100 Objects
69 Artists
7 Floors
2 Sensations 

a nrm curatorial project.

Featuring (in alphabetical order)
Cai Dongdong | Cai Yuan & Xi Jianjun | Chen Wei | Chen Yufan |  Chen Yujun | Cheng Ran | Gao Lei | Gao Ludi | Gao Weigang | Guo Hongwei | Jiang Pengyi | Jiang Zhi | Jin Shan | Li Jingxiong | Li Qing | Li Tingwei | Liu Jianhua | Liu Weijian | Liu Yujia |  Lu Zhengyuan | Lu Chao | Lv Song | Ma Ke | Jennifer Ma Wen | Nabuqi | Ni Jun | Ni Zhiqi | Ouyang Chun | Peng Wei | Qin Qi | Qiu Jie | Shao Yinong&Mu Chen | Shen Fan | Shen Liang | Shen Ruijun | Shen Shaomin | Shi Jinsong | Shi Yiran | Shi Zhiying | Song Dong&Yin Xiuzhen | Song Yuanyuan | Sun Yuan & Peng Yu | Tang NanNan | Wang Jiaxue | Wang Yi | Wang Yuyang | Wang Zhibo | Wu Di | Wu Shanzhuan & Inga Svala Thorsdottir | Xu Zhen | Xue Feng | Yan Heng | Yan Lei | Yang Jian | Yang Yongliang | Zhang Ding | Zhang Lehua | Zhang Yexing | Zheng Guogu | Zheng Lu | Tant Zhong | Zhou Wendou | Zhu Jinshi | Zhu Xinyu

“No sooner had the warm liquid mixed with the crumbs touched my palate than a shudder ran through me and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary thing that was happening to me. An exquisite pleasure had invaded my senses, something isolated, detached, with no suggestion of its origin. And at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory – this new sensation having had on me the effect which love has of filling me with a precious essence; or rather this essence was not in me it was me.” —Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time (À la recherche du temps perdu), Scott Moncrieff-Kilmartin translation.

Zheng Lu, C / Milk Bacteria C, Light Box, Collection-grade digital micro-jet, Diameter 120cm, 2019 (image courtesy the artist and SGA)
郑路, 牛奶细菌, 灯箱 收藏级数码微喷, 直径120cm, 2019 (图片致谢艺术家和SGA)

Have you eaten?

For SGA’s re-opening and re-launch, for the first time in the history of Three on the Bund, a major exhibition will take place throughout the whole building – Pal(ate)/ette/.

From September 20^th– October 31^st, over 100 objects by 69 artists will be displayed in a salon-style exhibition within SGA and peppered throughout Three on the Bund’s restaurants and bars, in dialogue with the exhibits and their surroundings.

The exhibition also marks the debut of nrm’s curatorial project as Artistic Director of the new SGA.

Gao Lei, CHEW, doormats，chewing gum，stainless steel screws，non-reflective glass, 60x90x5cm in 4 parts, 2018 (image courtesy the artist and SGA)
高磊, 咀嚼, 门垫，口香糖，不锈钢螺钉，无反光玻璃, 60x90x5cm, 4件, 2018 (图片致谢艺术家和SGA)

Pal(ate)/ette/ will show artworks throughout Three on the Bund with the exhibition’s core display in SGA. Curated by NRM,Pal(ate)/ette/ reflects the spectrum of associations of the homonyms Palateand Palette; a synthesis of the senses – taste sight hearing smell taste and touch – and presenting Three on the Bund as a cultural whole.

The exhibition title relates to two homophones. While ‘Palate’refers to the ability to distinguish between and appreciate different flavours related to food as well as relishing its taste, ‘Palette’denotes a broad range of colours or simply the board upon which artists mix pigments. Both symbolise the most significant motif in Pal(ate)/ette/, both as metaphor and experience.

Ouyang Chun, Wooden Palette, Oil on Canvas, 30x40cm, 2007
(image courtesy the artist and SGA)
欧阳春, 木调色板, 布面油画, 30x40cm, 2007 (图片致谢艺术家和SGA)

Pal(ate)/ette/ involves two distinct but intertwined worlds, those of taste and color. These worlds interact to create relations between the artists, artworks, and the halls and salons of Three on the Bund, and Shanghai itself. The exhibition explores the richness of aesthetics and materiality in colouration and the sensuousness of food and its ingredients, as medium, subject matter, in its devouring, and as communicative and social habits, experiences for which Three on the Bund is famous. The exhibition is a sumptuous journey that delights us into imagining anew the limitless ways to plunge into uncanny and alluring experiences that tease our senses of sight, smell and space, immersive experiences, encompassing and meditative. This fluidity brings the artworks to resonate with each other, adding to and ultimately enriching one another.

Pal(ate)/ette/ finallyis a journey through synesthesia. Colour and taste are always elements of the experience of art and food, affecting the sensations of the person moving in and through the show as much as ordinary life. Pal(ate)/ette/ embodies this.

Wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling, in corners and cabinets, Pal(ate)/ette/ does not merely serve the cause of art, food and drink. It is a social organ with a life of its own, a meandering walk through Three on the Bund, its history, restaurants, and its gallery, to stimulate and engage a wide range of art goers, eaters, drinkers and conversationalists, cultivating awareness from an amalgam of expressive invention and poetic association, memory and madeleine.

