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2025.11.11- 2025.12.30
B1-6, Sunken Garden, Lane No.9, Qufu Lu, Jing An District Shanghai 200085
Art+ Shanghai Gallery and TBCA are pleased to announce "[useless]," a group exhibition curated by Wu Shu, featuring works by Liu Gang, Sabrina J, Tong Xindi & Shen Ting, Yen Hsiao, and Yu Mengtong. The exhibition runs from November 11 through December 30, 2025, coinciding with Shanghai's major art week.
Drawing inspiration from Laozi's insight—"what is, is for benefit; what is not, is for use"—the exhibition examines how emptiness and the seemingly non-functional contain profound creative power."[useless]" presents a philosophical response to contemporary society's obsession with efficiency, offering viewers a spiritual enclave to breathe, reflect, and return to authenticity.
The exhibition brings together five distinct artistic practices that explore the concept of uselessness: Yu Mengtong's ceramic vessels investigate spatial relationships and the philosophical significance of emptiness; Sabrina J transforms fashion industry scraps into soft sculptures that preserve memory and emotion; Yen Hsiao creates meditative bronze sculptures integrated with flickering flames; Liu Gang reassembles discarded industrial components into sound and interactive installations; and Tong Xindi and Shen Ting translate mathematical algorithms into ceramic art through custom machinery and programming.
About the Artists
Liu Gang is a contemporary Chinese artist based in Shanghai with a career spanning over three decades. His practice functions as a profound meditation on temporality, creating visual dialogues between historical consciousness, contemporary concerns, and natural phenomena. Recent solo exhibitions include "Dimensional Dialogue" at Art+ Shanghai Gallery (2024) and "From Logic to Ontology" at Mei Bo Art Museum.
Sabrina J is a French artist born in Reunion Island, based in Shanghai for the past decade. Her multifaceted practice spans art, interior design, product design, and fashion, blending cultural influences and unexpected materials. She celebrates traditional crafts while pushing boundaries through innovative combinations. Her solo exhibition "Memory & Metamorphosis" was held at Art+ Shanghai Gallery in 2023.
Yen Hsiao is a sculptor whose practice is deeply rooted in Zen meditation. Trained in Jewellery Design at Central Saint Martins, he now works primarily in bronze and brass sculpture. His recent series integrates oil lamps into sculptures, exploring the interplay between permanence and ephemerality. His work was most recently exhibited at London Design Week in 2025.
Yu Mengtong (b. 1996) is a Beijing-based ceramic artist currently pursuing her doctoral degree at Tsinghua University. Her practice explores themes of life, space, and individual existence through clay. She was a finalist for the 62nd Faenza Prize (2023) and twice a finalist for the "Blanc de Chine" International Ceramic Art Award. Her works are held in prestigious collections including the Faenza Art Foundation and Tsinghua University Art Museum.
Tong Xindi and Shen Ting are an artist duo who use custom-built machinery and computer programming to control ceramic crafting processes. Tong graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, while Shen graduated from the China Academy of Art. Their work "Blue-green Curtain" was acquired by The Victoria & Albert Museum in London in 2021.
Infinite blossom mural “无限绽放”壁挂 W151cm X H160cm X D8cm Memphis pattern silk offcuts 孟菲斯图案丝绸边⻆料 2025
Infinite blossom coffee table “无限绽放”椅01 W45cm X H45cm X D45cm Memphis pattern silk offcuts sewn on recycled structures 孟菲斯图案丝绸边⻆料、回收家 具 2023
Infinite blossom chair 01 “无限绽放”椅01 W57cm X H86cm X D58cm Memphis pattern silk offcuts sewn on recycled structures 孟菲斯图案丝绸边⻆料、回收家 具 2023
Infinite blossom chair 02 “无限绽放”椅02 W79cm X H87cm X D73cm Memphis pattern silk offcuts sewn on recycled structures 孟菲斯图案丝绸边⻆料、回收家 具 2023
疏影系列 Lingering Shadows 竹竿、LED灯 Bamboo, LED 尺寸不一 Variable Sizes 尺寸不一 2025
⻓凳 Bench 原木、玻璃珠、竹竿 Wood, glass ball, bamboo 44*137*16 cm 2023
What is the point BBQ grill, mixed media, 73*55*55 cm, 2025
T6-F160, electronic components, circuit board and micro motors on wood, D: 130 cm, 2023
Vessels 皿, Jade clay, Variable sizes, 2023
Threaded Emergence - Passage No.1, Stoneware, glaze, 44*80 cm, 2025
Fourfold, stoneware, glaze, lacquer, silver leaf, 55*55 cm, 2025
