EXHIBITIONS

“Competitive Meditation” is a phrase that appeared in Xu Zhen’s latest series of Zen Paintings. In his solo exhibition, recently held at Jebum-gang Art Center, Tibetʼs first contemporary art institution, Xuʼs work culminated in a series of pieces drawing upon the traditions of Japanese Zen painting, layered with political cartoons. Originating in the late Song-Yuan period and evolving significantly within Japanese culture, Zen painting later turned into more dynamic forms, such as manga and animation nowadays. Xuʼs practice encapsulates this complex cultural lineage, distilling it into seemingly simple yet profound “enlightenment.” Through this concept, the artist does not intend to evoke a grand significance beyond art itself but rather aims to make us aware of the fundamental presence that is always part of our lives. By stripping his work of overt mythological weight, Xu maintains a dispassionate, middle-ground stance, even suggesting a willingness to become the subject of critique rather than simply acting as the critic.

Currently (as of November 2024), Lu Pingyuan is also participating in a group show at the Centre Pompidou. Since 2012, Lu has been building a body of work that operates at the intersection of fiction and reality. In his “Best of the Best Draw” series, Lu approaches artificial intelligence as a new ideological construct, casting AI as a “god” to whom he presents his own narratives and traditional mythologies, prompting the generation of new mythic figures. By employing traditional Chinese paper-cutting techniques̶historically used to invoke deities̶he materializes these “gods” from the paper again. In engaging with the long-standing practice of depicting divine figures, Lu critiques yet simultaneously reclaims this “futile but essential” human act. His “Lingua Playful” series offers a visualization of human language, treating it as a living organism. Employing the traditional Chinese ink painting technique of “leaving space,” Lu not only represents dialogue but also the vast, unspoken territories that lie beyond languageʼs reach.

Li Hanweiʼs work, by contrast, examines how emerging technologies intervene in and increasingly dictate our perception, modes of communication, and construction of identity. In his new works from the “Witness” series, first on display at PARCEL, Li employs cutting-edge information processing technologies, including AI mapping, fingerprint recognition, CG rendering, and 3D printing. These works investigate the increasingly indistinct boundary between human and machine. Despite the apparent freedoms these technologies seem to offer, they are, in fact, subject to numerous “inevitable constraints”̶a condition Li deftly parallels with the highly mediated nature of our everyday environments. Liʼs work always shows viewers to reflect on how these limitations permeate even the most ostensibly liberating technologies.

This exhibition will mark the first public showing of Xu Zhenʼs latest works in Japan, along with all the other featured pieces. In an age when painting/drawing is confronted by the ever-evolving media that challenges its original validation, this exhibition explores the thematic tension between certainty and ambiguity across various mediums, from ink painting and paper-cutting to Zen painting, and both 2D and 3D digital prints.

Over 60 years ago, D.T. Suzuki wrote, “In the mechanistic worldview, an industrialized society, and a conceptualist-driven realm of thought, the creative instincts of humanity are stifled. Should we continue on this path, I believe we will inexorably be driven toward the tragic fate of mutual annihilation.”
In our contemporary moment, we are not confronted by a single overwhelming crisis but by a multitude of diffuse, dispersed problems. Artists and their works are continually asked to provide solutions, all while we risk forgetting that art, first and foremost, must preserve its autonomy and self-awareness. This exhibition challenges us to reconsider the concept of “Competitive Meditation,” offering an opportunity to reflect on both the artworks and ourselves within this context.

–Curator, Jin Qiuyu

At the turn of the century, a group of conceptual photography and video works emerged in China, expressing artists’ beautiful longings and utopian visions for globalization and the potential changes it could bring. Around the same time, due to the popularity of computers and the Internet, artists gradually began to use new photography and video technologies, especially Photoshop software, which greatly expanded their understanding and practice of photography, video, and images. These exhibits are part of it. They are not only a portrayal of the collective emotions of this special historical moment, but also an important witness to the revolution of technological media.
Twenty years later, photography and imaging technology have undergone multiple iterations and replacements, and globalization has entered a historical stage. Looking back at these conceptual works with “rough” technology yet strong characteristics of the times, we are certainly impressed by the profound impact of technological media on contemporary art. However, the long-lost “optimistic” mood and “comedic” feeling seem to be more worthy of our contemplation and reflection.