Liu Jianhua, Standard, porcelain, 1800x250x60cm (image courtesy the artist and SGA)
刘建华, 标准, 瓷, 1800x250x60cm,2012 (图片致谢艺术家和SGA)

SGA – an open platform for contemporary art and culture

SGA is a new model for art production and exhibition. Working with local and international partners, SGA instigates, develops and realizes cross-cultural projects for contemporary art with leading artists, institutions and international private galleries.

An open platform for exhibitions, collaborations and curatorial projects, SGA is an agent of expanding engagement between art and the wider public, connecting and contextualizing the art of greater China and South East Asia with the wider international art worlds. Our objective is to decompartmentalize the art world through situating local understanding within global conversations.

To drive this new direction, nrm.have been appointed Artistic Director of SGA. Led by Josef Ng, Andrew Ruff and Christopher Moore, Josef, Andrew and Chris, NRM. brings over 3 decades of combined experience in art curating, collecting and publishing in China and South East Asia.

Chen Yufan, Throw It in the Air 3, Old wood, ceramic, lens, copper, acrylic paint, iron, and industrial neon lights, 190x190cm+70x35x15cm, 2016-2017 (image courtesy the artist and SGA)
陈彧凡, 把它抛向空中3, 老木板,陶瓷,镜片,铜片,丙烯颜料,铁板,工业霓虹灯, 190x190cm+70x35x15cm, 2016-2017 (图片致谢艺术家和SGA)

Yang Yongliang, A Bowl of Taipei No.3, Ultra-Giclee Print, 150x150cm, 2012 (image courtesy the artist and SGA)
杨泳梁, 一碗台北之三, 艺术微喷 150x150cm, 2012 (图片致谢艺术家和SGA)

Three on the Bund

Built in 1916, Three on the Bund is one of the most prominent heritage riverfront buildings comprising Shanghai’s Bund. Following acquisition by Giti group the building underwent substantial restoration at the turn of the century led by architect Michael Graves, reopening in 2004 as one of the finest locations in the city for art, dining and fashion, and continues to be to this day.

Originally launched as Shanghai Gallery of Art when Three on the Bund opened in 2004 SGA has hosted ground-breaking exhibitions of leading Chinese and international artists.

nrm is a curatorial consultancy by Josef Ng, Andrew Ruff and Chris Moore.  

Archi-Union Architecture

SGA’s relaunch includes a completely new design conceived by Archi-Union and led by Philip F. Yuan. Archi-Union is one of China’s leading contemporary architecture practices.

Zhang Yexin Balance-Lobster, 2019 (image courtesy the artist and SGA)
张业兴, 平衡—龙虾, 80 x 60 cm, 2019 (图片致谢艺术家和SGA)

Press enquiries 

Kris Gao 高琬婷

Tel: +8621 – 6321 5757

Email: kris.gao@on-the-bund.com

Website: www.shanghaigalleryofart.com

Weibo: @外滩三号沪申画廊

Wechat: 外滩三号沪申画廊

INK ASIA, the first-ever art fair devoted to contemporary ink, returns to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre for its second edition from 16-18 December 2016, with a Private Preview and Vernissage on 15 December. As the hub of art business in Asia, Hong Kong is the best place to establish an art fair specialising in modern and contemporary ink art, heralding a new era of ink. Ink Asia 2016 will present exquisite ink works in a variety of media, as well as a series of academic lectures by renowned experts and artists.

Building on a successful debut

The first edition of INK ASIA in December 2015 offered a variety of perspectives for appreciating ink art, allowing collectors, critics, scholars, the media and art lovers to appreciate the boundless possibilities of contemporary ink art with an open mind. INK ASIA 2015 attracted approximately 10,000 visitors in four days. Most galleries were pleased with sales.

The second edition will build on this excellent start, showcasing some 1,000 works of contemporary ink art in various media.

Strong line-up of 50 participating galleries

Ink Asia 2016 will host 50 leading international galleries and academic institutions from Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea, presenting works in a variety of media related to ink art, from traditional through to contemporary. This year, the fair has attracted new international galleries: from Hong Kong – Pearl Lam Galleries, Kwai Fung Hin Art Gallery and Galerie Ora-Ora; from Beijing – Ink Studio and Amy Li Gallery; also, Whitestone Gallery from Tokyo, Space Namu from Seoul, and Rossi & Rossi from London and Hong Kong. Three renowned Taiwanese galleries in the Taiwan Pavilion are not to be missed: Xizhitang Gallery, My Humble House Art Gallery and Jia Art Gallery. And the returning Taiwanese galleries include Loftyart Gallery, Capital Art Center and Da Xiang Art Space. Returning Hong Kong galleries include 3812 Gallery, Hanart TZ Gallery, Alisan Fine Arts, Grotto Fine Art, Rong Bao Zai (Hong Kong) Ltd. and Rasti Chinese Art.

100 Ink Artists from Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong
INK ASIA features almost 100 outstanding artists from Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. From Mainland China, there are works by Wang Huangsheng, the Director of Beijing Central Academy of Fine Arts; Wang Tiande, Pan Gongkai, Zhang Yu Lan Zhenghui, among others. Leading Taiwanese artists include Li Yihong, Liu Kuo-sung who is known as “the father of ink art” and his students Chiang Li-hsiang, Wu Pui-wah and Hsu Hsiu-lan. Hong Kong artists, Leung Kui Ting, Chu Hing Wah, Wong Hau Kwei, Raymond Fung Wing Kee, Chan Kan Tin and Water Poon will also attend the fair. INK ASIA has become the best platform for the ink artists from over the world.