时轮四象 Radiant Field of Light 55.5x55.5cm 瓷、高温颜色釉 stoneware, glaze
络象 - 一瞬 Threaded Emergence - Glimpse 瓷、高温颜色釉 stoneware, glaze 75x75cm
Stoneware, glaze, 75*75 cm, 2025
络象 - 回响 一 Threaded Emergence - Echoes 100x100cm 瓷、高温颜色釉 stoneware, glaze
络象 - 频率 一 Threaded Emergence - Resonance No.1 81.5x282cm 瓷、高温颜色釉 stoneware, glaze
T6-F160 木板、电子元件、线路板、微型 电机等 150 x 210 cm 2021
显示-时空隧道 二 Manifestation- Space Tunnel No.2 直径D:114cm 瓷、高温颜色釉 stoneware, glaze
冂内 Remote boundaries 瓷、桦树皮、镜子 Ceramics, birch bark, mirror 尺寸可变 Variable Sizes 2023
冂内 Remote boundaries 瓷、镜子、苔藓种子、水 Ceramics, mirror, seed of moss, water 尺寸可变 Variable Sizes 2023
冂内 Remote Boundaries 瓷、镜 Ceramics, Mirror 尺寸可变 Variable Sizes 2023
someone will always keep vigil for you through the night 守夜人 oil painting, bronze 油画颜料、⻘铜 48x18x7cm
There is always light that pierces through the clouds 总有光芒刺破云层 oil painting, bronze 油画颜料、⻘铜 100x100x10cm
Night Sky 夜空 oil painting, bronze 油画颜料、⻘铜 70x70x7cm 2024
Self-portraits2 自画像2 15x26x13 bronze⻘铜
asleep on the cloud 云上眠 oil painting. bronze 油画颜料、⻘铜 80x30x8cm 2024
fire and smoke 火与焰 bronze⻘铜 48x18x7cm
compassion 怜悯 50x30x30cm bronze, jade ⻘铜、玉
Self-portraits1 自画像1 bronze ⻘铜 12x21x10 2025
Art+ Shanghai Gallery and TBCA are pleased to announce "[useless]," a group exhibition curated by Wu Shu, featuring works by Liu Gang, Sabrina J, Tong Xindi & Shen Ting, Yen Hsiao, and Yu Mengtong. The exhibition runs from November 11 through December 30, 2025, coinciding with Shanghai's major art week.
Drawing inspiration from Laozi's insight—"what is, is for benefit; what is not, is for use"—the exhibition examines how emptiness and the seemingly non-functional contain profound creative power."[useless]" presents a philosophical response to contemporary society's obsession with efficiency, offering viewers a spiritual enclave to breathe, reflect, and return to authenticity.
The exhibition brings together five distinct artistic practices that explore the concept of uselessness: Yu Mengtong's ceramic vessels investigate spatial relationships and the philosophical significance of emptiness; Sabrina J transforms fashion industry scraps into soft sculptures that preserve memory and emotion; Yen Hsiao creates meditative bronze sculptures integrated with flickering flames; Liu Gang reassembles discarded industrial components into sound and interactive installations; and Tong Xindi and Shen Ting translate mathematical algorithms into ceramic art through custom machinery and programming.
About the Artists
Liu Gang is a contemporary Chinese artist based in Shanghai with a career spanning over three decades. His practice functions as a profound meditation on temporality, creating visual dialogues between historical consciousness, contemporary concerns, and natural phenomena. Recent solo exhibitions include "Dimensional Dialogue" at Art+ Shanghai Gallery (2024) and "From Logic to Ontology" at Mei Bo Art Museum.
Sabrina J is a French artist born in Reunion Island, based in Shanghai for the past decade. Her multifaceted practice spans art, interior design, product design, and fashion, blending cultural influences and unexpected materials. She celebrates traditional crafts while pushing boundaries through innovative combinations. Her solo exhibition "Memory & Metamorphosis" was held at Art+ Shanghai Gallery in 2023.
Yen Hsiao is a sculptor whose practice is deeply rooted in Zen meditation. Trained in Jewellery Design at Central Saint Martins, he now works primarily in bronze and brass sculpture. His recent series integrates oil lamps into sculptures, exploring the interplay between permanence and ephemerality. His work was most recently exhibited at London Design Week in 2025.
Yu Mengtong (b. 1996) is a Beijing-based ceramic artist currently pursuing her doctoral degree at Tsinghua University. Her practice explores themes of life, space, and individual existence through clay. She was a finalist for the 62nd Faenza Prize (2023) and twice a finalist for the "Blanc de Chine" International Ceramic Art Award. Her works are held in prestigious collections including the Faenza Art Foundation and Tsinghua University Art Museum.
Tong Xindi and Shen Ting are an artist duo who use custom-built machinery and computer programming to control ceramic crafting processes. Tong graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, while Shen graduated from the China Academy of Art. Their work "Blue-green Curtain" was acquired by The Victoria & Albert Museum in London in 2021.