The first Ennova Art Biennale will be held from October 27th, 2024 to April 30th, 2025 in Langfang, located in the center of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. The Biennale is hosted by Ennova Art Museum, with internationally renowned curator and art critic Fumio Nanjo as the chief curator. The curatorial research team consists of scholars such as Miwa Kutsuna, Andrea Del Guercio, Hatanaka Minoru, and Qilan Shen.

With the theme “Multiple Future : a new visions of our life,” the biennale delves deeply into the essence of contemporary art and the infinite boundaries of human creativity, in order to break through the traditional modes of thinking and to face the multiple challenges faced by contemporary humanity.

The exhibition is divided into four chapters, the first focusing on sound as a special immaterial material, the second on creativity beyond borders, the third on the possibilities of environmental sustainability, and the fourth on exploring a post-human world.

The 1st Ennova Art Biennale brings together the wonderful works of nearly 100 artists (groups) and will be one of the most internationally influential contemporary art events in China.

(Text creidt: Ennova Art Museum)

ShanghART WB Central announce the opening of the exhibition “Growth in Motion” on 29 September 2024. The exhibition brings together works from 27 artists/groups represented by ShanghART, showcasing a “momentum” look that indicates the fundamental creative will of life, to explore the stream of vitality in the artists’ spirit, constantly overcoming the tendency towards materialization and bursting upwards with life force.

Henri Bergson’s life-philosophy sees life as a tendency, driven and developed by the vital impetus, with which humans have broken free from “torpor” and “instinct”, evolving towards “intelligence”. From the perspective of life to interpret creation, artists’ vital impetus and creative will share a wondrously interconnected core – a mysterious impulse, beyond the rational understanding, that guides pure growth and creation. The works in the exhibition are undoubtedly the material traces left by the inner impulses as they advance into the outer world. It is this impetus that allows art to transcend torpor, instinct, and intelligence, thereby unleashing infinite possibilities.

South Korean-born, German philosopher Byung-Chul Han, in his book Praise to the Earth: A Trip to the Garden, describes his philosophical exploration while tending to the genre of “blue blossom” in his gardening work, and elaborates upon its romanticized essence through color theory. As a symbol of eternal aspiration that calls to one’s passion and vocation, “blaue blume” not only embodies the metaphysical longing for the infinite, but also alludes to the lure and desire, or even nothingness – especially concerning its rare appearance. To this day, the blue flower remains an enduring motif in Western art. American poet Maggie Nelson made a similar presentation in her lyrical essay Bluets. The special part about blue is that it is solitary yet exalted, projecting a field oscillating between nostalgia for a distant memory and compassion for futurity.

Building on such imagery, “A Blue-Flowering Day” examines works by local and international artists of various generations, which brings forth some simple yet profound concepts of the elusive emotion aroused by the blue flower, or the visual threshold of the particular colour and the speculative ecologies around it.

The exhibition invites internationally renowned Chinese and French artists to participate, to explore together the similarities and differences between the arts of the two countries in the context of globalization and their origins, and to witness the “harmony and difference” between eastern elegance and French romanticism. The form of the works on display involves intertext in media, painting, photography, sculpture, devices, multimedia, new media, sound and other artistic fields, which present both interwoven chronological indices and contextual migrations of the time, but also how artists perceive the outside world, and how they choose to live in reality.

The academic organization of the exhibition revolves around three axes: The first is based on mutual learning between Chinese and French art in the artistic creation of Chinese masters who studied in France in the 20th century, represented by artists like Xu Beihong, Lin Fengmian at the beginning of the century, then Wu Guanzhong before and after the establishment of the new China, then Huang Yongping, Yang Jiechang, Shen Yuan and the young artists currently active between China and France; The second is based on the perspective of “French” artists and cultural workers, through French artists and cultural workers living in China, and Chinese artists and cultural workers living in France, to present mutual reflections and aspirations; And the third takes the Sichuan institute of fine arts and its achievements in teaching since the 20th century as an index, because the art institutes since the 20th century constitute a field of practice where Chinese and western cultures are inspired and mixed, and in the era of mutual learning of cultures, artists and cultural workers interact, in teaching and practice, Art is becoming international and constantly intertwined to produce a multitude of contemporary aspects.

START MUSEUM is pleased to present “Frontier — Inaugural Exhibition Season 3” on August 18, 2024. The exhibition, titled “Frontier” aims to explore themes related to the openness of art, freedom, and the various boundaries in creative practices.

