Kiang Malingue is pleased to share Ellen Pau’s first US solo exhibition Ellen Pau: She Moves at SculptureCenter, opening on May 27. Showcasing Pau’s multifaceted artistic practice from the late 1980s to the present, the exhibition features thirteen select video works as well as reimagined versions of Pau’s iconic installations from the 1990s.
A self-taught artist who produced her first Super 8 film in 1984, Pau worked as a radiographer at Hong Kong’s Queen Mary Hospital for nearly forty years. Pau first worked with video through collaborations with members of the experimental theater company Zuni Icosahedron (1982–present), and participated in screening programs at Phoenix Cine Club (founded in 1973), an instrumental organization in Hong Kong’s film history. While exploring the aesthetics of abstraction, ambiguity, and subjective experience, Pau has rigorously tested the limits of her medium over the years as the technology of video and digital media developed.
The cultural milieu of Hong Kong has been a recurring touchstone for Pau, with the city’s colonial history and present struggles informing what can be understood as the artist’s highly personal modes of expression. The exhibition will be an opportunity for US audiences to experience the breadth of Pau’s artwork, her impactful considerations of image and site, and her deft navigation of social and cultural issues through new and changing media technologies that define the experience of contemporary life today.
Ellen Pau: She Moves is curated by Freya Chou, guest curator.
Ellen Pau: She Moves will be accompanied by a new catalog edited by Freya Chou. The publication includes contributions by Chou; New York-based curator and writer Lumi Tan; Lauren Cornell, Artistic Director, Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, New York, USA; Pan Lu, a scholar, curator, and video artist based in Hong Kong; and Jen Liu, an artist based in New York, USA. The catalog is published by SculptureCenter, New York, and designed by RGBK, Hong Kong (led by Tomson Chan).
— Courtesy of SculptureCenter
Ellen Pau: She Moves Ellen Pau
Ellen Pau, Pledge: Bik Lai Chu #4, 1995/2026. LED panels. Dimensions variable.
Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Ellen Pau, Pledge: Bik Lai Chu #4, 1995/2026. LED panels. Dimensions variable.
Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Video documentation of The Shape of Light, 2022. 1:58 minutes. Courtesy M+, Hong Kong.
Ellen Pau, The Shape of Light , 2022. Video (color). 15:58 minutes. Developed for the M+ Facade, Hong Kong.
Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Ellen Pau, Luminosity (in progress), 2026. Video (color, B&W, no sound). 9:25 minutes. Performer: Alice Poon.
Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Ellen Pau, Operation Theatre, 1995. Video (B&W, sound). Original format: VHS, 4:3. 7:24 minutes. Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Ellen Pau, Operation Theatre, 1995. Video (B&W, sound). Original format: VHS, 4:3. 7:24 minutes. Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Ellen Pau, Operation Theatre, 1995. Video (B&W, sound). Original format: VHS, 4:3. 7:24 minutes. Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Ellen Pau, Recycling Cinema, 2000. Single-channel video installation (color, sound); projector, motorized pan head, tripod, paper. Original format: DV. 14:17 minutes; installation dimensions variable.
Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Ellen Pau, Recycling Cinema, 2000. Single-channel video installation (color, sound); projector, motorized pan head, tripod, paper. Original format: DV. 14:17 minutes; installation dimensions variable.
Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Ellen Pau, The Great Movement: Red Stock, 1996/2018, single-channel video installation (color); acrylic, vinyl sticker. Original format: Hi-8. 5:00 minutes (loop); installation dimensions variable.
Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton
Ellen Pau, Pledge: I Can Only Tell It to Strangers, 1996/2018. Single-channel video installation (color, sound); found object, mirror, latex, string. Original format: Video 8. 1:00 minute (loop); installation dimensions variable.
Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
(Details) Ellen Pau, Pledge: I Can Only Tell It to Strangers, 1996/2018. Single-channel video installation (color, sound); found object, mirror, latex, string. Original format: Video 8. 1:00 minute (loop); installation dimensions variable.
Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
(Details) Ellen Pau, Pledge: I Can Only Tell It to Strangers, 1996/2018. Single-channel video installation (color, sound); found object, mirror, latex, string. Original format: Video 8. 1:00 minute (loop); installation dimensions variable.
Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Ellen Pau, TV Game of the Year, 1989. Single-channel video (color, sound). Original format: VHS, 4:3. 5:59 minutes.
Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Installation view, Ellen Pau: She Moves, SculptureCenter, New York, 2026. Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Ellen Pau, Where Have All the Flowers Gone, 2026. Mixed media installation with multichannel generative sound, video, acrylic, plywood box, wax, and objects (used candles, films, print on plates). Installation dimensions variable.
Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Ellen Pau, Where Have All the Flowers Gone, 2026. Mixed media installation with multichannel generative sound, video, acrylic, plywood box, wax, and objects (used candles, films, print on plates). Installation dimensions variable.
Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Ellen Pau, Where Have All the Flowers Gone, 2026. Mixed media installation with multichannel generative sound, video, acrylic, plywood box, wax, and objects (used candles, films, print on plates). Installation dimensions variable.
Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Ellen Pau, Where Have All the Flowers Gone, 2026. Mixed media installation with multichannel generative sound, video, acrylic, plywood box, wax, and objects (used candles, films, print on plates). Installation dimensions variable.
Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Ellen Pau, Where Have All the Flowers Gone, 2026. Mixed media installation with multichannel generative sound, video, acrylic, plywood box, wax, and objects (used candles, films, print on plates). Installation dimensions variable.
Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Ellen Pau, Where Have All the Flowers Gone, 2026. Mixed media installation with multichannel generative sound, video, acrylic, plywood box, wax, and objects (used candles, films, print on plates). Installation dimensions variable.
Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Ellen Pau, Where Have All the Flowers Gone, 2026. Mixed media installation with multichannel generative sound, video, acrylic, plywood box, wax, and objects (used candles, films, print on plates). Installation dimensions variable.
Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Ellen Pau, Where Have All the Flowers Gone, 2026. Mixed media installation with multichannel generative sound, video, acrylic, plywood box, wax, and objects (used candles, films, print on plates). Installation dimensions variable.
Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Ellen Pau, Diversion, 1990. 4K video (AI-upscaled; color, sound), Original format: VHS, 4:3. 5:40 minutes. Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Ellen Pau, Diversion, 1990. 4K video (AI-upscaled; color, sound), Original format: VHS, 4:3. 5:40 minutes. Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Ellen Pau, Drained II, 1989. 4K video (AI-upscaled; color, sound), Original format: Video 8 edited on Betamax, 4:3. 5:49 minutes.
Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Ellen Pau, Drained II, 1989. 4K video (AI-upscaled; color, sound), Original format: Video 8 edited on Betamax, 4:3. 5:49 minutes.
Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Ellen Pau, Drained II, 1989. 4K video (AI-upscaled; color, sound), Original format: Video 8 edited on Betamax, 4:3. 5:49 minutes.
Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Ellen Pau, Pledge: Bik Lai Chu, 1993/2018. Two-channel video installation (color, sound); panel. Original format: Video 8, 4:3. 1:00 minute (loop); installation dimensions variable.
Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Ellen Pau, Song of the Goddess, 1992. 4K video (AI-upscaled; color, sound). Original format: Hi-8, 4:3. 6:39 minutes.
Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Ellen Pau, 52Hz, 2022. Video (color, sound). 15:11 minutes. Commissioned by Sunpride Foundation.
Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Ellen Pau, She Moves 她去, 1988. Single-channel video installation (color, sound); radio, curtains. Original format: Video 8, 4:3. 2:41 minutes; installation dimensions variable.
Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.
Ellen Pau, She Moves 她去, 1988. Single-channel video installation (color, sound); radio, curtains. Original format: Video 8, 4:3. 2:41 minutes; installation dimensions variable.
Image courtesy SculptureCenter, New York. Photo: Charles Benton.