China Pavilion: Contemporary Chinese Calligraphy

INK ASIA has proudly invited renowned curator, Dr Xia kejun, to curate the China Pavilion: Contemporary Chinese Calligraphy. The exhibition will explore the transformation from traditional brush strokes to contemporary calligraphy, and from being a calligrapher to being an artist. Through the exhibition at INK ASIA, Dr Xia aims to give an academic presentation tracing this transformation of ink art over the past 30 years in Mainland China. Five artists have been selected: Gu Weida, a pioneer of contemporary calligraphy; Wang Dongling, famous on his “Messy Calligraphy (Luanshu)” style; Chen Guangwu, who uses punctuation marks and Chinese key characters in his works; Jin Feng, who specialises in making Chinese characters lively by reinventing transitional grass scripts; and Zhang Hao, who creates his unique “Paint Brush Thoughts” to record his emotions.

Taiwan Pavilion: Exceptional Ink Art – Transitional Innovation in the Future Past

In the 1960s, ink art in Taiwan was modernised and abstract ink began to develop. The artist Liu Kuo-sung and his The Fifth Moon Group advocated a revolutionary idea: “Remove the paint brush”. At that time artists broke away from traditional materials and forms, combining Western Abstract Expressionism into their artworks. In the meantime, there was another group of artists, positioned in between the masters and new ink artists, who created ink art based on their personal life experience and exploration of non-traditional ink.

The academic host of the Taiwan Pavilion at INK ASIA 2016, Kao Chien Hui, says, “Yuan Jai, Lee Yi-Hong and Yu Chengyao all studied in Taiwan after 1949. They inherited and respected the literati painting of the masters; yet enlightened future generations with their innovative work.”

Ink+: The Concept, Interaction, Performance, Installation and Technology of Contemporary Ink

To inspire innovation and broaden the artistic vision of ink art, 18 artists from Hong Kong, China and overseas have been invited to exhibit their alternative ink works in a special programme ‘Ink+’ organized by INK ASIA 2016. These artists all ingeniously interpret ink elements and ideas into inventive contemporary works that still contain the essence of literati art but employ refreshing and non-traditional media. Their works include videos, new media, installations, ceramics and sculptures. Curator Eric Leung explains, “‘Ink+’ aims to explore the boundless possibilities of ink art by presenting a wide range of inspired cutting edge experiments.”

The participating artists are Dai Yun, Angel Hui Hoi Kiu, Hung Keung, Kum Chi Keung, Jaffa Lam Laam, Lam Yau Sum, Jess Lau Ching Wa, Ross Lewis, Li Tingting, Lie Fhung, Lu Zhengyuan, Mok Yat San, Cindy Ng Sio Ieng, Pan Fan, Tang Bohua, Johnson Tsang Cheung Shing, Wong Chung Yu and Wayne Wong Wing Chun.

Education Programme: Dialogues on Ink, presented by The Ink Society

The Ink Society is the Education Partner of INK ASIA 2016 for the second year and will present an academic programme, “Dialogues on Ink” at the fair. Collaborating with well-known galleries and academic institutions from Hong Kong, Greater China and overseas, the Dialogues will invite famous ink artists, scholars, gallery directors, museum curators and fair directors to hold a series of discussions moderated by ink art experts. The programme will feature debates on important issues including ink development, collection reviews, market trends and cultural heritage, as well as conversations about ink art between people from different sectors and backgrounds. Meanwhile, INK ASIA 2016 will also host three further lectures hosted by renowned in experts and artists.

The Director of INK ASIA 2016, Mr. Calvin Hui said, “INK ASIA is a professional and open platform for art exchange and art trade. A host of artists, museums, art institutions, galleries, collectors and foundations will join us at the fair, to exchange views, discover our cultural heritage, and explore the spirit of ink art. Furthermore, they will have the opportunity to discuss current and future trends of ink art, and understand the global view, including similarities and differences of cultural values between East and West, opening up new possibilities for the art market.”

Please visit www.inkasiahk.com as well as WeChat Inkasiahk.com and Facebook zh-hk.facebook.com/inkasiahk for updates of highlights and news about the fair.

Fair information

Dates and times

VIP preview (by invitation only) 15 December 2016 (Thursday) 4-6pm

Vernissage (by invitation only) 15 December 2016 (Thursday) 6-9pm

Open to public 16-17 December 2016 (Friday to Saturday) 11am-8pm
18 December 2016 (Sunday) 11am-6pm

Venue: Hall 3G, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre
Fair Organiser

Art & Antique International Fair Ltd (AAIF) is a recognised art fair organiser based in Hong Kong. The company was established in 2005 to stage Fine Art Asia (www.fineartasia.com), now acknowledged as Asia’s leading international fine art fair. In 2013 the company engaged in a ground-breaking partnership with Masterpiece London and in 2014, the fair made its successful debut in Beijing with the first edition of GFAA – Guardian Fine Art Asia. In 2015 AAIF added INK ASIA to its portfolio.

AAIF has unrivalled local knowledge and connections, professional expertise in logistic services and mounting an effective marketing campaign, as well as experience in presenting a professional art fair of outstanding quality and elegance.