This exhibition will feature works by 32 prominent domestic and international artists, including Luc Tuymans, Cai Guoqiang, Nam June Paik, Tracey Emin, Gordon Matta-Clark, Wu Shanzhuan, Liu Xiaodong, Matthew Barney, Yu Hong, Li Yongbin, Seth Price, Xu Zhen, Tomás Saraceno, Duan Jianyu, Nabuqi, Chen Tianzhuo, among others. The selected works span from the 1970s to the present, highlighting breakthroughs in creation, concepts, materials, ideology, societal norms, and the liberation from the constraints of individual identity politics. The exhibition also emphasizes the limitless openness and challenges to the boundaries of individual artistic freedom.

START MUSEUM inaugurates itself with a series of four consecutive exhibitions as its declarative launch. Through a more diverse and open-ended discourse, the museum strives to present its identity and value as an independent research institution. Furthermore, by transcending the constraints of reality, the museum adopts an independent and exploratory historiographical perspective to seek out new dimensions and frontiers of individuality and freedom in art.

This exhibition, following “START” and “Thus Spoke the Moment,” marks another significant exhibition research project by the museum.It also serves as the third chapter of the START MUSEUM’s four-season inaugural exhibition series.

As a special exhibition of Yuz Museum 10th anniversary, “Out of Silence” will unfold in two chapters, the first of which will open to the public from August 10 to October 7, 2024, featuring a selection of more than 20 groups of works by contemporary Chinese and international artists from the collection of Yuz Foundation. Taking sound that is represented or implied as a clue, the exhibition will present the hidden power of these artworks through listening to the subtle or forgotten voices within them, which are the very “traces” and “signs” that Yuz Foundation and Yuz Museum (YUZ) are committed to preserving.

The Artists in Chapter One:
CHEN Ke, CHEN Weimin, CHEN Zhen, Secundino HERNÁNDEZ, Shara HUGHES, Alicja KWADE, LI Xiaojing, Eddie MARTINEZ, OUYANG Chun, Elizabeth PEYTON, Katja SEIB, David SCHNELL, SONG Yige, XU Zhen / MadeIn Company, WANG Fenghua, WEI Jia, YAN Heng, Aaron YOUNG, YANG Zhenzhong, ZHENG Wei, ZHONG Jinpei

Mr. Budi Tek, the founder of YUZ, first started out in the world of collecting contemporary art from 2004-2005. With his entrepreneurial spirit of adventure, assiduous research into art, and persistent enthusiasm, he gradually expanded the collection, and developed to identify two main threads of collecting in 2008: one is “traces”, the threads, the representative works of established artists who have achieved significant positions in Chinese contemporary art history; the other is “signs”, the potential, the new works that he collected with support and expectation for young artists. These two parallel lines, focusing on the bidirectional vision of “history” and “future”, have become the source and core of YUZ’s subsequent collection and exhibition programs.

This exhibition will follow the trajectory that began in the early years of YUZ collection, to rethink the position of the collection in the process of “history” and “future” and the relative relationship between them. The selection of works is not confined to the framework of time or geography, so as to highlight YUZ’s unique color of collecting art through rational construction and emotional understanding. Most of the works in the exhibition reveal the creative process of the artists who integrate their individual thread of life with diverse historical, cultural and social backgrounds. Seemingly calm and silent, the works are nevertheless rich in ideological dimensions and expansive in spiritual world, nurturing a surge of booming power. They carry private emotions and feelings, and reflect the syndromes of society and the times, which not only condense the past, but also still apply to the present, and even foretell a certain visible future. The hidden power within the works leads us to “the deafening silence” and the experience of vigorous vitality, and at the same time alerts us to the fact that the history is not yet gone, while the future is already here.

The exhibition will also reflect on the platforms built by YUZ in its past collections and exhibitions, including 2008-2012 Yuz Museum in Jakarta, 2014-2022 Yuz Museum at West Bund, Shanghai, Yuz Project Space of Art since 2015, Yuz Museum at Panlong Tiandi, Shanghai since 2023, and many more projects, which have facilitated and realized many artists’ ambitious conceptions, with some of these site-specific practices and large-scale commissions being re-enacted. A selection of the masterpieces with breakthrough and transformative significance will also be on display for the first time to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Yuz Museum.

The change of seasons and the flow of time seem to be an irreversible process. On the stage of this eternal cycle of life and history, perhaps we could “progressus ad originem” and “regressus ad futurum”, trying to find our own roles and positions out of silence, and escape from the hustle and bustle.

