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1933 Contemporary Grand Opening in Shanghai

Inaugural Exhibition: Stone, Wood, Paradise Syndrome

Artist: Edith Dekyndt, Hu Yun, Li Jinghu, Liu Yin, Sunoj D, Sinisa llic, Tricia Middleton, Vicki Ling, Yu Ji

Curator: Maja Ciric

Exhibition Director: Shi Haiyan

 

Opening: October 18, 2014, 2pm

Duration: October 18th –December 28th

Venue: 1933 Contemporary

Unit 1-311, 1933 Shanghai, 611 Liyang Road, Shanghai, China

T: +86(21) 3258 2558

If the purpose of an exhibition is to create knowledge that is greater than the sum of its parts, the title of the inaugural exhibition at 1933 Contemporary, does not reveal only its inner formal, conceptual and geo-political structure, but  gallery’s overall and long term intensions.

What is it to curate if not to make a selection of artistic positions and to find the line that connects them all that resonates in a specific context?

Looking from the inside, the space is formally and conceptually divided in three parts, each part corresponding to one of the aspects in the title: Stone, Wood and Paradise Syndrome. In terms of materials of the artworks, they (in)directly evoke stone and wood, as elements of inner structure of the historical building in which the exhibition is taking place, while the Paradise Syndrome refers to the historical legacy of the building. The materials are connecting the exhibited artworks with a local context and its sensibility visually, but simultaneously they connect different cultural positions. The formal here, reveals the conceptual. Fundamentally organized around dominant universal materials such as wood and stone, this exhibition seems open to different influences, yet it shows an exclusive selection. Three parts of the title, have a second layer of meaning, they resonate with universality.

If curating implies taking care of an exhibition, this project is an opportunity to present choices grounded in the independent thought. The choices of artists and artworks are not only market driven, but predominantly driven by caring for the positioning of both the artist and the artworks. When it comes to artists, this exhibition is trans-generational and trans-national, while in terms of artworks this exhibition showcases the artworks that have not yet been exhibited in Shanghai. Geo-politically, the exhibition abandons the international aspect, in which the artists would solely be exposed as an extension of the national art world, and reinforces the trans-national aspect of the art world that relates to the gallery vision to represent, both emerging and established global players of the art world. Articulated as a trans-generational and trans-national, this exhibition transcends the existing positioning in the art world.

To walk from the room entitled Stone to the room entitled Paradise Syndrome implies going a distanceOn a metaphorical level, it takes a distance to articulate the cannons of contemporary curating in a way that they resonate properly in a local context. It takes a distance to make an exhibition that showcases new aspects of some Chinese artists, as well as it takes a distance to present renowned, but not predictable selection of foreign artists. It takes the distance to make unpredictable, yet valuable choices.

In order to create an exhibition that is larger than a sum of its parts, this exhibition opens new chapter in what referring to exhibition making in the commercial realm in China today can imply. The title refers to how reconfigured positions are negotiated and investigate the roles that artists and curators perform in the gallery framework they inhabit.

Artists drew disparate works together through notions of site-specificity while their positions are resonating with universal questions. The gallery vision is that way articulated through formal approach.

About the Curator

Maja Ciric (37) is an independent curator with more than ten years of international experience in Europe, Middle East, Asia and USA. She was involved in numerous projects requiring in depth knowledge of art world agents, contexts and conditions, resulting in a considerable global network. She was the curator (2007) and the commissioner (2013) of the Serbian pavilion at the Venice Biennale and is named as one of the 100 global curators in 2012 by the SAATCHI Gallery in London.

Maja has an international interdisciplinary background in art history, art theory, curating, cultural and gender studies.

Her area of expertise is the research of the geopolitics and the curatorial.

About 1933 Contemporary

Located in 1933 Shanghai, the most inspiring historical architecture of art deco style combined with an oriental feature of square outside and round inside structure, 1933 Contemporary is finely located with a peculiar space that completely inherits the unique building structure and its spatial relationships as a former abattoir and derelict factory, recognizably the last remaining of its design in the world. With approximately 700 square metres in construction and an exhibition space of 400 square metres, the gallery is committed to representing and exhibiting fascinating visions produced by both emerging and established artists with an annual program that comprises at least six exhibitions, accompanied by catalogues and publications as well as presences at varied art fairs internationally.

Founded in 2011, the gallery was previously located in the M50 art complex of Shanghai, in which it worked as a platform for emerging talents having launched and fostered the career of some of China’s most prominent young artists, while established itself as a gallery maintaining a vision on both institutional perspectives and the market.

  • Edith Dekyndt_Paradise Syndrome_installation_2014

    Edith Dekyndt_Paradise Syndrome_installation_2014

  • Hu Yun_The Secret Garden Reeve’s Pheasant_2014

    Hu Yun_The Secret Garden Reeve’s Pheasant_2014

  • Siniša Ilić_Centres I_2014

    Siniša Ilić_Centres I_2014

  • Siniša Ilić_Centres_installation and paintings_2014

    Siniša Ilić_Centres_installation and paintings_2014

  • Sunoj D._Hanging Rice Field_2011

    Sunoj D._Hanging Rice Field_2011

  • Tricia Middleton_Blood Circle_2014

    Tricia Middleton_Blood Circle_2014