[press release]
New Museum and K11 Art Foundation Announce a New Partnership to Establish Residency for an Emerging Chinese Artist
Artist Cheng Ran Selected for Three-Month Residency and Solo Exhibition, Opening at New Museum October 2016
New York, NY: The New Museum and the K11 Art Foundation (KAF) today announced a new partnership to support a residency and exhibition program for young Chinese artists. One of the most dynamic art institutions at work in Greater China today, KAF has, since 2010, supported a series of artist residencies in China and initiated major new productions by emerging Chinese artists internationally. KAF and the New Museum share a common mission to empower and incubate the talent of artists by facilitating the production of new works and providing opportunities for presentation locally and globally.
After reviewing more than fifty portfolios and interviewing more than fifteen artists, the New Museum and KAF have selected Hangzhou-based artist Cheng Ran for a three-month residency in New York City, which will culminate in an exhibition in the New Museum’s Lobby Gallery. Cheng Ran will be working in residence at the Museum’s adjacent 231 Bowery studio space from August to October 2016, with his exhibition opening to the public on October 19. Though his work has been exhibited internationally, the New Museum show will be the artist’s first US solo exhibition and the result of his first visit to the United States.
程然 / Cheng Ran
Cheng Ran is one of the most promising younger Chinese artists working today. Born in Inner Mongolia in 1981, Cheng Ran studied at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou and started working with renowned Chinese filmmaker Yang Fudong in 2004. Since 2005 Cheng Ran has been producing film and video works for which he draws widely from Western and Chinese literature, poetry, cinema, and visual culture, creating new fictive narratives based on myths and historical events. His most recent film In Course Of The Miraculous (2015) is an epic nine-hour work about three real-life stories of journeys that involved mysterious disappearances—from the British mountaineer George Mallory who went missing on his way to the top of Mount Everest in 1924, to artist Bas Jan Ader who vanished during his 1975 journey across the Atlantic, to the Chinese trawler Lu Rong Yu 2682 that returned to land with only one third of its crew in 2011. The work was produced by the K11 Art Foundation and premiered at the 14th Istanbul Biennial last year.
We are thrilled to be collaborating with the K11 Art Foundation,” said Massimiliano Gioni, Edlis Neeson Artistic Director at the New Museum. “Its founder and honorary chairman, Adrian Cheng, has grown this organization, in less than six years, into one of the most transformative arts institutions in China with profound global significance. The impact KAF has on individual artists—and on an entire generation of art lovers—is remarkable.”
郑志刚 / Adrian Cheng
The K11 Art Foundation (KAF) and the New Museum are united by their goal of presenting exceptional contemporary art and we are proud to be partnering for this initiative. KAF has collaborated with Cheng Ran on a number of occasions, and this residency is an opportunity to further develop awareness of his practice. Through this residency and exhibition, Cheng Ran’s innovative work will be experienced and enjoyed by new audiences. We are delighted to embark on this collaboration as part of our wider mission of incubating remarkable Chinese artists and bringing their work to the international stage,” said Adrian Cheng, Founder and Honorary Chairman of the K11 Art Foundation.
“This new partnership expands the New Museum’s commitment to supporting the best emerging art from around the world and our network of international collaborators,” said Lisa Phillips, Toby Devan Lewis Director of the New Museum.
About Cheng Ran
Cheng Ran (b. 1981, Inner Mongolia, China) lives and works in Hangzhou, China. His work has been featured in numerous biennials and group exhibitions, including “SALTWATER: a Theory of Thought Forms,” the 14th Istanbul Biennial, (2015); “When I Give, I Give Myself,” the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, (2015); “Inside China,” Palais de Tokyo, Paris, (2014); the 8th Shenzhen Sculpture Biennial, China (2014); “ON|OFF: China’s Young Artists in Concept and Practice,” Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2013); the 26th European Media Art Festival, Osnabrüeck, Germany (2013); and “Video Art in China –MADATAC,” Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (2011). Cheng Ran’s recent solo exhibitions were presented at: Unlimited, Basel, Switzerland (2016); the K11 Art Foundation, Hong Kong (2016); Qiao Space, Shanghai (2016), YUAN Space, Beijing (2015), Discoveries, Art Basel Hong Kong (2014), and Leo Xu Projects, Shanghai (2014). Cheng Ran was nominated for the first edition of OCAT & Pierre Huber Art Prize in 2014 and the Absolut Art Award in 2013, and was named the “Best Video Artist” by the art magazine Randian in 2011.
About K11 Art Foundation
Founded by Adrian Cheng in 2010, the K11 Art Foundation (KAF) is a registered not-for-profit organization that supports the development of Chinese contemporary art from Greater China by providing a creative platform that nurtures artistic talents and brings them to the international stage. The Foundation also serves as an incubator for young Chinese curators. KAF has embarked on many international collaborations, including with Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí in Girona, Spain; Serpentine Galleries, and the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London, Centre Georges Pompidou, Palais de Tokyo, and Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris; and the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Armory Show in New York; showcasing Chinese talents and the voice of the younger generation. With eleven studios for its artist-in-residence programs in the K11 art village in Wuhan, China, KAF serves as the unique incubating springboard for young and emerging contemporary Chinese artists to create new and meaningful works. Beyond traditional art spaces, K11 art village serves as innovative exchange platforms between local and international artists. Through research, initiatives, and partnerships, KAF offers the Chinese public a diverse range of programs and exhibitions fostering the appreciation of arts and culture. For more information visit k11artfoundation.org.
About New Museum
The New Museum is the only museum in New York City exclusively devoted to contemporary art. Founded in 1977, the New Museum is a center for exhibitions, information, and documentation about living artists from around the world. From its beginnings as a one-room office on Hudson Street to the inauguration of its first freestanding building on the Bowery designed by SANAA in 2007, the New Museum continues to be a place of experimentation and a hub of new art and new ideas. For more information, visit newmuseum.org.
