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The City: Manufacturing Urban Landscapes is a group exhibition highlighting China’s changing cityscapes and illustrating how economic reform, a new influx of personal wealth and rapid industrialization has effected urban environments.
Representing artists working in mediums of painting, photography, video and graphic design, The City uses street life, proliferation of skyscrapers and historic monuments as avenues for exploring not only the transformation of China's major cities but a myriad of artistic representations.
The 21st century has ushered in a new vocabulary for cityscape art providing artists with an outlet for exploring our urban centers. Concrete towers and busy streets provide an urban backdrop in these manmade landscapes.
The City highlights four emerging and young artists whose impressions of the city are as varied as their medium of expression. Similarities in geometric symmetry arise from the architectural landscapes of Huang Xian’s collages and Li Wei’s contemporary charcoal drawings, each with distinct aesthetics that differs drastically.
Themes of sacrifice however are shared between Huang Xian’s treatment of the earth’s soil and Lin Guocheng’s symbolic reference of trees as martyr, representing the embodiment of nature, sacrificed to the city.
Less melancholic images are viewed in Ge Fang’s Street Cinema. Fang, brings us into the city with photography and video pieces where cars providing the backdrop and screen to popular Chinese films.
Exhibition Duration: May 7th to June 27th, 2010
Participating Artists: Ge Fang , Lin Guocheng , Huang Xian , Li Wei
Exhibition Venue:
Art + Shanghai Gallery ,22 Fumin Lu, House 2, (Near Yanan Lu) +86 21-62484388
Tuesday to Sunday 11pm to 7pm (Closed Monday)
Art + Shanghai Gallery welcomes the year of the Tiger with Xu Kong,Emptiness. Employed by spiritual traditions of both western and eastern doctrines, mandalas act as a micro-representation of the universe perceived by humans, serving as sacred (and secular) narratives composed of icons and symbols aimed at unifying its viewer with a sense of oneness.
Xu Kong, Emptiness, observes the mandala as a visual illustration employed in meditation and its ability to provide solace to viewers. The exhibition examines the sequence of patterns and personal codes used by four artists working in the mediums of video, painting, and photography, and applies their work to the significance of iconography in meditation.
Art + Shanghai Gallery exhibition, Wuwei: Being and Nothing explored the common ground between the mandala-creating practice of mindfulness and the Taoist/Buddhist concept “Wuwei” (non-action), emphasizing being in the moment and how it applies to particular artworks. As a principle employed in creativity, Wuwei explored selfless action as a doctrine used by five artists working in video, painting, sound and performance. Engaged in the creative process, the artists were not concerned with any particular outcome, emphasizing the journey rather then the end (work) displayed.
While Wuwei sought to investigate the human ontological dilemma for being in the world, Xu Kong is marked by unconventional imagery of a more metaphysical nature. The exhibition focuses on the use of space and more specifically how trivial codes and patterns are used by an artist to communicate meaning to an audience. Both represent an ‘abstract’ art genera, but highlight very distinct aspects, Wuwei, the action and Xu Kong the visual.
Art critic and scholar, Gao Minglu, refers to such artists, often filed under the umbrella term of abstract art, as Maximalists [1950s Minimalism and late 20th century Western Modernism]. For Gao, the artists go beyond the formal appearance of an artwork to express an individual perception through daily practices.[i]
Expanding Gao’s theory on his theory to include ‘non-Chinese’ abstract art or Maximalism, the physical form of the works is not the essence of the art, but rather the relationship between the artwork and the artist’s affect on it, as impacted by the artist’s environment. His point is illustrated in Xu Kong through the works of each artist who expresses his/her spatial concepts through repetitive forms, creating an infinite, non-linear, narrative and/or space.
Similar to the philosophical poetry of early 17th century Europe or Tibetan Vajrayana mandalas, the works of Xu Kong are seculamentals (secular sacraments) to be venerated not for what they are, but for what they represent. They symbolize an understanding and feeling that cannot be read and must be experienced.
[i] Gao Minglu wrote a number of articles and journals regarding his critique of the theory of Chinese Abstract art. For the purpose of this article I refer to his comparison of Chinese “Maximalists” and religious (namely Buddhist) practice. “The squares, dots, and lines symbolize the repetition and triviality of everyday life. They are the expression of self-development in an urbanized context that keeps its distance from the outside world...Almost all these abstract artists stress repetition, continuity, and a simple, unaffected state of mind. They focus on creating an internally satisfying spiritual realm.” [“Does Abstract Art Exist in China”, Artzine Magazine, 2006, pg 6-8].
Eye of Compassion: Wang Chao Solo Exhibition
Born 1985 in Wan Nian, Jiangxi, Wang Chao , was a graduate student at the Hangzhou campus of the China Academy of Art, majoring in traditional Chinese painting. Though he has a background in traditional painting, the artist often experiments with video. Working with pencil and pen he hand draws his images and later adapts them to animation. His themes explore a developing landscape, from the rural townships to the vast cityscape, exploring the complexity of a developing nation and human potential.