The exhibition “Out of Silence” is organized by Yuz Museum and curated by Wen Shi, Curator at Yuz Museum, with its first chapter from August 10 to October 7, 2024, and the second chapter from October 19, 2024 to March 2, 2025.

Exhibitions at Yuz Museum are organized in partnership with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Qatar Museums.

ShanghART Gallery announce the opening of the special project “10 Years – ShanghART West Bund 2015-2024” on 1 June at ShanghART West Bund Bldg 8. Space. The project features more than 60 works by 53 artists, spanning the mediums of painting, photography, sculpture, installation, and video, which are selected from each of the exhibitions and projects that have taken place in ShanghART West Bund space over the past decade since its opening in 2015, as “physical evidence” to “witness” the history of the space. Moreover, the project encompasses a chronology of nearly 100 major exhibitions held at the West Bund space and elsewhere around the globe in which ShanghART artists have participated over the past decade. It also includes more than 40 volumes of related publications and representative visual materials.

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In the era of the anthropocene, change stands as the sole constant. There is an undeniably human aspect to our desire for stability in our surroundings.When faced with external forces threatening to disrupt the status quo, we are driven to question and yearn for a return to familiar realities.

Shifting Sands Still, delves into the diverse approaches artists employ to navigate environmental changes. From preserving fleeting spaces to constructing new ones, they navigate the delicate balance between nature and urbanisation. Yet, amidst this group of artists, there is a shared longing for betterment.

The experience of ‘新村’ (New Villages), characterised by the modernization process involving the demolition and displacement of low-income neighbourhoods, has been a significant influence on the work of many artists. Birdhead captures the vanishing aspects of their childhood town through spontaneous, impulsive snapshots, while Liu Weijian and Chen Wei chase scenes from an abandoned city relegated to memories, through paint and elaborately staged photographs. Wang Youshen finds himself ensnared in a tragic cycle of eviction due to gentrification, his fragmentary documentation reflecting the short-lived nature of his tenancies. These artists underscore the significance of memory in shaping a space’s identity and the erasure that accompanies urbanisation. Robert Zhao offers a reprieve from anthropocentrism by highlighting the non-human casualties of urbanisation. A discarded garbage bin amidst a jungle transforms into the core of a burgeoning ecosystem, serving as a vital water source for its new inhabitants. Contrasted against this is a colony of displaced bats in a foreign land, their original habitat disrupted by deforestation. The human drive to mould the world to fit our desires emerges as both a destructive force and a minor obstacle that nature will inevitably overcome. Xu Zhen explores the concept of space-making on a more abstract level. He challenges the notion of spirituality as an inherent quality anchored to physical location, by asserting our ability to consecrate mass-produced spaces. If the loss of spatial identity is inevitable, could these unconventional paths offer salvation?

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In response to the overarching project My boss told me to not do exhibitions, this exhibition centers around a principle that recalls of the nature of the project: inertia – albeit with a little wordplay.

The meaning of the term covers both a state of immobility and that of a superior force acting on the stagnation or mobility of a body. Transaction of Hollows, a performance by Melati Suryodarmo, embodies, among other things, the ins and outs of this term. A motionless arrow is suddenly propelled by the force of the artist towards a white wall, as are, to a certain extent, the works of art hanging on the picture rails. This is a new exhibition entitled ‘Inartia’, featuring works by Chen Xiaoyun, Chen Wei, Liang Shaoji, Melati Suryodarmo, Tang Maohong, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and Xu Zhen®.

Sometimes they are objects that have ceased to function under the effect of time or force, like the lamppost photographed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul or the camera with its broken focus staged by Xu Zhen®; sometimes they are elements – captured by Chen Wei – which, by force of circumstance, have been transformed into something else, such as candles that have become wax again, boots onto which marine elements have been grafted – as if they had remained motionless in a marsh for too long, or metal chains covered in silk. Interpretation is free, but in the last work, by Liang Shaoji, can we not see the work of silkworms on man’s industrial past and/or present?

This inertia is also that of detachment, of the separation of body and soul, which by the force of things acts. Should we see Tang Maohong’s pastel as a brain at rest? Or a brain in care? Reincarnated? Whatever the case, reflexive wandering can also be that of discovery, off the beaten track: Melati Suryodarmo’s nocturnal escapades, where the sleepwalker has only to follow the red line, and chance finds – the work of Serendipity. All in an elusive state that resonates with Chen Xiaoyun’s photograph Simple Peace without Explanation.

