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Volta do Mar: Hanx Liu Solo Exhibition
DATE
January 8 - January 10, 2025
LOCATION
15 E 40th St STE 200, New York
ARTISTS
Hanx Liu
ABOUT
Volta do Mar, a term from the Age of Discovery, evokes the shifting winds that once carried sailors across oceans, establishing empires through trade and conquest. Literally meaning “rotation of the sea” or “return from the sea”, it was perfected by Portuguese navigators in the late fifteenth century, requiring them to sail westward—paradoxically away from the European coast—so they could harness the North Atlantic Gyre and return home. Those same currents surface anew in subtler forms—through financial systems, currency hegemonies, and the intangible frameworks of global power. In this exhibition, the sea’s return path becomes both a literal and symbolic journey, prompting reflection on how political and socioeconomic ideologies shape our contemporary world.
Hanx Liu employed art as a potent medium for political critique and philosophical reflection. His practice spans mixed media on canvas—integrating ink, brushwork, water-transfer imagery, acrylics, and oils. Marked by a juxtaposition of gentleness and aggression, his newest works employ rifles to puncture canvases, leaving the outlines of text formed by arranged bullet holes. In this violent yet graceful process, calligraphy’s austere elegance collides with the exacting brutality of modern weaponry.
EXHIBITION MOMENT
Volta do Mar, a term coined during the Age of Discovery, captures the shifting winds that once guided sailors across oceans, enabling the rise of empires through trade and conquest. Literally translating to “rotation of the sea” or “return from the sea,” the term refers to a navigation technique perfected by Portuguese sailors in the late fifteenth century. This method required them to sail westward—seemingly away from the European coast—to harness the North Atlantic Gyre and ensure a safe return home. These same currents resurface today in subtler forms, manifested through financial systems, currency hegemonies, and the intangible structures of global power. In this exhibition, the sea’s return path serves as both a literal and symbolic metaphor, inviting reflection on how political and socioeconomic ideologies continue to shape the contemporary world.
EXHIBITION MOMENT
Hanx Liu employs art as a powerful medium for political critique and philosophical exploration. His practice spans mixed media on canvas, seamlessly integrating ink, brushwork, water-transfer imagery, acrylics, and oils. In his latest works, marked by a striking tension between delicacy and violence, Liu uses rifles to puncture canvases, creating outlines of text through meticulously arranged bullet holes. In this violent yet graceful process, calligraphy’s austere elegance collides with the exacting brutality of modern weaponry.
EXHIBITION MOMENT
Two new works anchor this exhibition: 「9mm Calligraphy: 天上大风」 (“Celestial Great Wind”) and 「5.56 Calligraphy: 南山有大石」 (“Mighty Stone Lies in Southern Hills”). Their inscriptions, shaped by 5.56 x 45 mm NATO bullets shot from an AR-15, highlight how ancient ideals can be punctured by industrialized violence. “Celestial Great Wind” reflects the mercurial nature of fate and humanity’s drive to confront it; “Mighty Stone Lies in Southern Hills” suggests a seemingly indomitable foundation. Both succumb to the same force, underscoring how art and heritage remain vulnerable in ever-shifting power structures.
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EXHIBITION MOMENT
Much like colonial explorers once claimed distant shores, these bullet-ridden canvases lay bare the hidden costs of progress. Humanity has not escaped the legacies of colonial ambition; only that its tools changed from ships and muskets to new means of control— words and currency. Like the Volta do Mar of the Age of Exploration, modern economic systems (such as the Modern Monetary Theory) are both counterintuitive and profoundly effective in shaping the global political landscape. In this tension between creation and force, the exhibition calls us to question whether we have genuinely moved beyond colonial histories or simply replaced old tools with new ones. Through these works, the dynamics of this ongoing process are visualized, revealing how power—be it through pen or weapon—continues to shape truth and steer the currents of the present.
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EXHIBITION CATALOG
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