What was it like when an artist was eighteen? Their eighteen was as hazy as it is vibrant. During the golden years of life, they were passion- ate, ambitious and felt almighty. There were lights as well as shadows hovering above their eighteen. Are their works the reflection of their memory? Maybe yes. Maybe not. Perhaps the eighteen-year-old “me” is still there somewhere. Perhaps that “me” has already grown up. It doesn’t really matter. What matters and worths remembering are memories and dreams they had when they were eighteen.

Covering a wide range of places and time periods, the memories of their eighteen years old were all very unique. They were like dynastic histories of individuals, or to be more specific, of individual artists. Looking back, how would these artists think of themselves when they were eighteen, when each “me” was full of dreams, visions and bemusement?

The exhibition features Hsia Yan, Wang Jieyin, Li Shan, Shen Fan, Zheng Zaidong, Wang Kai, Xue Song, Zhang Ping, Zhang Zheyi, Lu Zhengyuan, and Li Chao. Some of them are already established and some are emerging artists. Through a variety of photos, paintings, scribbles, diaries and manuscripts, they share with viewers their memories and stories of their eighteen years old. The toast to the youth is a revisit of the past, and a salute to the future. Moreover, traces of the ambition and dreams they used to harbor when they were eighteen could also be perceived along their future paths in the world of art.

Poetry is everywhere. And so is art. The dreams, confusions, passion, depression and longing for art they experienced during their youth are always like an enlightening beacon, illuminating the future forward and guiding them find their way in the realm of art.

Liang Qin

VERNISSAGE: Saturday, 20 August 2016, 3-7pm

EXHIBITION DATES: 10.30 – 18.00, Monday to Sunday, 20^th August – 23^rd October, 2016

ADDRESS: J: GALLERY，#102, Building 17, No.50 Moganshan Rd, M50, Shanghai

OPENING PERFORMANCE:

King of hell is angry, 6666666: 6

Ye Nan, The battle drum at the equator

Chen Chenchen, Spring

Song Xi, White Carat

Zhang Quan, To make a ball

SET DESIGN: Ding Nan

J: GALLERY is pleased to present “Hot”, the first episode of the serial exhibition “Total War or Nothing at All”, curated by Chen Chenchen, young artist, curator and musician. This exhibition is initially inspired by Li Zhenhua, participating artists include Li Zhenhua, He Xiangyu, Chen Chenchen, Li Weiyi, Song Xi, Lu Zhengyuan, Ye Nan, Zhang Quan, and the exhibition set is designed by artist Ding Nan. The opening of this exhibition will take place on 20 August 2016, and will last until 23 October 2016.

This serial exhibition, “Total War Or Nothing At All”, will construct and intensify what may be generally recognised as extreme environments, the artists respond to such “extremes” through their artworks. “Negative environments”, even if an intolerable hot space, can be compensated, or “tamed”, through artistic imagination. In this exhibition, the artists seek ways to coexist with such extreme hot environment through the lens of their unique art creation, using multi-media representations, and to refresh our predominant understanding of “hot” through various dimensions. In the space of “Total War or Nothing at All”, artworks take up the role of a catalyst: to accelerate a series of chemical reactions between three parties: the gallery space as an extreme environment, artworks, and the audience. It is the presence of these artworks that modifies and justifies the place they are in, which then becomes transcended into a space that is sought after, just because it offers stimulating multi- sensory experience that is exclusive to this particular space and setting.

Concerning “Total war or Nothing at all” Statement by Chen Chenchen

Artists’ creative works offer trial-and-error attempts to prepare the audience for entering this sort of “extreme environment” and to coexist with it. Such artistic creation would thus generate a force to tame a “barricading-Sphinx” and to domesticate a “savage-Cyclops”, transforming a seemingly terrible situation to a sought after “theatre stage”. These artworks represent not only the artist’s ambition to justify extreme environments, but also a transcendence of the Freudian Pleasure Principle – the instinctual seeking of pleasure and avoiding of pain in order to satisfy biological and psychological needs. It is a trust of our imagination and a thoroughly opened stance towards the world we are in. Through artistic creation, the artists in fact not only have undergone an internal meditation, but also offer an exemplary solution to the negative side of the external world. Creative force is used as a weapon against the negative environment, to break through the barricades and to open up diverse paths of understanding and interpretation. In this exhibition, art works serve as a facility that converses negative energies to positive, an agency that offers an “upgrading patch” for our ordinary interpretation of extreme situations, a compensation without affection. Their presence transcends the extreme environment in the gallery space, so that we find such environment is co-existable, feasible, and even desired.

李振华 Li Zhenhua (b.1975) 影像诗歌 Video Poetry， 2016 单频道录像Single-channel video 1080p 立体声Stereo sound 黑白 Black & white 时长：7’25″ Duration：7’25″_4

陈陈陈 Chen Chenchen (b.1987) 动物信仰_泉 Animal’s Faith_Spring, 2016 装置_铁，有机玻璃 Installation_Iron, Acrylic glass 150x60cm绘画_布面丙烯_Painting_Acrylic on canvas100x100 cm Digital video_Duration 3 mins

张权 Zhang Quan (b.1989) 球 The Ball, 2016 混合材料Mixed Media 直径Diameter 80cm_2

李维伊 Li Weiyi (b.1987) 酷 Cool, 2016 PVC板材，植物，鼓风机，射灯 PVC board, plants, air blower, spot light_3

卢征远 Lu Zhengyuan (b.1982) 金色 Gold, 2016 金属，金色漆 Metal，gold paint 319 x 390 x 30cm_dummy image

宋兮 Song Xi (b.1983) 白色的克拉 White Carat, 2016 生石灰块，钢条Quicklime，steel rails 尺寸可变Dimension variable_2

叶楠 Ye Nan (b.1984) 赤道战鼓 The Battle Drum at the Equator, 2016 综合材料 Mixed media 尺寸可变 Dimension variable_detail_1

LI ZHENHUA

Born in 1975 in Beijing, now works and lives in Zurich.