Curated by Zélie Chabert and put together with the help of Tian Lim and Joshua Kon.
This is the second exhibition under My boss told me to not do exhibitions.

In 2015, as part of the “Light Source” series, Xu Zhen reinterpreted the work of the artist Cornelis de Baellieur(1607-1671) titled “Intérieur d’une galerie de tableaux et d’objets d’art.” Every detail of the scene was preserved, with exotic objects displayed in a lavish interior space-shells, sculptures,and ornaments, while the walls were adorned with painting of still life,mythological and portraits. This artist followed the tradition of “art cabinet” genre established by Jan Brueghel the Elder and others in the Flemish region, making choices in the painting style.”Intérieur d’une galerie de tableaux et d’objets d’art.” seems to carry the legacy of the late Pieter Bruegel the Elder- in order to make the objects in the painting appear lively, there is a degree of deformation in the painted content, implying ahierarchy.However, fromthe result of the painting, it is evident that this artistic transformation does not stem from meticulous observation of reality, the artist’s goal is merely to complete a task. Comparatively, Xu Zhen’s reinterpretation is more vibrant, he overall lowers the brightness of the painting, making the peculiar
light source at the lower center of the composition stand out glaringly.

Xu Zhen froze the scene at the moment when a camera flash encroaches upon the painting. Using flash when taking photos is often considered damaging to oil paintings and is strictly prohibited in many occasions. The light invades from outside the artwork, yet seems as if it is reflected from within,reaching the audience. Nevertheless, the audience, or the general public who have entered the age of image with their smartphones or cameras, have forged a new relationship with art. Classical art offered “aura” ‘evoking palpitations and dizziness in the audience of its time. Nowdays, audience yearn for this kind ofdizziness, nurturing fantasies, while the traditional “aura of spirituality” gradually fades away, leaving behind records of visual experiences with physical light. How do we distinguish which of them still carry the remnants of the “aura,” and whether the “aura” is necessary in the context of contemporary Chinese art, serves as the starting point for the exhibition “You Spin Me Round like a Record.’

2023 marks Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art the 20th anniversary. Being the first public contemporary art museum founded by government in Mainland of China,Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art was also an important participant and promoter of con- temporary art in China in its infancy, and has thereafter experienced a major wave of de- velopment in the entire museum industry . In this overall background, we find the key word iteration that can sum up this changing times and the history of the museum itself. lteration not only emphasizes a Chinese phrase in its original sense of change and repeti- tion which means four seasons change, but also as a computer term for constant change.

The Noto Peninsula juts out into the Sea of Japan from central Honshu. Suzu is positioned at its very tip, surrounded by the sea on three sides. Suzu has a history as a “leading edge” location once open to the Sea of Japan, and features a rich culture including festivals and food. If you alter your perspective, even inconvenient remote land can become a “leading edge” location that opens up the future. This idea is the starting point. The Oku-Noto Triennale has attracted support from artists in Japan and abroad, who visit and express works rooted in this land of Suzu. This fall, the third Oku-Noto Triennale will begin. Contemporary art created through collaboration by artists, citizens and supporters will reverberate with the natural features of Oku-Noto, creating an experience of time and space that will stimulate the five senses.

BY ART MATTERS is proud to announce the fifth season exhibition Motion Is Action – 35 Years of Chinese Media Art, which will take place from September 22, 2023, to February 25, 2024. This groundbreaking exhibition marks the first retrospective presentation of Chinese contemporary art history from a Chinese perspective. By examining the development and transformations in Chinese media art, the exhibition aims to explore the significant role of media expansion in the evolution of contemporary art, brought about by the information age. Through this exploration, the exhibition examines a series of thought-provoking issues, including scene reconstruction, the manipulation of time and space, perceptual misalignment, the creation of new artistic languages, and reflections on social and cultural contexts.

This exhibition brings together 79 representative works by 72 artists and groups from different generations. The works encompass a variety of media, including video, installations, performance art, interactive pieces, games, and digital art. The exhibition not only reflects on the early practices of video art but also delves into the cutting-edge exploration of emerging media and art forms such as artificial intelligence and space art.

