Shanghai¡®Neo-Perception¡¯China¡¯s New Generation of Women Artists
Liu Qianyi b. 1987, Touch of Life 5, 2015, Photograph, 225
Exhibition Dates31 August–15 November, 2015Monday–Sunday, 10:30am–7pm
Pearl Lam Galleries, 181 Middle Jiangxi Road, G/F, Shanghai, China 200002
Shanghai—Pearl Lam Galleries is pleased to present Neo-Perception, a group exhibition that gathers the works of 24 young female Chinese contemporary artists. The exhibition, curated by Dr. Wang Chunchen, will show a prime selection of works from the artists¡¯ oeuvres.
Participating artists are Gao Shan, Gao Sihua, Geng Xue, He Xiaochun, Ju Ting, Li Na, Li Zi, Lin Ran, Lin Xin, Liu Qianyi, Liu Ren, Liu Yujie, Luo Wei, Mi Yuming, Pei Li, Wu Chao, Wu Mengshi, Wu Silin, Yu Feifei, Zhang Yaning, Zheng Qi, Zhou Hongbin, Zhou Qiaoyun, and Zhou Qingshan.
If ¡°an artist is not a man who describes, but a man who feels¡±, as claimed by the poet andpainter E.E. Cummings, then it can be understood that the intricacies unique to female identityand perception give rise to an immense field of art deserving of the utmost earnest attention.Neo-Perception embraces and confronts the imagery and language unique to art that reflectsthe diversity in women¡¯s experiences and approaches to their identity, apart from exploringother themes on humanity. Art at any time period sees artists seeking their own voice as afundamental pursuit; as a contemporary art exhibition, we witness the range of mediums thatallow artists to express a variety of themes, including identity, sexuality, gender, mortality,relationships, and social dynamics.Wu Chao¡¯s Audio-Video Project to Awaken Patients in Vegetative State—Energy is a brilliantdemonstration of art¡¯s cooperation with psychology, medicine, and Buddhism, and theprofound spiritual experience it ignites in humans. The work, which uses colourful visuals andstimulating sounds to illuminate and thereby awaken the unconscious layers of the patient¡¯smind, has proven its effectiveness as a medical treatment in 2015 when the first patient wasawoken from her vegetative state.In contemporary art today, the medium is more than a channel of expression; it is also in itselfa vital part of the work. A clever example of this is the video work by Geng Xue, whosepreference for porcelain traces back to her passion for Chinese traditional arts. In Mr. Sea , herretelling of Strange Tales of Liaozhai, Geng crafts a new language based on the traditionalmedium of porcelain by using animated film to bring the material to life, not only throughmotion but also by interactions that bring out the force of life inherent in the art form. Anotherartist who places extensive focus on the medium of her artwork is Gao Shan, whose SphericalForms in Space mixes silica with sponges to form an imposing, bewildering visual thatsuggests human body parts. Her work relates to an imagined world of strange new organisms,remarking on human nature¡¯s tendency to control and systemise. In highly conceptual worksWindy Space and Grass Growing No. 3 , artist Lin Xin reveals the interdependent relationshipbetween electronics and humankind by presenting a fragmented yet polished, almostmystical, perfection of the virtual sphere. The series reflects Lin¡¯s focus on recapturing the¡®bug¡¯ state in electronic virtual technology, an error in software programming. The use ofmulti-disciplinary platforms to construct an alternative reality is also taken advantage of byLuo Wei, whose Crystal Planet project portrays a virtual world that unites every being to shareand inspire one another.Zhou Qinshan takes the subject of human nature even further. Her sculpture Master¡¯s Chair isa discourse on person-to-person dynamics, particularly through the relationship between thechair and the viewer. Zhou introduces the state of conflict created in the distance between theviewer and the empty chair, which in its function is an invitation to be sat on. However, its formmakes it impossible for the viewer to do so. Zhou¡¯s discourse goes beyond the relationshipbetween the viewer and the subject, extending to humankind¡¯s innate essence and judgmentof actions.Yu Feifei is an artist who engages in philosophical and anthropological topics withsophistication. Refinement of Folly (Self-Portrait) and wax sculpture Randy Randy dwell onconfusions of identity arising from mankind¡¯s quest for wisdom, while her other worksshowcased in this exhibition take on female sexuality. Yu¡¯s Man with Strokes was