|
Forthcoming Exhibitions - Yougallery
Multiple Perspectives
11 Chinese Contemporary Artists’ Exhibition
Curator： Jiang Ming
Participating artists:
Painting: Jiang Huajun, Li Changlong , Liu Xintao ,Shen Jingdong, Wu Yiqiang, Wang Cheng
Photo: LUO Dan, Ming Ke, Gao Lei
Documentary: Li Qiang, Wang baoming
RECEPTION:
Apr.20, 2008 Sunday 15：00——18：00
OPENING HOURS:
Apr.20, 2008-June.20 .2008 Tuesday-----Sunday , 10:00-18:00
PLACE: D/NO.1 artstio area , He Ge Zhuang village , Cui Ge Zhuang town , Chao Yang District , Beijing , China
Tel : (8610)84567763
E-mail : yougallery @yougallery.net
Http: //www.yougallery.net
Multiple Perspectives
- Ten Chinese Contemporary Artists’ Exhibition
by Jiang Ming
Chinese contemporary art has dawned since the mid 1980s, over a span of about thirty years. This is a period of history that carries the dreams, hopes, bitterness and contemplation of countless Chinese intellectuals. It emerged with the scar period after the Cultural Revolution, undergoing 1985 modernist enlightenment, 1989’s modern art exhibition, cynical realistic trend of thought, post-pop tendency - the new period of consumptionism, and black and white realism. These series of influential artistic waves constantly renew and brainwash the way of thinking, feelings, spirit, culture, and taste of the Chinese people to such an extent that the government has to get involved in the construction of the new system of contemporary art. Fortunately, Chinese artists are no longer treated as roving rebellious avant-garde who are to be discriminated against, banished, or attacked. Like the history of Yuanmingyuan Palace, the humiliation of Yuanmingyuan artist village has become a memory of symbolic significance in China. Things like Songzhuang myth, 798 legend, Suojiacun Village incident all turn out to be historical materials and important subjects of study for contemporary art history and phenomenology.
As to us, the present history of Chinese contemporary art is no less important than that of Western Renaissance. In addition, the rise of Chinese contemporary art is central to the eastern Asia renaissance system with China and India at its core in Asian-pacific area. The reconstruction of this system arises inevitably from the counterbalance of the world's three major civilization systems. In terms of economics and sociology, without the eastern Asian system, there would be no world system, while in terms of geographic strategy, without the Asian-pacific system, the so-called notion of globalized economy, society, politics and culture would make no sense.
Theorists or historians, who study the history of culture and art as their subject, may easily mislead us in a commercialized time with their choice of historical materials which have representative research value. To what degree have we already been misled? In what areas are we deceived? Do the few who shoot to stardom overnight really represent the spirit of this epoch of us? Who else in the world is still willing to live a life of solitude and loneliness simply for the sake of humanistic concern when we find ourselves in a pre-capitalism social system where the essential principle of demand is based on mutual exchange of demands, where many artists make at money and corruption as moths fly towards the fire? Whom shall we trust when there are so many artists and works of art available? Shall we trust those artists who are good at nothing but self-glorification or those mercenary commercialized galleries or art galleries? Shall we trust the auction companies, foundations which are manipulated by black hands or those critics or exhibition curators who take bribery. A period seems to come when we find it so hard to trust anything. But how did this dubious time come into being? And where shall we go then?
In Mahaparinivana Sutra, there is an ancient Indian parable named ‘The blind Feeling the Elephant’. Not many people are able to really understand this story, which is used to describe a kind of people who fail to observe things holistically or objectively. In fact, there is no such a person who is able to judge things holistically and accurately. Then what shall we do? Perhaps only a kind of notion of post-modernism values works. This value notion argues for the multiple aspects of truth, as Foucault said: I believe there is truth, such that I have to assume that there are many kinds of truth and expressions of truth. Thus, I believe in the significance of multiple perspectives. These perspectives may be able to help broaden our vision. We have such a large and complex data bank of contemporary art that we are not supposed to be restricted to only a few commercialized stars when we write and narrate. I mean, actually, the historical value in the profound renaissance of Chinese contemporary art is not represented by a few privileged stars. We do need a kind of multiple points of view.
Artwork Descriptions:
Li Changlong's works are narrative. He focuses on their narrative aspect and metaphoric feature. These works provide personalized individual experience: how will one continue to survive the occasional sufferings in life? How does the alienation and abnormality of modern society take place? How are the real social lives lost? What about the soul of modern people? Can we expect a wholesome society or the utopian ideals will remain the dream of humans for good? When did it start that the value of life is judged with the criterion of "failure vs success"? Is it worthwhile to sacrifice a bitterness and struggle of life for a breath of fresh air or a joyous walk? What is the thing we modern social men are really in need of?
