The ‘Urban Art’ movement, now recognised globally, seems to be finally gathering momentum in Hong Kong. Lately, more galleries – including Art Statements and Schoeni – have dedicated space to this genre; No Borders is the latest to get in on the act.

The third exhibition to be held at the gallery since its opening is like a trip to the UK ten years ago, just before the huge boom in the Urban Art market and before Sotheby’s and Christie’s introduced dedicated sales of such works. Ric Blackshaw, founder of street art co-operative Scrawl Collective, has travelled to Hong Kong from the UK to showcase a cross section of work by the group. Scrawl Collective started in 1998 with a book of the same name and then organically developed into an agency that includes graphic designers, illustrators and artists who don’t play by the usual rules. Their artwork still has a young urban aesthetic, featuring stencil graffiti, iconic movie characters, digital illustration and pencil and ink sketches.

In a largely male-dominated movement, the female participants seem to commonly play with childish yet dark themes. Cat, one of their youngest and brightest emerging talents, has some promising new work on show. Her intricate sketches depicting big, pink, strange, bear-like characters in the woods allow a glimpse into a dark imagination.

In contrast, we have some older screen prints by RYCA featuring Star Wars, Transformers and Reservoir Dogs characters delivering anti war messages in a now classic combination for urban artists. His new works move away from digital illustration and into playful portraits of deceased Rap icon Eazy E and cult movie character Napoleon Dynamite created entirely with a rubber stamp. The result is so simple yet so effective.

Originally these kinds of shows were underground, held in grubby abandoned premises, and it seems a shame to lose that edge by taking the work into a pristine white space. If only some of the artists had made it over here for the show they could have spared their artwork from the stylish white frames and abandoned conventional show hanging.

Hong Kong galleries seem to be dipping their toes cautiously into the Urban Art market rather than really going all out on the shows. This tentative approach seems at odds with the ethos of the genre. After all, there ‘s nothing shy about street art itself.

Claire Parish