born out ofthe artist¡¯s interest in conveying femininity in a ubiquitously masculine torso. Mi Yumingsatirises the human gaze that society has conditioned people to cast upon the female bodywith her series In the Corner, while Lin Ran¡¯s Lesbos Island centres on the intimacy of lesbianrelationships, surveying the role of sexuality in a woman¡¯s identity. Wu Silin boldly confrontsgender constructs in her installation Lin¡¯s World, set in a fictional world revolving around acharacter, Suck, and Wu herself, as they turn the tables on patriarchy and male dominance inthe domestic, political, and sexual realms.Zhou Hongbin¡¯s multimedia techniques give her Aquarium series a mystical, poetic quality inits portrayal of pregnancy. Beyond the profound experience and state of pregnancy, otherfacets of womanhood in a woman¡¯s life cycle are highlighted in Liu Ren¡¯s A Tribute to All theLost Ova which reflects the anxieties and pressures a woman faces as she grows and ages instunning structures composed of menstrual blood.Other artists who bring fresh approaches to traditional mediums, particularly that of painting,include Gao Sihua and Ju Ting. Gao Sihua¡¯s Red Bridge After the Rain features acrylicpaintings of familiar landscapes common in ancient Chinese paintings and scrolls. While theuse of outlines to create a visual impact is a fresh, unique approach by Gao, the paintings¡¯contents and use of colours and space remind one of traditional Chinese landscape paintings.Ju Ting, with her background in print-making, felt compelled to expose the layers of coloursformed in layering one acrylic colour over another by artfully slicing through the thickness witha knife. The resulting abstract work is visual evidence of her tendency towards engravingcombined with her creative eye for colours.In her ink on paper series 36.9 Degrees Zhou Qiaoyun reflects at the same time herunderstanding and her disillusionment and collision with reality that come with being middleaged.Li Na¡¯s somber paint series Wanderer features chameleons as metaphors for humans ina society acting for their own survival. She details the chameleon¡¯s adaptability and quietalertness, which are characteristics she sees as similar to humans. He Xiaochun pays tributeto her father by painting symbols of wisdom and uprightness in Fang, using the Chinesecharacter for ¡®square¡¯ as a base, while Liu Yujie illustrates the divide between form and realityin her work Waterfall that is reminiscent of Marcel Duchamp¡¯s The Green Box. Zheng Qi¡¯sExplosion is the artist¡¯s outcry at the noise and chaos that we generate to make up for the lackof understanding between people.Lily Yu¡¯s work Torso is a nightmarish, surreal painting that evokes a certain mystery anddepth, prompting the viewer to imagine and contemplate themes such as the nature ofhumankind and mortality. In Death¡¯s Head Moth, Pei Li also dwells on the mortality andvulnerability of relationships with her depiction of a moth, the ubiquitous symbol of death,constructed with 18k gold, gemstones, and skin shed from her own tattoo recovery.The generation born in the 1980s saw a great deal of change in ideologies, culture, and way oflife. This in turn pushed artists to experiment with art that portrayed, or that could help thembetter understand, the conflicts that arose within themselves. Among them is multidisciplinaryartist Liu Qianyi. Her piece Revolution is part of a comic series, whereby sheexplicates her sentiments of liberty and fate. A sensitivity and awareness of the physical bodyresonates in Liu¡¯s work in the photographic series Touch of Life. By picturing the uniquesensibilities of maternity next to the imagery of plastic bags, Liu expresses her concerns forfuture generations, as well as her own conflict and unsettlement as a young woman in Tokyo, acity in a state of transition.Also conscious of the sensitivity of the body and how it relates to one¡¯s inner self is WuMengshi, whose sculptural installation Worm captures the textural feeling of skin touching afuzzy sweater. Wu uses her awareness of the physical body, even the subtlest of sensations, tofind and perhaps realise the inarticulate struggles within her, some of which may be cyclic andnever-ending, altogether depicting the conflict between a restlessly consuming society andthe innate desires of the soul.Lastly, Zhang Yaning uses sculptural portrayals of characters to depict the perplexities ofyouth. In Empty Sorrow and What¡¯s Yours is