Liu Xintao's works are in black, black nightmare. These works named ‘Black Night’ by him in some sense can fall under "black and white realism" I bring forward. Black and white reality is the present major concern in China. In terms of language system, black and white tendency is opposed to brilliant color system since cynicism. When it comes to cultural concern, black and white reality is the artistic expression of the brutal reality of the underprivileged living in. Liu's works do fall under this category of research both linguistically and thematically, for they express the reality of the sharp conflict between urban expansions and individual value as well as the alienation of modern humans.
Wang Cheng's works make good use of the effect of photographic films. In an atmosphere of grief, his works convey his compassion and concern about those who are underprivileged and humiliated The works look like old films, for he uses the technique of oil painting. During the production, he experiences the life and feelings of those depicted. In front of these works, we may wonder why those children have gone through, whether there are still any persons left who continue living in those dilapidated factories and that in what kind of situation they are living. We may also expect to know who has deceived them and who is to blame for their misfortune.
Shen Jingdong's works ought to fall into the ‘post-pop’ category. The ‘post-pop’ phenomenon is an important artistic movement during the consumptionism period in the 1990s in China. Culturally it has two basic dimensions: ideological issue and consumption culture issue. Shen Jingdong's works are representative post-pop ones. The images of liberation army soldiers are used to symbolize the alienated authority and threat of the country machine during the consumption period. The representative images of revolutionary art and the national military forces turn into consumption images. The Chinese post-pop artists have made special contribution to the world art history, which at the same time also disintegrates the national system and nature of China. It plays an essential role in promoting the ‘democratic’ transition process of society in China. This is where the mutual value of post-pop artists like Shen Jingdong lies.
Ming Ke's works reveal the masks and cultural strategies in this commercialized capital city, through the display of the culturally publicized sights throughout Beijing. Those publicized images expose the public to violence and falsehood, which convey the vulgar and crazy side of the cultural life in Beijing and other big cities. Sights are supposed to be both beautiful and instructive, however, they are now reduced to be without style and artistic taste. People are not allowed to participate in, therefore, they turn out to be signs of violation of public opinion. The graffiti done by the vagrant artists seem to add more to the 亲和力 to this ancient city. Cultural propaganda sights become political propaganda and the means of commercials alone. It is really hard to foretell about the future prospects.
Jiang Huajun's works express a kind of gray memory of reality in China. This memory penetrates through the superficial vitality, flamboyance, into the part deep in spirit, which is gray, indifferent, aloof, and cruel. Among those lonely ones, you fail to see the aromatic body and the intimate fruits. Rather, those physical bodies and their surroundings form a dark world. All impose upon us a sense of turbulence, foreboding, cruelty and ruthlessness. That is a world of disaster, misfortune and defeat. Inhabiting such a world, we have no future.
‘Men’ and ‘Women’ series are Wu Yiqiang's works. They alienate, parody and misuse images, to express the depression of the spiritual life in the urban situation in our time. Those men, alienated by this age, symbolize a society of prevalent depression, impotence, and weariness. This is an age of materialism, in which all things of heroic spirit are subverted by money and sexual relationship, which ultimately results in a tragic structure of instability. Such an instability is the outcome of an ambiguous, formless force. It shows degenerate values, at least something has gong wrong with our social, cultural and moral values.
Li Qiang's documentary film ‘A Shed in the Wasteland’ tells about the reality of an old man Lao Li living in the mountains for twenty years, who is ignored and drown in the urbanization. This reality includes two intricate aspects. One aspect is about the irreconcilable conflict between the traditional Chinese lifestyle and its peaceful way of thinking and the development of modernized society. The other aspect is the doubt about whether the reality that the modernized course at the cost of individual life experiences has brought us is what every one really needs. Is this cold urban lifestyle the only choice of humans? Is the noise from continuously humming bulldozer around the old man's ears only the nightmare of himself?
Wang Baoming's brief documentary newsreel ‘Gan Gou Ping’ reflects several everyday life sights in a remote village in Gansu province northwest of China. It discloses the ruthless reality in China. During a period of rising urban consumptionism, remote villages in China and large population of farmers face a reality that their natural resources are exploited. Against the village background of peace, we find quite a lot of problems like abusing one's mother, blind worship, incomplete basic education. These are some things that we cannot take for granted with the coming of the "black and white realism period" in China.
The author is a critic and curator, and publishes a book called China’s Post-Modern Art.
< Back to dealer/gallery profile
|
