Lap-See Lam, 192 Wing Lok Street, installation view, Secession 2026. Photo: Oliver Ottenschläger. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nordenhake Stockholm/Berlin/Mexico City
Lap-See Lam: 192 Wing Lok Street
Exhibition Dates: 11.9. – 22.11.2026
Exhibition Address: Secession, Vienna
192 Wing Lok Street presents a new body of work by Lap-See Lam comprising hand-blown glass, installation and sound. Drawing on collective and personal histories, the exhibition unfolds through a series of material and narrative translations across sites and generations. Funded by the Octone Foundation and the Pentagram Stiftung.
Lap-See Lam, 192 Wing Lok Street, installation view, Secession 2026. Photo: Oliver Ottenschläger. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nordenhake Stockholm/Berlin/Mexico City
The exhibition begins in Secession’s foyer, where a large-scale bamboo sculpture occupies the center of the room and appears to be piercing right through the building. The downstairs gallery, located exactly underneath the main entrance area, is illuminated by a chandelier-work resembling roots, while mandarin oranges are scattered across the corners of the room. The exhibition takes its title from a street in Hong Kong on which the artist documented bamboo scaffolding commonly used in construction. The same street also figures in her family's history: her grandmother once worked there as a fruit hawker.
Lap-See Lam, 192 Wing Lok Street, installation view, Secession 2026. Photo: Oliver Ottenschläger. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nordenhake Stockholm/Berlin/Mexico City
The works on view allude to these scaffolding structures: now they are isolated, remade, reworked, and placed on polished mirrored surfaces that reflect their surroundings. One work combining actual bamboo and glass hangs directly from the wall, serving as a clear mark for the material support and symbolic value of these two elements. A continuous humming sound runs through the exhibition. Composed by Marlena Salonen and Linus Hillborg, it is emitted from a repurposed air-conditioning unit of the kind commonly found on the exterior of buildings around the world.
Lap-See Lam, 192 Wing Lok Street, installation view, Secession 2026. Photo: Oliver Ottenschläger. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nordenhake Stockholm/Berlin/Mexico City
Octone Foundation is pleased to support 192 Wing Lok Street, recognising Lap-See Lam’s artistic practice in exploring Hong Kong and Chinese cultural heritage through contemporary expressions. Through Lap-See Lam’s experimental use of glass, bamboo, installation, and sound, the exhibition reinterprets familiar materials and everyday structures as carriers of cultural meaning, bridging individual experiences with collective histories across geographies and generations. This resonates with the Foundation’s commitment to supporting research-led artistic practices that challenge conventional narratives and encourage cross-cultural dialogue.
The exhibition is supported by the Swedish Arts Grants Committee and features glass works produced at the International Centre for Research on Glass and the Visual Arts (Cirva) in Marseille, as part of Lap-See Lam’s research residency.
About Secession
As an artist-run international institution exhibiting contemporary art, the Secession is an open venue for presentations of new creative ideas and engagements with the urgent concerns of our time. Confronting the complex realities of life and global challenges, the institution believes it is a core part of our mission to grapple with questions of cultural and social policy and showcase ambitious visions that spark public debate.