Past and Present: Paintings by Brian Tilbrook, is a retrospective exhibition of artworks by the renowned Hong Kong artist, presented by the University Museum and Art Gallery of the University of Hong Kong.

Collected for years by such local stalwarts as Hongkong Land, Swire Group and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, Tilbrook has fulfilled commissions of expansive mural paintings that count among Hong Kong’s most recognisably abstract artworks. The subject matter of his more recent works often engages with global geopolitical issues.

Tilbrook’s heritage paintings create a record of intrinsic beauty and documentary value. Commissioned by the Hong Kong Government’s Antiquities Advisory Board and executed within a single year, the historical sites and the painter’s engagement with them are of growing importance as Hong Kong is destined to change with further urban development.

Alongside these themes stand Tilbrook’s graphic compositions that incorporate Chinese characters. These visual juxtapositions are indicative of the expatriate painter’s interest in Asian design and philosophy.

Together, these artworks are testament to the artist’s past and present accomplishments, and the basis for this comprehensive and celebratory exhibition in Tilbrook’s 90th year.

Guide

Born in England in 1932, and residing in Hong Kong since 1965, Brian Tilbrook is recognised first and foremost for the naturalistic paintings of historical buildings and antiquities in Hong Kong that he executed in the 1980s, as well as for his more recent abstract compositions. Tilbrook, a former head of the art department at the South Island School, has given purpose to his art by documenting local heritage buildings and by bringing awareness to ongoing global affairs.

Admission: $100 for members, $150 for guests/non-members. The number of participants will be capped according to the most current government regulations

Booking: Please email membership@royalasiaticsociety.org.hk to register your attendance.

******