Marcos Kueh: Smooth Sailing, 一路順風 at esea contemporary

esea contemporary presents Smooth Sailing, 一路順風 by Marcos Kueh, the artist’s first institutional solo show.

Kueh is a Chinese Malaysian artist based in the Netherlands, whose practice is rooted in textiles as a medium for telling stories. Conceptually, he is interested in how his home country of Malaysia is perceived through external narratives, like colonial depictions and tourist-facing imagery. During a residency at esea contemporary, the artist carried out in-depth research on labour diasporas, with special access to the Whitworth Art Gallery’s textile collections – a particularly important topic in the context of Manchester’s industrial history.

The exhibition captures a moment of transformation in Kueh’s practice, with new materials and processes, as well as diving deeper into the themes of diasporic identity and collective memory. The show title is taken from the Chinese phrase 路順風 (yī lù shùn fēng), which literally means ‘may the wind be smooth along your entire journey.’

Visually, you’ll find an immersive installation, which consists of a woven poster, a broken mast and sail and a working embroidery machine. There are also hanging fabrics, adorned with Chinese talismans and vintage business logos.

The communal project space is home to a new iteration of Kueh’s previous work Three Contemporary Prosperities, which reimagines the traditional Chinese deities Fú 福, Lù 祿, Shòu 壽 – celestial embodiments of Fortune, Prosperity, and Longevity, in their contemporary forms: The Brilliant Billionaire, The Perfect Celebrity, and The Immortal Elder. Interestingly, the work goes through different iterations to highlight the path to ‘success’ in the modern world: a millionaire becoming a billionaire, or an influencer becoming a celebrity.

Smooth Sailing, 一路順風 combines textiles, sculpture and narrative to shine a new light on labour histories. It promises to be a thought-provoking offering so don’t miss the chance to see the young artist’s work in the flesh.