Zoran Poposki

Credit: Wong Kai Yu

Dr Zoran Poposki, FRSA is a multi-award-winning transdisciplinary artist, filmmaker, and curator based in Hong Kong. Poposki explores cultural translation, liminality, identity, and public space through digital art (including AI and NFT art) combined with painting, drawing, photography, (post-digital) printmaking, performance art, video, film, curating, art education, and publishing.

His work has been shown in more than 120 exhibitions, screenings and festivals worldwide, including: 30th Biennial of Graphic Arts Ljubljana, XIII Cairo Biennale, Institute of Contemporary Arts London, Art Basel Hong Kong, National Gallery of Macedonia, Xi'an Art Museum in China, Museum of Contemporary Art Skopje, Minsheng Art Museum Beijing, City Art Museum Ljubljana, Sergey Kuryokhin Modern Art Center in St. Petersburg, CICA Museum in South Korea, National Museum of Montenegro, Museu da Vila Velha Portugal, Museo de Arte de Ponce San Juan in Puerto Rico,  Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art in Manchester, Art Stays Festival of Contemporary Art in Slovenia, University of Sharjah, Ars Electronica, and Crypto And Digital Art Fair in Paris and New York. His public art projects have been presented on urban LED screens, video billboards, posters and billboards in NYC, Skopje, Dublin, Hong Kong, and the demilitarized border zone between South Korea and North Korea.  

Dr Poposki's curatorial projects have been presented at: Hong Kong Arts Centre, Osage Gallery Hong Kong, Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art Manchester, Anita Chan Lai-ling Gallery Hong Kong, Videotage Hong Kong, ArtStays International Festival of Contemporary Art Slovenia, Gallery 3D Mestre, and the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park.

Overarching praxis statement:

Through my interdisciplinary practice, I explore the complexities of contemporary life and culture. My work interrogates notions of identity, territory, and the public sphere. I often incorporate elements of art history, architecture, text, and design into chaotic yet carefully constructed compositions. This visual metanarrative, underpinned by postmodern theories, offers an open-ended reading experience.

Reviewers note my use of multimedia techniques including digital printing, painting, drawing, and animation to translate the energy of global cities like Hong Kong. Layers of photographic and graphic elements evoke the density of urban signage and electric visual culture. Critics highlight my experimental, research-based approach and situate my practice in relation to Pop art, collage, and new media.

Recurring themes in my work include the relationship between the virtual and the real, the local and the global. I frequently play with fragmentation, opacity, and revelation within the picture plane. My glitch animations and overlays destabilize notions of origins and authenticity. Other pieces use satire and pastiche to problematize canonical narratives and interrogate the paradoxes of contemporary life.

I consider my creative process as an act of translation that relies on juxtaposition and intertextuality. Multiple viewpoints and diverse sign systems intersect in my work to form open-ended networks of meaning. I often take on the role of a translator, remixing found materials and theoretical discourses from different times and places to generate critical reflections on society, technology, and the role of art itself. My aim is to produce work that is intellectually engaging as well as visually striking.

Current art and/or research interest:

Overall, I am interested in generating intercultural and transtemporal dialogues, bringing disparate signs, materials, and ideas together through an extension of traditional media such as drawing and painting using artificial intelligence (AI), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), augmented reality (AR) and other digital and post-digital creative practices.

More information:

http://www.poposki.info/