HE XIANGYU

He Xiangyu was born in Kuandian Manchu Autonomous County, Liaoning in 1986. He graduated from Shenyang Normal University with a degree in Oil Painting in 2008, and is now based in Beijing and Berlin. He Xiangyu’s art practice can be seen as a material test site and conceptual laboratory for a variety of individual, social and political themes. As an artist growing up during the period of rapid urbanization in China, He Xiangyu attempts to give expression to or guide sensory perception via the transformation between objects. Through an underlying transition of materials, his work “Cola Project” (2009-2012) embodies the concept of manufacturing and consumption. Exploring Cola itself as a drinkable fluid, the work departs from the exciting sensation of fizzy bubbles filling the drinker’s mouth and renders this into a solid state. The artist then transferred and extended the concepts of material and time, resulting in the work “Tank Project” (2011-2013). “Tank Project” similarly relies on the coordination of long lasting manual labor. The latter serves a guiding principle in the artist’s practice.

In his other artworks, He Xiangyu prefers to take the experience of the individual as his point of departure. “Palate Project – Everything We Create is Not Ourselves ” (2012-present) uses various visual forms to express the process of ascertaining tactile impressions. A total of 20 series of painting works on paper and 1 series of bronze sculptures stem from 3 years of research and artistic practice. The artist reproduces the feeling of the tongue tracking the internal outlines of the oral cavity, which then evolves into involvement throughout the artistic practice, providing yet another discipline from which to enter into sensory perception. The video installation work “Turtle, Lion, Bear” (2015), which was exhibited during the Lyon Biennale, similarly draws people into a space of physiological perception, in an attempt to point out the common fundaments of the concept of looking at each other face to face and the ability to undergo sensory experiences, and explore the possibilities behind the peeling off of characteristics of civilization and discernable identity.

CHEN CHENCHEN

Chen Chenchen was born in Hangzhou in 1987, after graduated from China Academy of Art with a B.A. degree in Mixed-Media Art in 2010, he then continued his study at the Studio of Total Art, School of Inter-Media Art (SIMA) in Hangzhou and received an M.A. there. He became a phD candidate in the department of Philosophy, Capital Normal University in 2014.

Chen Chenchen’s accomplishment in the art field centres upon construction of conceptions, his works cover a wide range of representations: video, theatre, painting, installation, live performance and music. Albeit each individual project has its own unique theme and is carried out by certain means of representation distinguished from one another, these artworks interact and constitute a series of parallel worlds. Simultaneously, however, they are coherently arranged into a futuristic panorama within Chen Chenchen’s conceptual framework of “Poor Sci-Fi”. That is, a Science Fiction rooted and sprouted from our tough situation – a Sci-Fi that does not derived from anything comforting or glamorous, but from the “poor” side of a complex entity which makes up our real life. It is a life experiment generated from our primitive desire and fear, of which the target, however, looks upon to humanistic future.

LI WEIYI

Li Weiyi was born in Changsha in 1987. She graduated from Tongji University with a B.F.A. in Visual Communication Design in 2009, and graduated from Yale University with an M.F.A. degree in Graphic Design in 2012. She is currently studying PHD in Innovation Design Engineering in Royal College of Art, London. Li Weiyi is an artist weiyi.li, designer weiyiandfriends.com, curator bigbadgallery.com, publisher re-publication.com and retailor currently-available.com who lives and works between these five URLs.

SONG XI

Song Xi was born in 1983 with Daur nationality, Heilongjiang Province, China. He graduated from Art and Design College in University of Light Industry, Dalian in 2006, and currently lives and works in Beijing. Song Xi’s artistic creation focuses on the body as an expressive medium. Inside of a socialised body, highly developed ideologies conceal their multiple identities – which also bear certain political message. The physicality of flesh and sensory reaction of the body itself generate corporeal warmth and intellectual reflections, which are represented in unsettled forms of art. Such warmth and reflections become disguised in visually minimal forms, thus establishing some kind of unspeakable relations that embody interwoven multi-identities. Alienated perception and experience that deviate a routine order, could often lead to “false” judgement, consequentially imposing a conscious “abuse” upon corporeal sensation. Apart from exploring the ways how body could deliver emotion and sensation, Song Xi also works on research projects that study the interrelation between body, society and politics, inaugurating.