Mine, she deplores the role of relationships indefining a person¡¯s identity.The psychological, philosophical, existential messiness of women¡¯s lives and identities remainsa legitimate and compelling domain of art. Neo-Perception seeks to open a discussion ontoday¡¯s generation of women and how they are reflected in art, without assuming the label of¡®female art¡¯. Rather, the exhibition seeks to unveil a new consciousness and perception of theworld as it is today—without doubt a feat that owes itself to feminism, the movement that hasevidently shaped much of societal values and structure—and, at the same time, transcendgender differences to tap into the human nature we all share. Altogether, Neo-Perceptionstrives for a more in-depth discussion on women and their societal roles.About Wang ChunchenWang Chunchen is the Head of the Department of Curatorial Research of CAFA Art Museum atthe China Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, as well as an Adjunct Curator of The Eli andEdythe Broad Art Museum of Michigan State University, and is known for his contributions tothe arts via his own body of works, publications, and curatorial experiences. His critical essaysare collected in The Democracy of Art and The Political Images. In 2009, he was honuored withthe coveted Chinese Contemporary Art Award, which is echoed by the numerous awards hehas received for his input in art criticism. The result of this award is the writing and publicationof Art Intervenes in Society.Apart from being the curator of the Chinese Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013 andco-curator of Inside China, a Chinese art exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo in 2014, some ofWang¡¯s most notable shows as a curator include Conceptual Renewal: A Brief History ofChinese Contemporary Photography, 2012, Beijing; The First Shenzhen IndependentAnimation Biennale, 2012, Shenzhen; Sub-Phenomena: A Report of the State of Young ChineseArtists, Beijing, 2012; CAFAM Biennale 2011: Super-Organism, Beijing; Infinity, 2009, GalerieIris Schuhmacher, Berlin, Germany; Mixed Maze, 2008, Red Mansion Foundation,London; Supernatural—China¡¯s Photography in the New Century, 2008, ArtGate Gallery, NewYork; and Dynamics of Images, 2008, 798 Photo Gallery, Beijing. Wang Chunchen has alsogreatly influenced Chinese contemporary art criticism by his translations of over ten books ofart history and theory, such as After the End of Art (Arthur C. Danto), The Abuse of Beauty(Arthur C. Danto), Art Since 1940, The Language of Art History, Theory in Contemporary ArtSince 1985, The Phenomenology of Painting, The Interpretation of Art, andPostmodernism, Post-socialism and Beyond, etc.
About Pearl Lam Galleries
Founded by Pearl Lam, Pearl Lam Galleries is a driving force within Asia's contemporary artscene. With over 20 years of experience exhibiting Asian and Western art and design, it is oneof the leading and most established contemporary art galleries to be launched out of China.Playing a vital role in stimulating international dialogue on Chinese and Asian contemporaryart, the Galleries is dedicated to championing artists who re-evaluate and challengeperceptions of cultural practice from the region. The Galleries in Hong Kong, Shanghai, andSingapore collaborate with renowned curators, each presenting distinct programming frommajor solo exhibitions, special projects, and installations to conceptually rigorous groupshows. Based on the philosophy of Chinese Literati where art forms have no hierarchy, PearlLam Galleries is dedicated to breaking down boundaries between different disciplines, with aunique gallery model committed to encouraging cross-cultural exchange.
Contemporary Chinese Abstract art is heavily represented in the Galleries roster. InfluentialChinese artists Zhu Jinshi and Su Xiaobai, who synthesise Chinese sensibilities with aninternational visual language, are presented internationally with work now included in majorprivate and public collections worldwide. The Galleries has also introduced leadinginternational artists such as Jenny Holzer, Jim Lambie, and Yinka Shonibare MBE (RA) tomarkets in the region, providing opportunities for new audiences in Asia to encounter their work.Pearl Lam Galleries encourages international artists to create new work which engages specificallywith the region, collaborating to produce thought-provoking, culturally relevant work.
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