Offsite：MadeIn Company

Vancouver, BC – For the seventh installation at Vancouver Art Gallery Offsite, contemporary Chinese art collective MadeIn Company is presenting Calm, a work which prompts passers-by to reconsider their perceptions. At first glance, Calm appears to be a large mound of debris from a demolition or recent disaster. Upon closer inspection, the pile of rubble slowly undulates, like a mirage. In a state of constant flux, this site-specific sculpture evokes the endlessly changing cityscape that has become typical of many urban centres of the world, whether in present day China or Vancouver. Calm’s ambiguity, along with the work’s unexpected movement, questions ways of observing, believing and understanding, and reminds us that truth often differs from what it seems.

MadeIn Company is an artist collective established by Chinese artist and provocateur Xu Zhen in 2009. The Shanghai-based group satirically portrays itself as a contemporary art corporation focused on the production of creativity, with up to thirty artists working on any given project. MadeIn Company also curates exhibitions and supports art projects, including the Chinese contemporary art online forum called Art Ba-Ba. In a short time the group has participated in both national and international exhibitions at such institutions as S.M.A.K. Gent, IKON Gallery Birmingham, Kunsthalle Bern, Hayward Gallery London, Rijskakademie Amsterdam and have also participated in the 8th Shanghai Biennale, 7th Busan Biennale and 1st Kiev Biennale. Members of MadeIn Company are currently working in both Shanghai and Beijing, China.

Offsite, the Gallery’s outdoor exhibition space in downtown Vancouver, located on West Georgia Street near Thurlow and Bute streets, is dedicated to newly commissioned public art projects. Since the launch of Offsite in 2009, artists have responded in dynamic ways to the specific nature of the site. Past Offsite exhibitions include: O Zhang’s photographic portraits of young Chinese girls as the next generation of empowered citizens (Horizon (Sky), 2009), Ken Lum’s sculptural reminder of contested local histories (from shangri–la to shangri–la, 2010), an installation by British artists Heather and Ivan Morison (Plaza, 2010), Elspeth Pratt’s spatial transformation of the site (Second Date, 2011), Kota Ezawa’s representation of democracy (Hand Vote, 2012) and most recently Damian Moppett’s transformation of the artist’s studio into a sculptural artwork (Artist’s Studio as Sculpture, 2012).

Offsite is funded by the City of Vancouver through the Public Art Program. The Gallery recognizes Ian Gillespie, President, Westbank, Ben Yeung, President, Peterson Investment Group, and the residents at Shangri-La for their support of this space. This project is generously supported by our Visionary Partner: Michael O’Brian Family Foundation. Offsite: MadeIn Company is organized by the Vancouver Art Gallery and curated by Diana Freundl, assistant curator.