Benny To

Benny To’s artistic practice revolves around hypothetical archeology. Inspired by ancient mythologies, totems and statues, To forges fictional ancient relics out of modern popular culture using materials from sci-fi animations and movies, inviting the viewer to look back at contemporary society and civilisation from the perspective of future people.

Solo exhibitions include ARCHAEOLOGY IN RPG vol.1 ( Yrellag Gallery, 2021 ), TKOB-24-25YRS-OBJs ( Mist Gallery, 2021 ), and Dimensional Civilisation Archeology Project 2.0 ( Art Basel Hong Kong, Para Site, 2022 )

Born in 1994 in Hong Kong, To obtained his Higher Diploma in Fine Art ( Photography and Ceramics ) as well as the RMIT BA degree ( Ceramics ) at the Hong Kong Art School.

Benny is inspired by the art of prehistoric and early civilizations: being enlightened intellectually and spiritually by nature, ancient people developed religious mythology. They created totems and statues to bring their deepest desires and fantasies to life by converting these into tangible objects. Benny consciously gets similar nourishment and enlightenment in modern popular culture. He selected materials from sci-fi animations and movies. He made the characters and props from these stories into forged historical relics. The works resemble the archaeological discoveries of the future people in the present age after a thousand years. These representative pop culture works profoundly impact millennials, serving as objects of worship and fantasy in their childhood and shaping their worldview and values as they grow up. Benny moulds ready-made plastic toys and uses traditional pottery techniques to create ceramic, a medium used in ancient times to make ritual and ceremonial objects and historical evidence, to reproduce the shape of mass production in modern industry. He imitated the archaic people's way of transforming wishes and fantasies into art, turning the desires and fantasies of millennials into tangible objects, recording the collective mental outlook as if they were part of the era. He created imaginary archaeology through fictional cultural relics, allowing viewers to look back at contemporary society from the perspective of future people, and observe the continuity of civilization's past, present, and future.

Participation in solo exhibitions includes: “Dimensional Civilization Archaeology Project: The Temple Hidden in Infinite Dimensions” (Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre, 2023-2024), “ARCHAEOLOGY IN RPG vol.1” (Yrellag Gallery, 2021), “TKOB-24-25YRS-OBJs” (Mist Gallery, 2021) and “Dimensional Civilization Archeology Project 2.0” (Art Basel Hong Kong, Para Site, 2022).

Source: ZtoryTeller Gallery
Hong Kong Arts Development Council
SUMO Pottery