Airport artist captures Hong Kong in paintings for debut show

Britain's Manchester Airport announced Monday a debut exhibition by its first ever international artist in residence, with a show timed to coincide with Chinese New Year.

Rob Pointon - whose work has been bought by the heir to the British throne, Prince Charles - features Hong Kong in his collection to be exhibited at the airport next week.

The artist's task in what is a three year commission is to capture in paintings the buzz of Manchester's expanding global route network.

To mark the first ever direct link between the airport and China, Pointon visited Hong Kong to paint a number of landscape oil paintings.

He will host his first exhibition at Manchester Airport on February 8 and 9.

The exhibition will mark Chinese New Year and comes on the back of the recent one year anniversary of Cathay Pacific flying between Manchester and Hong Kong, and in the year when Manchester's first ever non-stop link to Beijing will commence.

The exhibition will feature 13 paintings from Pointon's time in Hong Kong and three large new Manchester works.

Manchester Airport's Stephen Turner said: "We are delighted that Rob agreed to become our first artist in residence. It's such a vibrant campus, I'm sure it will give him lots of inspiration for pieces over the next three years.

"We're hugely excited to see his first exhibition from his visit to Hong Kong. It will be a great way to mark Chinese New Year."

Pointon said: "To be able to go to Hong Kong was fantastic, it's an amazing city and I hope I've captured a flavour of it in my paintings."

Art expert Gareth J.L.Williams said a great distinguishing characteristic of Pointon's work is his use of a wide-angle perspective - at times as far as 360 degrees.

"It enables him to encompass a phenomenal sense of the world around him within a single canvas," said Williams. Endit