LU ZHENYUAN

Lu Zhenyuan was born in Dalian in 1982, graduated from and now teaches at Central Academy of Fine Arts. He is now based in Beijing. Lu Zhenyuan counters formalised styles and methods, his works touch upon multiple forms of art, including sculpture, painting, installation and video. Lu Zhenyuan looks at artistic transition of corporeal perception, day-to-day life reality, and those that are on the fringe or that can not be clearly categorised. He is seeking ways to represent daily experience and unspeakable cognition. Lu Zhenyuan’s works have been shown at many important exhibitions at home at abroad, such as the Shanghai Biennale, Shenzhen International Sculpture Biennale, Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art, China Art Museum, Museum of China Central Academy of Fine Arts, Shanghai Long Museum, Today Art Museum, Beijing Times Art Museum, Australia White Rabbit Gallery, Lisbon Museu Fundação Oriente, Chile Cultural Centre of Providencia, Germany Bonn Contemporary Art Centre. He also had solo exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Taipei (MoCa), Beijing Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art (UCCA), Beijing White Box Museum of Art, Taikang Space, Hive Centre for Contemporary Art, Phoenix Art Centre, NY Eli Klein Fine Art, Italy Marella Gallery, Taiwan Eslite Gallery, etc.

YE NAN

Ye Nan was born in Hangzhou in 1984, graduated from and now working at Central Academy of Fine Arts. He is now based in Beijing and Hangzhou. Born in 1984, this year coincides with the title of George Orwell’s renowned novel, which is also a sum of the issues Ye Nan has long been questioning and concerning with. Ye Nan thus named his long-term art project “Project 1984”, in which his interests and working methods accumulate and become integrated. In Ye Nan’s open comic project “I Deleted All My Photos” (2015), the artist integrated historical events and his own personal experience since his birth in 1984 to invent and to fabricate narratives and discourses in diverse forms of representations. Ye Nan is now working on a research project on monuments.

ZHANG QUAN

Zhang Quan was born in Nanjing, Jiangsu in 1989. He currently lives and works in Nanjing. Zhan Quan’s works often employ most conventional sculptural language to depict the popular cult developed by various Western social icons and symbols. Zhang Quan work devotes to create “the art that everyone could understand”. His “Fei Chang Project” encouraged local residents to participate, by exhibiting this project he realised his ambition to “cook Fei Chang (pork intestine) noodles in art gallery”. His works have been exhibited in Shanghai, Taipei, London and other cities.

About J: GALLERY

Founded in Shanghai, J: GALLERY takes Chinese emerging artists as the principle line, further look widely at Asia even the scope of globe, constantly presents experimental exhibition and projects with prospective view. We are trying to break through the method and thinking of curating, meanwhile aiming to dig out avant-garde potential young artists driving by creative power and gather them together. Jumping out from the limitation of formalization, encourage the blending of divers medias and presenting ways. Moreover, motivate the crossover between art and other areas such as architecture, film, music, publication and performing, to explore more possibilities of contemporary art in the current society, also the brightness and heat it can emit in the wave of present age.

Art Stage Singapore opened strongly, with collectors from all over East Asia milling around and strong early sales reported across the fair. Art Stage positions itself as the premier platform for South East Asia but this year there was was a strong international presence—with numerous galleries and artists represented from the U.K., Germany, France, the U.S., and a very noticeable Russian contingent. Gilbert & George spent hours signing copies of their catalogue for ARNDT Gallery, while the Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow presented Russian video stars AES+F, curated by Olga Sviblova.

Entrance to ArtStage Singapore

Suzann Victor “Contours of a Rich Manoeuvre”, 2008, for Gajah Gallery

Joanna Vasconcelos, “Tetris 17th Century”, Vlúva Lamego hand-painted tiles, handmade woollen crochet, fabrics, ornaments, polyester, MDF and iron, 378 x 336 x 308 cm, 2012

Joanna Vasconcelos, courtesy Pearl Lam Galleries

Han Feng at ShanghART

Zhang Ding at Krinzinger, Vienna

Gilbert & George

Gilbert & George

David LaChapelle at ARNDT, Berlin/Singapore

Gilbert & George at ARNDT, Berlin/Singapore

Entang Wiharso at S.T.P.I.

Rita Targui, George Armaos (Gagosian), Emi Eu, Ashley Bickerton and friend at S.T.P.I. booth

Genevieve Chua at Tomio Koyama Gallery, Singapore/Tokyo

Nau at CUC Gallery, Hanoi

Liu Wentao at Art+Shanghai, Shanghai

AES+F at Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow

Zhang Huan at Marc Quinn’s Human Reproduction, London

Zhang Huan at Marc Quinn’s Human Reproduction

Liu Wei at White Cube

Jake & Dinos Chapman sail into Andreas Gursky at White Cube, London/Hong Kong/Sao Paolo

Christian Marclay, “Telephones”, 7 mins 30 secs, 1995 (White Cube)

Galerie Perrotin booth: Écriture series by Park Seo-bo and Xavier Veilhan’s “Mobile no. 1″

Rina Banerjee at Ota Fine Arts, Singapore/Tokyo

Yao Jui-Chung at Tina Keng Gallery & TKG+, Taipei

Tsai Charwei’s “Rain Trees” series, 90 x 180 cm, 2015 (detail)(TK+ Gallery)

Tsai Charwei’s “Rain Trees” series, 90 x 180 cm, 2015 (detail)(TK+ Gallery)

Yiri Arts booth, featuring Huang Po-Chih’s works

Yiri Arts booth, featuring Huang Po-Chih’s works

Yiri Arts booth, featuring Huang Po-Chih’s works

Jiang Pengyi, “Intimacy No. 5″, archival inkjet print, 188.5 x 148.5 x 5 cm, 2014

Zhang Ding, “Sound Absorber–2″, mineral wool, aluminum plate, paint, 295 x 242 x 8 cm, 2014 (ShanghART)