The artworks are connected in chronological order and revolve around the thematic keyword of “motion.” The exhibition is divided into three chapters: Motion as Action, Motion as Interaction, and Motion as Agency. Through the progression of these chapters, the audience can embark on a time-travel-like experience, tracing the artists’ evolving understanding of different issues and exploring the transformation of artistic creations in terms of media, forms of expression, and concepts. Additionally, visitors can gain a profound appreciation of the depth and breadth of the Chinese art world.

Beiqiu Museum of Contemporary Art is pleased to announce the inaugural exhibition of the Art and Geography Series, Someone Has Been Disarranging These Roses, co-curated by architect Naitian Yang and curator Lin Liu. This exhibition will open on September 8, 2023 and run through December 10,2023.

Someone Has Been Disarranging These Roses delves into the historical and present context of BMCA’s site – Beijige Mountain,and investigates the pivotal role it has played in the evolution of meteorological science in China. Departing from the spectral atmosphere of the museum’s locus, the exhibition brings together about 20 artists,architects,and researchers from 6 countries to create a constellation of artworks engaging with this historical lineage and offering different perspectives towards the omnipresent reality of climate crisis.Beijige serves as a point of convergence for the history and reality of Nanjing and China. It weaves together various elements, including ancient myths/Daoist traditions, solar terms/agricultural activities, modernmete- orological science/intellectual individuals inChina’s modernizationprocess(suchas Zhu Kezhen, the founder of the Central Meteorological Observatory in Beijige), as well as civil defense projects/consumer spa- ces, collectively producing a complex, ambiguous,and romantic environment. The museum’s existing spaces further consolidate this essence, blending together mountain terrain, air raid shelters,and the “white cube” gallery environment. The exhibition seeks to portray this compressed moment through image and sound, and to extract the dynamic imagery of wind, rain, cloud, etc. It evolves from the perception of such phenomenon to the intangible existence of data clouds, and ultimately to the cultural and political weather and climate at large.

Architect Naitian Yang’s choreography of the exhibition space creates an experience that negotiates with the existing concrete structure and resonates with the oscillating cadence of weather itself. In a time when weather and climate issues have transcended theoretical discourse and become an urgent reality, the exhibition endeav- ors to integrate people and weather into the same fluid,precarious,and crucial state. The artworks within the exhibition allude to what might conventionally be termed “bad weather”, yet the binary idea of “good / bad” is no longer applicable to our judgments of weather. Beyond a human-centered perspective, the synthesis of chaos emerges as the norm of weather, where “good” and “bad” coalesce. It pervades every aspect of ex- istence, whether living or not.

MadeIn Gallery is pleased to present the group exhibition “What Kind of Us Does Painting Need” on Sep 2, 2023. Curated by Xu Zhen, the exhibition invites thirteen artists from around the world to present their highly experimental and revealing paintings. Together the works on view investigate how painting might refresh and regenerate its power as a medium while being confronted with the dual challenges of algorithm and post-conceptualism. They galvanize us into thinking how we could remold ourselves and our experiences so that we can sustainably imagine, create, and view the new paintings.

“Finally, we have come to a time when the number of painters reaches its zenith on Earth.”

Someone opened ChatGPT, and a new so-called painter was born. Is this the mediocre fate of the new painting in the age of algorithms? Today’s painting is so compatible and adaptable that it loses its weight. Do we have any reason to approach a painting other than the fact that we have to look at it? Is painting still a portal in the city to an unknown universe? Why is it necessary to have so many paintings on our screens? How does the contingency of our eyes and hands duel in the picture with the inevitability of artificial intelligence? Can this many paintings justify our world? Does painting exist to drift on social media?

We are hereby honored to invite these artists to reveal their painting practice. They attempt to refresh painting and endow it with the renewed power of a medium that captivates the viewer as firmly as smartphones and constantly updated apps. After the artists bring out the painterliness of the object with their painting, the latter acts as a reminder that painting begins when we swipe our fingers over the image on the screen. It is only when we transcend our excitement over new technologies that we can truly begin to paint. In choosing to paint these objects, the artists are also manifesting their attitudes and intervening in our inertia. We can but seek fresh experiences to match these paintings.

Rather than asking what kind of painting is needed, we need to ask what kind of us such painting needs.

