Curator: Huang Du
Microscope: The Inner Mindscape of 5 Contemporary Chinese Artists - features works of Contemporary Chinese artists of different ages and experiences: Gao Weigang, Ren Zhitian, Li Yiwen, Lin Ke and Hu Weiyi, each displaying their individual aesthetic and philosophy through different mediums of work.
The title of this exhibition “Microscope” was chosen as a way to reflect the microcosmic developments of the Chinese Contemporary art scene. In the past decade, the growing diversity of Chinese Contemporary art has been largely influenced by changes in China’s society, where artists have turned away from conforming to societal ideals and collective expressions. As a result, Chinese Contemporary art sanctioned a new kind of individualistic expression; depicting personal experiences from daily life. This new artistic language can be found in different art genres including painting, sculpture, installation, moving images and mixed media artworks.
Artist Gao Weigang’ work Up No. 2, a conceptual sculpture/installation, is three-dimensional when seen from afar and two-dimensional when seen up close. Gao’s intention is to show that precise lines can sometimes steer us to wrong judgements.... misleading us to a journey of unfulfilled dreams. Reality can be an illusion harbouring uncertain pathways, leading oneself to unchartered territories.
Artist Ren Zhitian uses fuel ash residue collected from car exhaust pipes as ink. Ren creates 4 works that showcase a new form of Chinese calligraphy; a kinaesthetic and dynamic series of patterned works on silk, they are a reflection of his concerns for current ecological issues. This interesting juxtaposition of beauty and waste, elegance and filth, make this a unique series, showing how the artist pushes the boundaries of the revered art form.
Li Yiwen’s Square Matrix and Square Matrix 2 and Guan, are paintings set in a light grey tone, emphasizing a still environment and the solitary of buildings and empty spaces; a dislocating psychological state. Li Yiwen adopts a post-modern representation in his art, integrating elements such as reality, fiction and dislocation into his painting vocabulary, not only expanding the visual rhetoric of painting, but also constructing a new painting narration.
The work Electronic Music Always Makes People Dancing of Lin Ke is a new media work consisting of a ‘movement of images’ captured from the internet and his computer operation system. In this piece, Lin Ke aimed to explore new visual aesthetics through his daily work on his computer, where the artist himself acts as an interpreter of the virtual world and of reality.
Hu Weiyi’s work Pulp Landscape II is an extended series of Hu’s earlier work Pulp Landscape I and the concept of live cinema. It is a miniature interactive film installation, set in a suitcase, where the audience can control the movements of the cameras and the montage. The suitcase is a mobile cinema, that intends for its audience to control and direct its projections.
This exhibition is a small showcase of the current developments of the Chinese contemporary art scene, where the contemporary artworks reflect the new values of the changing society in China.
Artists: Wen Wu, Ren Zhitan, Li Yiwen, Lin Ke and Hu Weiyi
