Red Brick Art Museum
Beijing
Curators: Su Wei and Sonja Lau
Artists: Ding Yi, Eugen Popa, Li Jin, Liu Ding, K.M. Максимов, Ni Haifeng, Pang Xunqin, Triplicate Studio (Sui Jianguo, Zhan Wang and Yu Fan), Shi Zhenyu, Tang Jixiang and Yu Guohong, Wu Dayu, Wu Yinxian, Xie Nanxing, Yan Lei, Zhang Wei, Zhuang Yan
The modernist “abstract” practice that began in early-1930s China was not accepted in the authoritative totalities that we are familiar with. “Abstract” art was like a “present absentee” in societal and governmentally-guided ideologies. It experienced Chinese political and cultural history along with the rest of art, but it did not seem to exercise its political power or ability to construct history; in the end, its intrinsic perceptual power and inability to openly present its aesthetic sensibility meant that it failed to claim its historical position. This real/fictional dualism is the foundation of the narrative that we approach in this project.
What we perceive as “abstraction” was repressed, broken, and without historical foundation; it existed in the shadows and can only be seen in this situation. Here the history of the canon of “abstraction” is not the history of the image. This project attempts to engage in an experiment: examining, without being limited by, the interpretation of “abstract” images. Under the shadow of the escaped totalities we will utilize curatorial metaphor to narrate the history of the “abstraction”. The authoritative historical view and its sense of time – which is characterized by an absoluteness and universality that were rooted in the political and cultural consciousness in modern China – has permeated different historical periods, until now. The structure of “abstraction” and “abstract” artistic creation was shaped in this situation; the discussions and works presented in this exhibition grew in this space, but they also question, transcend and escape this space on a variety of levels. Furthermore, we will also ask if “abstraction” is also another kind of shadow projected on these works and discussions.
This exhibition occupies Room 1 and Room 2 of Red Brick Art Museum, some works and images and the events surrounding them appear multiple times in these two rooms. We are utilizing “continuation” and “repetition” as basic metaphors to imply the “abstract” structural paradigm; identity and difference are interwoven, expressing the tension filled relationship between the individual trace of time and the historical time view and its authoritative frameworks. The foundation of the exhibition is still artists’ practice, only on this foundation can we discuss the dialogues between artistic value and the authoritative frameworks and their complex interaction. The repetition of images is a kind of parody of the monolithic historical narratives and is used to stimulate the transformation, penetration and diversification of this artistic trope, as well as the unattainable desire that the authoritative and dominant narrative cannot illustrate. Ultimately, this research focuses on the historical narrative potential of “abstraction”.