Latent Space booth featuring Potong ice cream for $2 SGD and fridge magnets by numerous artists

Latent Space booth featuring Potong ice cream for $2 SGD and fridge magnets by numerous artists

Latent Space booth featuring Potong ice cream for $2 SGD and fridge magnets by numerous artists

Mit Jai Inn at Yavuz Gallery

Jiang Chuan at Galerie du Monde

Wang Tiande at Huafu Art, Shanghai

Juan Acalzaran at The Drawing Room, Singapore and Manila

at Redot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore, and Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs

Pannaphan Yodmanee at Yavuz, Singapore

Hideaki Yamamoto at Shonandai Gallery,

Jason Tecson at Light & Space Contemporary, Manila

Minstrel Kuik at Run Amok

Lu Zhengyuan at Phoenix Art Palace, Beijing/Shanghai/Wuxi

Lee Jee-young at Opiom Gallery

Yukinori Yanagi at Michael Janssen, Berlin and Singapore

Ivan Navarro

James Nares at Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York

Zhang Dali at C-Space, Beijing

Titarubi, “Imago Mundi”, 24k gold-plated nutmegs, gold leaves on book, burnt wood, stainless steel and globe, 213 x 101 x 80 cm, 2013

Jeongyun Choi, “The Flesh of Passage”, thread on resin, 220 x 30 x 2 cm, 2014 (1st.iKON gallery)

White Box Museum (798 Art District, No.2 Jiuxianqiao Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing).  Sep 9 – Oct 7, 2012

For the vast majority of contemporary artists, finding one’s personal style and distinct aesthetic may be the only possible path towards success — even if style and distinctiveness are not sought by the artists themselves. Yet the exhibition “Magnanimity — a Collection of Atypical Works by 21 Chinese Artists” rejects this  conception by displaying the atypical works of some 21 artists. However, the title word “atypical” has yet another level of significance (whether the curator agrees or not): that some artists have already established a “typical” style or program. It is likely that exhibiting one’s atypical or unusual works manifests self-confidence on a different level — since one’s “typical” works have already secured their place in the hearts of the masses.

Artists participating in the exhibition have included various practices in contemporary art, but all have also undertaken a change in medium, which one can imagine as some sort of “cameo appearance.” Ma Liuming and He Yunchang did not present archival videos of their performance art — not the “Fen–Ma Liuming” (1993) or the “One Rib” (2008) that we all know — but instead produced a mixed-media painting (“Untitled,” 2012) and sculpture (“Hongtashan,” 2008) respectively. Although such forms are atypical for the artists personally, this shift is quite common for Chinese performance art in general. In fact, Ma Liuming has long since stopped engaging in performance art, with his recent creative efforts devoted to painting; thus, painting has instead typified his recent work. Indeed, the transformation from the relatively avant-garde and experimental form of performance art to the more conservative art form of painting is not necessarily the result of artists’ personal ideas; this transition better reflects the tastes of collectors and the structural changes in the ecology of art (such an argument that could be explored further elsewhere).

Furthermore, atypical works are perhaps better at revealing the inner truths of artists as well as their familiar objects (like, for instance, Lu Zhengyuan’s “Magnify” [2012], where the background is in fact the residential district of Fangzhouyuan near the Central Academy of Fine Art in Beijing). Or they could reveal the subconscious thought processes of the artist.

But the “atypical” here is not entirely so. For instance, Li Zhanyang’s “(Large) Rocking Chair” (2007) is quite different from his other works like “Bonsai Human” in terms of the concepts and the elements of the human body used: they remind one immediately of where they will be placed after they are collected. Zhao Nengzhi’s wooden sculpture “No. 6” (2012) also appears to be cut from the same cloth as his other paintings, all using the bloated head as a theme/motif. Although the medium has switched from painting to sculpture, neither the medium nor the production appeared to have posed any serious problems within contemporary art. Similarly, viewers familiar with Miao Xiaochun’s works will easily find that “Death Victorious Once More” (2009) can hardly be called one of his “atypical” works.

The intended audience of this exhibition is likely those immersed in the art world; only with the knowledge of the typical works of these artists can one detect the discrepancies the curator attempted to present with these atypical works. Thus, “aytpical” pinpoints certain phenomena and contradictions: on the one hand, well-established artists will perhaps discover new possibilities. Such “atypical” works in recent years will be a safe journey of discovery for them, whereas it would still seem early for emerging artists to participate in such an exhibition. In the selection of exhibited works, there aren’t many thematic connections, but the exhibit is about exhibiting an unfamiliar side of those with whom we are so familiar. Hence, the exhibition should be conceived as an exhibition of the artists, and not of their works.