From July 1st to September 3rd, 2023, Le Voyage à Nantes will exhibit “European Thousand-Arms Classical Sculpture” from Xu Zhen®. Le Voyage à Nantes is a local, publicly-owned corporation it has chosen for its development as a tourist destination. From2011，Each year, the summer Voyage à Nantes enriches the permanent collection through temporary or permanent installations of contemporary artworks in the public space，with a completely new way to discover the city.This year chosed sculpture as the theme, a total of about 20 large-scale sculptures were exhibited, distributed in the squares, castles, streets and other places of the city .

The 14-metre (46 ft.) long and 5-metre (16 ft.) tall work, European Thousand-Arms ClassicalSculpture, transforms 19 archetypal Western figurative sculptures into one dancingbodhisattva.Eproduced and arranged in rows to represent the undulating, dancing arms of the thousand-armed Guanyin, they challenge the traditional idea of cultural separation, suggesting that all of humanity is part of a single, absurd celebration.

https://www.levoyageanantes.fr/en/events/the-summer-journey/

Selected from a recent major gift of works to the Hammer Contemporary Collection by the Haudenschild family, this exhibition focuses on pioneering Chinese photography and video from the 1990s and early 2000s. Cruel Youth Diary looks at a generation of artists whose work responded to a period of tremendous social, political, and economic change in mainland China. Through strategies of Conceptual art, performance, and installation, these artists reflected on and critiqued the visual culture of a burgeoning new China on the cusp of the 21st century.

Featuring works by Cao Fei, Chen Shaoxiong, Feng Mengbo, Hong Hao, Kan Xuan, Liu Wei, Shi Yong, Song Tao, Weng Fen (also known as Weng Peijun), Xiang Liqing, Xu Zhen, Yang Fudong, Yang Yong, Yang Zhenzhong, Zhao Bandi, and Zhu Jia.

Cruel Youth Diary: Chinese Photography and Video from the Haudenschild Collection is organized by Nicholas Barlow, curatorial assistant, with Aram Moshayedi, Robert Soros Senior Curator.

The 3rd China Xinjiang International Art Biennale kicks off on Tuesday, and this year’s exhibition theme is “Harmonious Symbiosis.”

The exhibition is divided into the main exhibition area and a special exhibition section. The main exhibition area has three sections, titled “Civilization and Integration,” “Symbiosis and Dialogue,” and “Homeland Narrative and Ecological Wisdom,” involving 116 works by 77 artists from 12 countries, including China, Argentina, Italy, Belgium and Germany.

The special exhibitions are “Sketched Xinjiang,” a study of Xinjiang-themed works since the 20th century, and “Between Heaven and Earth,” the tradition and representation of contemporary Chinese ink painting. There are 143 artists from 11 countries, including China, and 260 works in the special exhibition.

The “Civilization and Integration” section of the main exhibition involves both natural and urban environments, as well as the human spirit, the expression of collective human memory, emotion and desire. The “Symbiosis and Dialogue” segment presents the reflection and expression of cultural, human and spiritual characteristics. Meanwhile, the ecology and homeland section focuses on the relationship between humans and nature.

This Biennale is hosted by China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the People’s Government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It has become an important platform for cultural exchange on the ancient Silk Road.

This exhibition is the first chapter of the debut of Start Museum, according to the team’s plan. The entire debut consists of 4 consecutive exhibitions, or the 4 seasons of “START”, each of them will last for 5 months in the upcoming 2 years. For the sake of diversity and complexity of art, each season will be demonstrated with different undertones and perspectives.

“Signal” is a contemporary art project initiated by artist XU ZHEN in 2022. XU ZHEN gives as a gift one of his “Passion” paintings to the global audience, and each recipient is invited to display the painting they receive on their social media accounts. A long-term, unceasing “art exhibition” will thus take place on Internet media platforms. The project aims to send the signal of art to people around the world and share with them the future of art.

Art field Nanhai Guangdong, a top-level international cultural festival, will open in Nanhai, Foshan on November 18. About 70 art projects from 15 countries and regions will be invited to participate in this festival, including China, Russia, France, Israel, Japan, Spain, the United States, Australia, India and Cameroon. The main venue is located in Xiqiao Town, Nanhai, Foshan, covering an area of 176 square kilometers. At the same time, there are 8 art sub-venues in Xiqiao Mountain, Tingyin Lake, Pingsha Island, Taiping Hui, Songtang Village, Ruxi Village, and Huanggang Village.

