The K11 Art Foundation (KAF) and MoMA PS1 co-present .com/.cn, the first project jointly presented by the two institutions as part of an ongoing research partnership. Co-curated by Klaus Biesenbach and Peter Eleey of MoMA PS1 in New York, com/.cn includes work by Darren Bader, Cao Fei, DIS, Aleksandra Domanovic, Gregory Edwards, Lauren Owens, Li Ming, Liang Wei, Lin Ke, Liu Shiyuan, Miao Ying, Oliver Payne, Sondra Perry, Wang Xin, and Anicka Yi.

.com/.cn showcases artistic practices in China and the West that respond to, or are affected by, our digital ecosystem. Frequently described as a “network” or a “cloud,” this system is often assumed to be universal, unencumbered by territory, language, law, or national culture. However, distinct regional internets have developed under varying forms of state control, each conditioning different social behaviours, economies, and modes of thought. These variations are particularly evident in comparing artistic responses to the available internets of China and the West, and their respective political and economic systems.

Some of the works selected for .com/.cn examine the Chinese digital ecosystem, its permeability to Western content, and the cultural aspirations it both encourages and limits. Others reflect artists’ use of regional platforms for research and communication – for example Google, Facebook, Weibo, and WeChat – and their influence.

Paintings in the exhibition propose new abstract spaces that combine historical Chinese and Western vocabularies with contemporary pictorial schematic devices. Prosthetics and avatars supplement and replace the body. Real geographies are set against technological representations and imaginary terrains, evoking the challenges facing the liberal ideals of globalization in an age of nationalist retrenchment.

Included in the exhibition is Li Ming’s Straight line, Landscape (2014), which traces the artist’s journey from Hangzhou to Taiwan over the course of 50 days using both close-up, personal imagery and GPS satellite images across 25 iPads. The exhibition will also feature Sondra Perry’s Graft and Ash for a Three Monitor Workstation, in which an avatar self-portrait is displayed on a stationary exercise bike outfitted with three video screens.

Klaus Biesenbach, Director of MoMA PS1 and co-curator of .com/.cn said:

“Technology has provided new tools for the production, distribution, and reception of art while also enabling rapid advancements in global trade and information exchange, showing that the world wide web is actually ‘webs’ as the .com and the .cn of the title suggests—just to name two of them. With this exhibition, we hope to create new dialogue around ways in which art is changing in the digital era, both in China and the West. We are pleased to collaborate with the K11 Art Foundation on this first exhibition showcasing the results of our ongoing research partnership.

Adrian Cheng, Founder and Honorary Chairman, the K11 Art Foundation, said:

“The K11 Art Foundation is dedicated to supporting dynamic and adventurous work and it is with great pleasure that we are working with an institution with such an aligned mission and a similar vision. We are delighted to have forged connections between MoMA PS1 and some of the most exciting contemporary artists working in China today, and we hope to develop these relationships further after the exhibition.”