The Works：Artist Christo, Tomokazu Matsuyama & Andrew Hevia on "Moonlight"

March, otherwise known as Art month brought several international artists to Hong Kong. Few are as monumental or as spectacular in their work as Christo, known not only for, with his late wife and long-time creative collaborator Jeanne-Claude, wrapping the Reichstag and the Pont Neuf, but also for covering the Japanese and Californian landscapes with hundreds of blue and yellow umbrellas.
Japanese-American artist Tomokazu Matsuyama, perhaps more commonly known as Matsu, lives and works in New York. Growing up between, and influenced by, both Eastern and Western cultures, he described his artistic style as the “struggle of reckoning the familiar local with the familiar global”. That mixed identity is reflected in the influences on his work, which include Japanese art from the Edo and Meiji eras, classic Greek and Roman art, French Renaissance painting and contemporary art.
Missing out on explosions, 3D, comic book heroes, or extensive computer graphics, the movie “Moonlight” would have almost certainly slipped under the radar of most Hongkongers if it hadn’t, in the same week it was released here, taken the Best Picture Oscar at the Academy Awards. It was certainly a memorable ceremony, including one of the most embarrassing gaffes in Oscar history, when the wrong envelope was given to co-presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, and Dunaway announced “La La Land” as Best Picture. Directed by Barry Jenkins, “Moonlight” is the coming-of-age story of an African-American male coming to terms with his own homosexuality against the backdrop of a socially deprived and drug-ridden Miami neighbourhood. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards this year. It won three, including Best Picture, Best Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Writing of an Adapted Screenplay. The film’s co-producer, Andrew Hevia, was in Hong Kong last month for FILMART, and we caught up with him while he was here.