Footnotes

Provenance
Christie's private sales
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Exhibition
Hong Kong, Christie's, COLLECT THEM ALL! The 6th Exhibition by Michael Lau, 11 – 27 April 2018

劉建文
MAXX — 花園人系列
聚胺酯雕塑 著色木座
2018年作

簽名：Michael Lau（木座）
版數：1/9（木座）
此作附瘋狂微笑開立之作品保證書

來源
佳士得私人洽購
現藏家得自上述來源

展覽
「劉建文第六次展覽-全收!」，佳士得，香港，2018年4月11日-27日

The name Lau Kin-man might not be familiar to many, but Michael Lau is undoubtedly a household name. Toys in all shapes and forms have fascinated him since he was a child. This obsession proves to be a major guiding light in his artistic development. In 1999, Michael Lau showed 99 Gardener figures at the Hong Kong Arts Centre. The a self-funded exhibition garnered much international attention—an article entitled "20 Trends Sweeping the Globe" in Forbes magazine in 2008 lauded Lau as a pioneer who lead the vinyl figure movement in the 1990s. Collectors have also crowned him "The Godfather of Designer Toys".

In 2017, Michael Lau sold a large-scale mural entitled Wall of Jordan at an auction for HKD $1,375,000—it was a watershed moment in his artistic career. In recent years, he focuses chiefly on producing contemporary art. Yet, he never betrayed his motto, "All Art Are Toys, All Toys Are Art".

The two works offered in this auction came from two iterations of the same solo exhibition entitled "COLLECT THEM ALL!" that were on view in 2018 and 2019. These work are reinterpretations of the 6-inch figures that he produced between 2003 and 2017. MAXX and Jordan are the top two favourites from the Gardener series. Moreover, MAXX was first Gardener character that Lau created. Sporting a rebellious street style, its image is considered classical in the figure circle. The number "1" boldly carved on the pedestal signifies its unequivocal value as a truly collectable piece. Inspired by the god-like prowess of the legendary basketball player, the work Jordan features a figure that radiates an aura of confidence. Underneath the figure's feet is a piece of wooden flooring—it is a 1:9 replica of the Chicago Bulls' home court, hand-painted by the artist. The imposing presence of this figure is a sight to behold.

未必很多人熟識劉建文，可是Michael Lau卻是家傳戶曉的名字。玩具的形式從幼時已深深影響著他的成長，引領他在藝術發展上奠定了鮮明方向。1999年Michael在香港藝術中心自資展出99個「花園人」的人偶，引起國際的關注。2008一月份美國福布斯雜誌一篇名為「20 Trends Sweeping the Globe」文章，視他為90年代創立及帶領搪膠人偶潮流的先鋒，收藏界更為他冠以「人偶教父」的美稱。

2017年Michael Lau一件名為《Wall of Jordan》（本色之牆）的大型繪畫以1,375,000港元在拍賣上成交，從此成為其事業發展的分水嶺。他近年更專注純藝術創作方向，不過卻從一而終地高呼「所有藝術都是玩具，所有玩具都是藝術」。

今次上拍兩件作品，分別來自Michael於2018及2019兩次名為「全收！」的個展，屬於他重新詮釋2003至2017年間創作的6寸人偶的雕塑作品。 《MAXX》和《佐頓》都是「花園人」系列中最受歡迎的角色，MAXX更是整個系列中的第一個角色，他的街頭叛逆造型早已成為人偶界的經典，加上底座上刻有顯眼的編號「1」，更具獨一無二的收藏價值。至於啟發自藍球之神而生的《佐頓》，造型上具有Michael一貫的自信，腳踏由藝術家手繪的九份之一件公牛隊主場地板，別具霸氣。