A conversation with Hong Kong artist Lousy at his “Towers Are Giant Fingers Pointing to Heaven” exhibition

If you’ve spent any length of time exploring the streets of Hong Kong, chances are you’ve stumbled upon one of Lousy‘s works. Whether it be a sticker in a nightclub bathroom or a mural on Peel Street serving as a Paul Smith Pink Wall-esque backdrop for tourists, Lousy’s KISSFACE and eye motifs are ubiquitous and purposefully in your face, covering every corner of the artist’s home city and well beyond.

 

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Like KAWS and Banksy, and Haring and Basquiat before them, the widespread appeal of Lousy’s street art and solo projects stemming from subcultural movements has opened up opportunities across a variety of different mediums and platforms. Since his first exhibition in 2019, he’s introduced collaborations with brands such as adidas, large-scale digital murals illuminating the Hong Kong skyline, auction pieces at Sotheby’s, and most recently, a solo exhibition at BELOWGROUND dubbed Towers Are Giant Fingers Pointing to Heaven.

“This series came out of me lurking in Tokyo, one of my favourite cities,” Lousy explains. “The complicated Japanese railway system really gave me a headache, but I found out they give out free train maps in stations, which is kind of pointless. So I decided to use them as a canvas for my diary of the trip.”

Head below as Lousy walks us through the ideas presented at Towers Are Giant Fingers Pointing to Heaven, sheds light on how his signature motifs were conceived, and updates us on where he’s at in his journey.

Could you give us an overview of what you’re presenting at the show?

The show “Towers Are Giant Fingers Pointing to Heaven” is about my trip to Tokyo or more generally, about traveling and checking out different parts of the world. While I’m usually very into organic forms — bodies, animals, and stuff, this time when I was in Tokyo, all those towers caught my eye. There was something inside me that found them mesmerizing, especially at night. The towers are all lit up. Kind of menacing, but sacred at the same time.

The rest of the work is part of my trip – getting skewers, hanging out with friends, and looking around at night. I was at Aoyama Station, lost on the JR line, and I saw a bunch of train maps. The colours were amazing and I thought I’d just grab a bunch. I didn’t know what I was going to do with them but when I came back, I just started painting and scribbling on them with little drawings. That’s how it turned into this series.

 

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How did you first introduce the world to your art? Would you say it was through graffiti and street art?

I’m really into simplified symbols and logos — abstract logos and something in a distilled format. People describe people like us [graffiti artists] as dogs peeing on the street, which is very well put actually. Growing up, it was a passion and I don’t want to use the word, but it’s a weird type of ‘advertising’ for me in some ways. I’m putting stuff in your face that you can’t miss. It’s kind of owning the city in some ways. Spreading chill vibes and whatever I think is cool.

Something weird about this act is you’re basically destroying or defacing something, but at the same time, you’re creating something new. There’s a contradicting high to it. So in short, I think that is [graffiti art] where I come from. I still really like it but I’ve branched out to doing all sorts of stuff like shows and painting on bodies. It’s just a different channel for me to express myself creatively. I don’t really confine myself in any certain way, to be honest.

Is there a specific way the paintings are arranged?

It’s meant to be a journey-type thing. A little trip. It’s not random, but I’m not suggesting anything when it comes to the arrangement.

Were there any particular inspirations for the pieces?

I really like the Japanese artist Taro Okamoto. He makes super spiritual stuff, but at the same time really pop. I’ve loved his work for ages and this time I finally got to check out his museum in Tokyo. It just reconfirms my love, man. Amazing stuff. I wouldn’t say it necessarily directly influenced my work this time around, but definitely subconsciously, probably added something. He’s one of the best ones out there, still. He did the “Tower of the Sun” in Osaka. I love using symbols as well and he just uses them in such a great way.

 

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Is there a story behind one of the paintings that you could share with us?

If you guys use Instagram, there’s this page called Shibuya Meltdown. I was out drinking one night and I randomly saw one red high heel on the street. It was like, what is going on here? Probably someone trash drunk. That same night I was having skewers as you do in Tokyo. I also drew a cat from my visit to the Kitsune shrine in Tokyo. So those are parts of the imagery of this series. It’s just bits and bobs of my memory and imagination.

Could you shed some light on how the KISSFACE logo came about?

I really love the Gustav Klimt’s painting “The Kiss.” Everyone loves it. For me, I like abstracting and simplifying stuff to the so-called core. The essence of it.

And the eye?

Some think it’s the third eye or something like that. I try not to place a certain meaning to it. I think it could be very personal so I don’t want to confine it to be the eye of truth or whatever. I feel like it’s such a universal symbol. Everyone has their interpretation so I try to keep it open so people can associate their own meaning to it.

 

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Earlier this year, we saw your works shown at M+ Museum as well as the Sino LuminArt Facade. What did that mean for you?

It was great because of course M+ is a big art institution in Hong Kong. It was a great opportunity and I really appreciate them linking up and supporting the so-called more subculture stuff.

Where does this show fall into your plans?

Since I already had the works ready, I thought this [BELOWGROUND] would be a good place to present it. It’s a nice place and the right size as well. Nothing too crazy, and very relatable at the same time. I like this setup for this type of work. An intimate drawing-type experience. Stay tuned, more coming soon.

TOWERS ARE GIANT FINGERS POINTING TO HEAVEN
Location: Shops B49-52, B55-56, B59-61 15 Queen’s Road Central LANDMARK, Central
Dates: 13 July to 26 July, 2024