Zhan Rui: 7278/12
Opening: 15:00 – 18:00·8 Nov. 2016
Dates: 8 Nov. – 4 Dec. 2016
Gallery 55 is proud to present Wuhan based artist Zhan Rui’s first solo exhibition in Shanghai “7278/12” from the 8th of Nov. through the 4th of Dec. 2016.
Time is represented in the form of a series of events in Zhan Rui’s works. Change of weather, ups and downs of the stock market, or the attendance records … a variety of information and data of the modern day life are scooped by him from the everyday institutionalized world, and then pigeon-holed into a periodic time frame like a knot. Similar to a visual rehearsal of Saussure’s modern linguistic theories, a minimalist model of the visual epidermis forms individual language systems created by the artist. The colors and geometric shapes won’t overlap each other within a single system. At the same time, they would jointly cover fully the information domain, without a single miss. Through changing the specific color and geometrical shape, Zhan Rui reproduced the ups and downs of each event. The principles of syntax of his work build a language loop between the signifier and the signified. When the viewer turns back to focus on information along the circuit, s/he would suddenly realize that people, events, time and space form every single episode of life in the grids. By then, s/he is set aside of concrete life. Dominated by Logos’ desire, the different other becomes the same subject.
In the new series of work “7278/12”, Zhan Rui made himself the leading role of the play of “The same and the different”. His new painting series “7278/12″ comprises 12 pieces of canvas works sized at 175 x 95 cm. 7278 represents his monthly income from his teaching job at the art academy. 12 represents 12 months of a year. The structure of each work is made of 10 x 10 rectangular squares at 15.7 x 7.7 cm (the shape of an 100 Yuan note). The artist fills up those rectangular squares with the size of 7278 Yuan (the calculation method goes: 100 Yuan note = 15.7 x 7.7 cm; 50 Yuan note = 15 x 7 cm; 20 Yuan note = 14.5 x 7 cm; 5 Yuan note = 13.5 x 6.3 cm; 1 Yuan note = 13 x 3 cm) . The main structure was repeatedly used 12 times. The colour and filling patterns are different from month to month. The four sides of the frame are taken as part of the art work, as the overall frame structure stretched out to four sides utterly, becoming an relatively open visual structure.
Compared with Zhan Rui’s previous works, the grammatical principle of “7278/12″ series is close to data processing of an algorithm, but Zhan Rui is not seeking the solution of optimization, but the change from the realization of desire to the presentation of desire. Although, as the framework of system – the principle of reality still exists, Zhan Rui is constantly changing the form of dialogue with them, trying to let the physical pleasure of “seeing” to drive the object and the world away. Therefore, in a sense, “7278/12″ serves as a psychological space of fantasy, where the state of life is constructed as a superposition of possibility. (Sun Dongdong)
Zhan Rui was born in China in 1980. He graduated from Hubei Academy of Fine Arts with a B.A. in painting in 2004. He received a M.A. from the Fine Arts Dept., University of the Arts in London in 2006. Currently, he lives and works in Wuhan, China. Zhan Rui’s works are collected by many institutions, which includes: M+ Museum for Visual Culture (H.K.); YUZ Art Museum (Shanghai, China); United Art Museum (Wuhan, China) and Wuhan Art Museum (Wuhan, China); etc.
Zhan Rui’s recent major exhibitions include: “Asian Art Superhighway” (2016, Cheongju Art Museum, South Korea); “Intro” (2016, IL Ponte Gallery, Italy); “Everything is going to be alright” (2015, United Art Museum, Wuhan, China, solo); “Soft abstraction as Constellation – Chain of Methods” (2015, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong); “Huayu Art Prize” (2015, Art Sanya, Sanya, China)’ “The Other – The Distance” (2014, Hubei Museum of Art, Wuhan, China / Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan); Re-Modernization: 3rd Documentary Exhibition of Fine Arts” (2014, Hubei Museum of Art, Wuhan, China); “Gradualness” (2013, Wuhan Art Museum, China / Beijing Today Art Museum, China); “After good health, money is the best thing to have” (2012, The Yangtze River Space, Wuhan, China, solo); “The Stock Exchange, Weather and Sex” (2011, Boers-Li Gallery，Beijing, China, solo); “Visual Structure” (2011, A4 Contemporary Arts Centre, Chengdu, China); etc.