A true-to-life reproduction of the typical convenience store in China, XUZHEN Supermarket displays a dazzling array of daily consumer goods for sale at regular prices. On a closer look, however, one finds all the commodities bereft of substance. The anomaly of inviting viewers to purchase empty containers reveals the exchange-value crisis of global capitalism. Under the aesthetic disguise of product packaging, the emptiness of commodities points to the displacement of exchange and use values under the commercial hegemony. 

In his supermarket, Xu Zhen® constructs a space that parodies the rampant global consumerism. He simultaneously creates the simulacrum of commodities and of artworks alike, thus arriving at a simulacrum of contemporary life. As Baudrillard sees it, it is not an object but a sign, a concept that is consumed in capitalism, whereas simulacrums, without having any signified, become the only reality in a postmodern society. In this sense, once it enters the capitalist system, art turns into a sign or concept that is being consumed, a form of design or packaging; it has nothing to do with the artwork itself. This explains why the artist removes the goods while retaining only their packaging.

This exhibition focuses on artificial intelligence, 3D modeling software, social platforms, games, and other technologies that participate in social governance or rewrite aesthetic standards as human partners. Artists speculate on the potential mode of communication between humans, machines, and digital species and explore the possibility in the form of an exhibition. 

Integrating technology and art provides new thinking for developing the cultural and art industry in the new era. 

The exhibition also discusses two themes. One is to examine how humans handle the labor relationship between humans and machines when technological algorithms and artificial intelligence are particularly advanced. The other direction is how algorithms, 3D modeling software, and social platforms can generate subjective or alternative electronic species. The audience will see the ten artists’ images, paintings, and installation works and their imagination of the future world.

Bangkok, 8 June 2022 – The Bangkok Art Biennale Foundation is pleased to announce twenty-three new artists and four more venues for the third edition of the Bangkok Art Biennale (BAB) taking place from 22 October 2022 to 23 February 2023. This second announcement expands the Biennale’s line-up to 43 leading regional and international artists and 11 venues across the city’s cultural and heritage sites.

This edition’s theme CHAOS : CALM invites artists to contemplate the tumultuous conditions of the world around us as communities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, and grapple with urgent climate crises and socio-political uncertainties around the globe. By exploring the binary opposites of chaos and calm, the Biennale aims to reflect on the confusing world we live in and offer glimpses of hope through art; celebrating a diversity of identities, cultures, and histories, and mapping a shared vision for our new post-pandemic world.

https://www.bkkartbiennale.com/

XU ZHEN^®  “SIGNAL” In conjunction with ShanghART Singapore 10th Anniversary Exhibition

Following the inaugural chapter of XU ZHEN®’s international contemporary art project “SIGNAL” at Art Jakarta in August, the gallery will be launching the Singapore chapter on the occasion of ShanghART Singapore’s 10th Anniversary Exhibition “Entrance”.

“SIGNAL” draws from a larger body of work, “Passion” which XU ZHEN® has been working on since 2021. The series consists of oil paintings on canvas derived from mobile devices screenshots of various social media platforms. The free-writing expressive brushstrokes and impasto work are a result of the artist’s attempts to capture the energy of online social media interactions. It is also the first time that the artist will be personally painting such a large number of works in a series, making it an exceptionally distinctive creation in his career.

An extension of this series of paintings, the pieces in the “SIGNAL” project are sized similar to handheld mobile devices. The artist will be gifting them to the global audience, creating more paintings as the project develops, while inviting each recipient to share the painting they receive on their social media accounts, resulting in a long-term, ongoing virtual art exhibition of these pieces on the Internet. This unprecedented way of disseminating art is a continuation of XU ZHEN®’s provocative approach, inviting the audience to ponder the future of art.

Accompanying the project’s “online exhibition”, the Singapore chapter will also consist of a physical presentation of four large canvases of the same series displayed in the gallery. The larger-than-life renditions of “Passion” in the gallery will be an immersive display of XU ZHEN®️’s “passion” as manifested on the canvases, allowing visitors to encounter the artist’s personal perceptions and experiences. Titling each painting after their physical weight, the artist explores an alternative way to quantify our online experiences. Instead of bytes and bits, the “Passion” series of paintings will become a new representation of the Internet and social media activity.

The exhibition took author Wang Anyi’s lecture as a point of departure.
Wang Anyi spoke about the three tools in Ah Cheng’s novels at the online lecture “The History of Civilization in Contemporary Chinese Fiction – on Ah Cheng’s Three Kings” this May. The three tools in Ah Cheng’s novels – namely, The King of Trees, The King of Children an