Eye of Compassion features the complete three-part series and first complete body of video work by a talented young artist. Wang Chao’s videos bring brave ideas and images to the art world—both within and outside the country. There is a spirit of boldness and innovation in his work, which reflects the unique challenges and excitement of a changing China.
“For me, art is not created to fill a void in a gallery space; rather it is a deeper understanding and contemplation of everyday reality. My work is an expression of my daily confrontations. It is as much my interpretation of society as it is a personal contemplation on human nature.”
Wang Chao, 2009
Exhibited videos by the artist
Shudra
Experimental animation, frame-by-frame, hand-drawn charcoal and pencil drawings
4’37’’
2007
The title of Wang Chao’s work Shudra is borrowed form the term applied to the lowest of the four Varnas (Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishy and Shudra) applied during post-Vedic India. Shudras were essentially rural labourers whose role was determined to serve the three higher-ranking Varnas taking the position of slaves, servants and bonded labourers.
The Golden Age
Experimental animation, frame-by-frame, hand-drawn charcoal and pencil drawings
5’12’’
2008
Based on a particular period referred to as the “Golden Age,” the stone, newspaper, chimney, theatre gate and train these images in sequence have little link other than to give reference to the expectations, false promises and facade of the period referred to in the film. Wang Chao aims to dissolve the allusion of ‘glory’ and ‘gold’ that is promised, and in place of his abandonment of falsehoods shines the age of the unknown and unrestrained future.
Avalokitesvara
Experimental animation, composed of frame-by-frame shooting of hand-drawn charcoal and pencil drawings
6’24’’
2009
The video opens to the "Heart Sutra" with the intention of reminding people to observe themselves, or “Guan Zi Zai” as it is explained in Chinese and the title of work. The compassion of bodhisattva, Avalokitesvara is an underlying theme throughout the video. The image of the deity appears in the manifestation of Guanyin, prompting people to live moderately. It is the wisdom and experience of our ancestors who have left us an earth to ponder and a culture to observe, but remind us to keep perspective of our immaterial existence.
Exhibition Duration: January 8th to February 28th 2010
Venue: Art + Shanghai Gallery
Address: 22 Fumin Lu, House 2, (Near Yanan Lu)
Tel: +2162484388
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 11pm to 7pm (Closed Monday)
Art+ Shanghai Presents
The Kids are Alright: Group Exhibition
The Kids are Alright examines the cyclical nature of reality at a moment of transition. Through the artwork of four young and emerging artists, the exhibition provides timely commentary about a period of transformation in Asian’s urban evolution.
A song performed by British band, The Who, “The Kids are Alright”, would be become an anthem for the Mod movement in England during the late 1960s, and later appear as the title of a documentary about the band. The exhibition is less about emerging music sub-genres and more concerned with a particular generation of artists, particularly painters, who are creating a subculture of ambiguity in their work.
The parallel between song and exhibition exists in their shared ethnographic value—unintentional documentation of popular culture during the respective time the works were created. The political personalities, Internet celebrities and symbolic commodities so prominent in the works of Li Wenfeng, Tamen (They Group) and Suryakant Lokhande make relevant commentary about present-day society.
Born in Asia during the late 70s and early 80s, the artists are merged between global hybridism and histories rich in cultural traditions. Their vibrant canvas provide urban narratives with fragmented motifs and icons as ephemeral as the environments they depict.
Each artist has taken over a room in the gallery to encourage a wider appreciation of his personal understanding of both the large events that shape our times, and the slighter circumstances of everyday life. The artists have been asked to create their own mixed- medium installations as visual art testimonies to their generation.
If you require any additional information on the artists or the exhibition, please contact the gallery directly.
Participating Artists:
An artist collective composed of Lai Shengyu and Yang Xiaogang both born in Hunan Province in 1978 and 1979 respectively. Currently based in Beijing and working in the department of new media art in BUAA Beijing China. Lai and Yang were post-graduates in the department of Printmaking Department in the Central Academy of Fine Arts Beijing China. Their most recent major exhibitions include “Lost Heaven” (Museum of Hunan, China, 2009) “THEY”(Canvas international art, Amstelveen, 2008), “TA MEN”(Pyo gallery Seoul Korea, 2006) Exhibition Chinese Contemporary Group, , Metropolis Now, (Meridian International Centre in Washington DC, US, 2009)
Born 1979 in Chaozhou, Li Wenfeng graduated from the Print Department at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing. Discontent with flat expression, Li Wenfeng’s works Arrow Fish and Blue Porcelain Flower Vase, feature grand and dramatic scenes of story telling, which borrow a absurd aesthetic to create unusual symbolic expressions of the vast and material world. Most recent exhibitions include, “The Chinese Contemporary Art, Now” (Ho Am Art Museum Seoul Korea, 2008).