Wang Yuyang
王郁洋

Aside from its a-curatorial stance as title, the designation of 51 square metres as a physical, uniform area is something that bears exploration. It seems that in order to push the envelope of display for contemporary art, Taikang resolved to use a spatial envelope through which to push a particular set of artists. The measurement at the same time represents freedom and restriction; as a ‘platform’ for the art and Taikang’s mission, it appears as a free area giving artists the opportunity to use it as they wished for a set period of exhibition time (usually about 2 weeks) — in Su Wenxiang’s words, ‘an authentic and nurturing space.’ On the other hand, it could also be interpreted like confinement, the explicit size perhaps conjuring associations with cells. One could then go so far as to call the recurrent occupation of the space by successive artists as a form of ‘positive imprisonment’ by the gallery. But the connotations of numbers and measurements have earned too cool a cachet in the art world for this to be the first thought. Just as the word ‘space’ replaces ‘gallery’ in many cases, so the denouncement of words in favour of digits and units has gained popularity; in Shanghai, for example, there is the 1918 Space, m97 Gallery and the now-defunct ‘140sqm’ gallery. These names ease the canonical load of the established system and its terminology by making it sound more scientific and less self-consciously ‘worded.’ The designated floor area is also relevant in terms of the recent growth in experimentation with exhibition methods; as a recurring box refilled 16 times by different artists for near-equal time periods, the overall shape of Taikang’s project is of a regular grid: 16 boxes, 4 x 4. This contrasts with Platform China’s organic approach for ‘Jungle’ last year, for example, which displayed a much larger and more disparate group of artists in a show (in the words of the exhibition text) ‘whose structure resembles that of an ecosystem’. In short, the repeated partitioning of time and space in 51m² is a concept that might justify more focused philosophical and critical discussion than there is written space for here.

Yan Bing
闫冰

It was Xin Yunpeng who intervened most overtly in the space given. Although it corresponded perhaps too directly in form — a white space confounded by planar interventions that are physically uncomfortable for the visitor — to what He An made at Magician Space (‘I believe someone will take me there, but let’s leave it for tomorrow’, 2010),  this work was memorable. For exhibition #8, Xin gave the space a new ceiling — a gyrating, tilting plank set at the artist’s height; on the floor in a corner lay an i-pod and two small speakers emitting the recorded sound of phone calls Xin made in which he said nothing when the recipients picked up the phone. The minimal accompanying text simply says that by these means Xin was able to assemble the audience at one point ‘thus making us reflect on our right/political space and its governing rules.’ With a limited area and time to introduce and realise the show, this piece was strong in the way it commanded such physical authority over 51m², filling it completely and refusing to be either constrained or made awkward by it. In contrast, Liu Chuang’s conceptual #13, an installation of an air conditioning unit dribbling water and a video piece, comes to mind as maybe less suited to the conditions.

Liu Chuang
刘窗

It was Pei Li who rendered 51m² as a potent emotional space: somewhere to recognise and work through a sense of loss born of her grandfather’s sudden abandonment of the Bonsai trees he had tended for 20 years. ‘In this work,’ she said, ‘I (forced) each visitor into my space of stillness and melancholy.’ The tree stumps sat dead and alien-like in a shallow rectangular pool of black liquid, sharing it with speakers playing electronic sounds. Walking on grey paving stones around this staging of departed life and extinguished commitment was certainly an absorbing experience. Interestingly, Pei Li also chose to lower the ceiling of the space, pressing the audience into the visceral environment she instilled there. The performance-opening of Ma Qiusha’s project (#12) was contrastingly tense and highly strung. In it, 100 people were assembled in the space wearing white cotton clothes that were all stitched together. The performance saw each person tear away from the group to escape to another room. Spectators could either watch them going past through a glass door, or see the whole process playing out on screens outside. Another variation arrived with #7, Hu Xiangqian. Here, the witty Guangdong artist chose to use the allotted area only as a site to display a video documenting an absurdist performance – in which he used his own body as a ‘museum’ to challenge the dominant systems and power of museums — on the grass outside Taikang Space on the opening afternoon. In this case, then, the action contained within 51m² was residual – secondary to actions that happened outside it.

Ma Qiusha
马秋莎

The theme of time also entered the projects. In a spontaneous vein, Lu Zhengyuan set himself the task of creating something every day according to a ‘compulsory schedule’, thus mimicking the temporal frame of ‘51m²’. The results — occurring mainly from instances of interaction with objects and materials from his daily life — were variously inventive (a sculpture made from chicken wings), organic (body hair and dirt), and surreal (a shoe swallowed by a knot of Styrofoam). A product not of the urban but of old cycles, heavy seasons and the use and decay of materials was Yan Bing’s project that brought powerful natural presences into the space in the form of mud and bucolic detritus, reformed into an abstract ‘Construct’, for example, and made totemic as a shovel bound in hemp. Time also arose in a discussion about the project between six of the artists in June 2010. Zhao Zhao commented that he had hoped for a program less ‘planned’ and more fast-paced; on the other hand, Zhao Yao felt that sufficient time to ‘process’ each project following its exhibition was lacking. Was the format in fact too safe? Su Wenxiang asked.

Xu Qu
徐渠

The question, however, is arguably not whether or not the project was finally ‘too safe’ (a subjective judgement), but whether it succeeded in generating such questions. ‘51m²’ was without doubt designed to assert Taikang Space’s new premises in Caochangdi; indeed, perhaps a study of the first major shows designed for new or refurbished gallery spaces would give a productive impression of what, in the present moment, is felt to have real impact, to cement the identity of a space. It is not as yet clear what the imprint of ‘51m²’ will be or how it will develop; attitudes now may be roughly divided between seeing the project as a brave experimental exercise with a refreshingly straightforward diction, and those who found it overly compacted – too much like a batch of contemporary artists in a nutshell. This article aims to point up these kinds of responses rather than to posit fixed opinions. As a project aiming to integrate art, time, space and idea systematically and apparently without much curatorial ado – and whether successfully or not – ‘51m²’ opens lines of questioning that are most positive in the sense that they are far from being resolved soon.

Lu Zhengyuan
卢征远