In a Kwai Hing gallery, 60 paintings by the street artist Richard Crosbie hung in the lobby of the KC100 building. This is his first solo exhibition, where his pieces from 2021 to 2025 are displayed right next to the quaint clinking of a coffee shop.

The exhibition, “Hong Kong Moments”, aims to shed light on the vast landscapes and the nitty-gritty of the city from March 18 to May 17. Richard is also a featured interviewee and the cover illustrator for our book, Home Away from Home, published in 2024. Some of his illustrations from the book can be seen at the exhibition.

Our book, Home Away from Home, illustrated by Richard Crosbie.

The Hong Kong Moments exhibition.

“It's not just a picture postcard,” he affirms. “Sometimes I even go beyond that by looking at the extreme details like reflections, windscreens, puddles, and reflections in light, and combining it all together to create a rich tapestry of life in Hong Kong.”

This exhibition took Richard 10 months to complete, and it is sectioned to reflect Richard’s own experiences. At the plein-air selection of works, he drew them on-site. Whether it would be experiencing some bug biting, or extreme rain running over his feet during a black rainstorm, Richard tries to get an accurate depiction of what is in front of him.

Hardware store owner.

At the people selection, Richard tries to show individual stories. One of the paintings is a hardware store owner who worked for 60 years with a fixed hawker license. “But once he moves on, there will be no more shop there because the fixed hawker license can't be passed on,” he explains. “These types of micro small shops are disappearing from the city. It's kind of like a sunset industry.”

Watch repairman.

To Richard, micro-businesses quintessentially speak about Hong Kong. Down Johnston Road at Wan Chai, a watch repairman often opens a foldable table in the middle of the street to start working in the open. “Normally it disappears into the street. You never see him but when you need your watch fixed, suddenly he appears. You noticed it's like magic. It pops up,” he says.

“I can guide people all over Hong Kong using my artwork,” he adds.

Chesnut trolley.

The oldest painting at the exhibition is a request from a Canadian client in 2021. She wanted Richard to sketch a chestnut trolley business at Argyle Street in Mong Kok. It took Richard 15 hours to paint, he later got it scanned to send a digital version to Canada. “This picture started my print business,” he says.

Bamboo scaffolding.

Bamboo scaffolding is another icon of Hong Kong, an age-old method in public building works. They become part of Richard’s sketch backdrops. However, according to the March 17 announcement by the Development Bureau, the bamboo will soon be phased out and replaced with sturdier materials. The artist finds this to be a shame.

“Bamboo is more flexible, it's lighter, it's environmentally friendly,” he says. “And the person building it and constructing it, it's almost an art form. I think it should be celebrated.”

Richard considers himself lucky, capturing moments other people would like to preserve. The disappearing bits of the city will forever be framed in these displayed paintings. “The exhibition is something that I've wanted since I started on day one. And it's only grown more and more urgent,” he says. “I have all 60 pieces of the jigsaw so you get the full picture of the full story.”

At the corner of each painting, a QR code is present for visitors to scan and learn more about the piece. Richard hopes to connect everyone with these shared moments in Hong Kong.

Picture credits: Orange News and Richard Crosbie

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