Suryakant Lokhande
Born n 1969, Suryakant Lokhande graduated from Sir JJ School of Arts, Mumbai. One of the brightest young painters working in modern day Maharashtra, he has won awards at the State Art Exhibition, the Camlin Competition, Bombay Art Society Award. Selected as an Emerging Artist for the Dutch documentary film on India Contemporary Artists, he also featured in the ‘Hiroshima – Nagasaki Never Again’ exhibition held in Japan. He has received the Vijay Pokharnas Award and the prize for the most outstanding work in the 105th Annual Art Exhibition of the Bombay Art Society. He had held solo exhibitions of paintings including ‘We Cover You’ at Studio 51 J Gallery and at Alliance Francaise de Bombay, ‘Metal Meets Mettle’ and ‘Inside Out’ at Jamat Art Gallery and ‘Koham at Mahalsa Art Gallery, Mumbai amongst others. He has also participated in many group shows.
The Kids are Alright: A Group Exhibition
Participating Artists: Tamen (They Group), Li Wenfeng, Suryakant Lokhande
Exhibition Duration: November 8th, 2009 to January 15th, 2010
Venue: Art+Shanghai Gallery
Address: 22 Fumin Lu, House 2, (Near Yanan Lu) 200040 Shanghai Tel: +2162484388
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 11pm to 7pm (Closed Monday)
contact@artplusshanghai.com
Art+ Shanghai Presents
Wuwei: Being and Nothing
Art+ Shanghai is pleased to announce the launch exhibition at its new location.
Through the work of five artists in video, painting, sound and installation, Being/Nothing explores the schism between what existential philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre referred to as being-in-itself and being for-itself and the Taoist concept of Wu Wei or action without desire, motivation or intention. The exhibition likens the creative process of the artist to that of a Buddhist practitioner reciting sutras or creating a mandala, emphasizing the journey of meditation/practice rather then the end production (work) displayed. New works and live performances will be showcased throughout the exhibition duration.
Participating Artists:
Ben Houge is an American artist working at the nexus of videogames, digital art, sound installation, and music performance. He is a 13-year veteran of the videogame industry and has been based in Shanghai since 2004. He has actively engaged the new music/sound art scene with performances at the 2Pi Festival (Hangzhou), Shanghai eArts Festival and the Zendai Museum. His sound installations have been exhibited at Shanghai International Creative Industry Week and the Today Art Museum in Beijing.
Born in Macao, Cindy Ng Sio Ieng lived in Taiwan from 1997-2006, before moving to Beijing where she has been based since 2007. She has won several awards for her ink/water video installations including the 10th “V-art” International video-art Festival (Italy). Her major exhibitions include solo exhibitions at Today Art Museum (2007 Beijing, China), Seattle Art Museum ( 2007, U.S.A), 2005 Ju Ming Museum (Taiwan), The Taipa Houses – Museum (2004 Macao), 1996 Taipei Fine Arts Museum (Taiwan)
Born 1979 in Shanghai, Shi Zhiying graduated from the department of Oil Painting at the University of Shanghai. Although a painter she has created animation and performance art with projects combining dance and music. She has won several awards including the 2001 Shanghai Youth Biennale, the second in the New Artist Award at the Shanghai Fine Arts Grand Exhibition (Shanghai Art Museum). She is currently exhibiting her first solo exhibition curated by Yan Peiming at The Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA Beijing). Other major exhibitions include “The Changjian River” (2009 Great Hall, Beijing), China Contemporary Oil Painting Exhibition (2008 National Art Museum of China, Beijing), 2008 China Contemporary Art Biennale (2008 Shanghai).
Wang Hui
Wang Hui was born in 1972 and graduated from the China Academy of Fine Arts with a Bachelor of Sculpture and a Masters in Public Art. He has also studied at the ENSAD in Paris and is currently teaching sculpture at the Shanghai Normal University. Teaching sculpture at university, making artwork after class, writing scripts of his “dreams”. Wang Hui is happily busy.
Born 1974 in Chongqing, Wang Jun Graduated with a Bachelor degree in woodcut printing from the Sichuan Academy of Art in 1999. He later completed his Master degree in Sichuan Academy of Art. He has worked as a lecture in the Guizhou University’s Art department before basing himself in Chongqing. Among his major exhibitions are The Figure of Will (2008, Duolun Musuem of Modern Art, Shanghai), Refresh: Emerging Chinese Artists (2007 Arrario Gallery Bejing/Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai), A Real Experience (2007 Pretty Land Gallery, Germany, China Today (2006 National Art Museum of China, Beijing), “Conversation 10+10” (2006, Zendai Museum of Modern Art) among others.
Wuwei: Being and Nothing
Participating Artists: Cindy Ng Sio Ieng, Shi Zhiying, Wang Hui, Wang Jun, Ben Houge
Curator: Diana Freundl
Exhibition Duration: September 9th, 2009 to November 1st, 2009
Venue: Art + Shanghai Gallery
NEW LOCATION!!
Address: 22 Fumin Lu, House 2, (Near Yanan Lu)
Tel: +2162484388
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 11pm to 7pm (Closed Monday)
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