kids are young kids like yourself, set upon by the police was very disturbing.

Talking about the works Martin has delivered for us to exhibit at the gallery shows the artist’s reflection on living in Hong Kong and tackling of political boundaries while exhibiting there. For example, after they brought in the National Security Law to stop the protests, nobody knew what was going to follow, and nobody wanted to see the violence on the streets.

Martin: I had my first solo gallery show in Hong Kong about 10 years ago, the collection was called Above, Below. In Hong Kong everyone lives, works, eats, sleeps in skyscrapers. So, I started painting ground-scapes which were birds eye views of the city.

In regard to the need for censorship when Martin exhibited his Above the Protests collection at the Affordable Art Fair in Hong Kong in 2021, he was told to change the titles and did not put up text to accompany the artworks.

Martin: People start to self-censor. The law being woolly and indefinable, so people start to close their own mouths – it’s a terrible situation. So, I called them Above The Streets, but when collectors came, I would tell them face to face what it’s all about. People had an immediate, emotional connection with what they’d experienced and what they’d been through.

“All Quiet on the Streets”, Martin Lever, Acrylic & Ink on Canvas, 90cm X 70cm.

Martin: The ideas and portraits of the silent protest collection were partially inspired by a Keith Haring exhibition in Liverpool. These artworks are similar to street art, although ironically, they could never appear on the streets of Hong Kong. They document the kids on the street, with zipper mouths and masks, which had dual meaning to it at the time. In “All Quiet on the Streets” you can see the flag and the hand raised. This represents the five demands the protesters had, yet it became seditious to raise your hand like that, with the symbol being outlawed.

Martin collaborates with the charity Hong Kong Watch, a London based human rights charity, which is active in raising money and lobbying parliament to speak up on behalf of those Hongkongers’ who are incarcerated without charge.

“Above The Protests II”, Martin Lever, Acrylic, Ink & Spray paint on Canvas, 90cm X 60cm.

Martin: This (work above) is a fairly disruptive amalgamation of umbrellas, tear gas and water cannons. The first protest, the gold, the yellow, became a symbol of the democracy movement. The police used a lot of white and blue tear gas, and also blue water cannon so they could identify anyone they had sprayed. The colour palette of the protest was very much blue and gold and white. These artworks weren’t pro or anti, rather an observational statement about the chaos and the violence from what had always generally been, apart from some riots in the 1960’s, very peaceful streets of Hong Kong.

“All Quiet on the 8th Floor”, Martin Lever, Acrylic & Ink on Canvas, 100cm X 80cm.

The title of this artwork is significant as the number 8 is a very lucky number in China, sounding also like the word lucky, so this artwork has a little bit of a double meaning.

Martin: All of the text are quotations from Mao Tse Tung’s little red book. When you read them, some of them are very inspiring, some of them are very holistic for the people: ‘anyone can criticise the Communist party’ and ‘new China must care for her youth’; which has a certain irony to them.

“The Great Con”, Ant Savage, 8x6’.

Speaking to both Martin and Ant about art as a tool for protest, they both commented on how art was a powerful medium to express the truth. Martin spoke about how art has the potential to make people stop and think, eliciting some kind of emotional human response. Ant, whose lino prints we will be exhibiting, spoke about how protest and art go hand-in-hand in this post-truth world.

Ant: That was the basis for the TV heads series. The little badge that says ‘CON’, I put that open to interpretation, whether that is a Conservative or just a con of the politicians. The idea with the TV heads is a way of showing how we communicate through screens now and sort of exclusively through lockdown. The information comes in from a third party (for example) and then you project it yourself. The information is coming in and being passed through, but you didn’t even know a lot of the time (what it actually was).

Both artists’ choice of mediums reflect the messages of their artworks. Martin employs a pumice medium, uses a palette knife, then etches illustrations with some key lines with a chopstick. This hardens like concrete, then he paints a background, builds up acrylic, colour and inks. The actual painting of the street protests is a very physical process, using an easel as well as painting horizontally. Ant spoke about the beauty of prints and the ability to reproduce an image from the printing block. 

“Protest”, Ant Savage, 8x6'.

These artworks are contemporary forms of resistance created in response to the political environments that the artists were working in. Ant spoke about how since owning a boat and having a secure space to live in he has had the opportunity to pursue his artistic career, further commenting on the physical restraints of space, working in The Corridor - his six foot wide boat.

Ant: As a consequence of the physical constraint I produce smaller works (the kitchen worktop is my studio) I don’t have a space for a press, so everything is hand pressed. Everything is very condensed, very detailed and tight because I’m trying to fit everything.

His artwork and career have come out of the fact that he owns the space around him, with The Corridor, being the space of artistic production, as seen on his Youtube channel, “Art in the Corridor”, and the source of inspiration for a lot of his prints.

“TV dinner”, Ant Savage, 8x6’.

It is clear to see how the artworks created by Martin Lever and Ant Savage offer critique of the political environments around them, offering viewers an expression of the socio-political climate that they live in, rendering art a perfect tool for engaging with issues of social justice.