“A New Beginning,” group exhibition with He Duoling, Li Jikai, Liu Wei, Ma Dan, Ma Yanling, Shi Xinning, Wang Jinsong, Wang Yin, Xu Zhongming, Ye Funa, Yu Fan.
Amy Li Gallery (No. 54 Caochangdi, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100015). Apr 16 – May 25, 2013
Amy Li Gallery — the new, eponymous incarnation of Dialogue Space — opened this week in foreseeable style. It has upped sticks from the Pingod development in Beijing’s CBD (where it lurked behind Today Art Museum) to a wave-walled grey brick block in Caochangdi. In what is a predictable bid to appeal to different tastes as well as to show off a good slice of its stable, there are works by twelve artists on show. They range from rather obvious paintings to more daring acts of sculpture. There are two works by the ever-angsty Li Jikai, and two pretty canvases by He Duoling From Yin Zhaoyang are oil paintings depicting mountains or rocky outcrops that are craggy in both content and texture. In the center of this, the second and larger room, stands Xu Zhongmin’s striking kinetic sculpture “Spinning.” In it, a metal cylinder encased inside another made of glass supports a white head upon a tripod, with four metals balls that remind one of balancing devices or anachronistic timers. The head spins at different rates, and the work description contains the intriguing line “In many times, speed determines the result of things” [sic].
Fittingly entitled “A New Beginning,” this exhibition takes the opportunity to enact a “manifesto” for the gallery, delivered also though the wall text. “In these times of diminishing aura” (yikes!) we are told, Amy Li and her artists will be pursuing “imagination…intelligence and sincerity” — now who doesn’t want to do that?
Li Jikai, “Lighting Fire,” acrylic on canvas, 200 x 146 cm, 2013
李继开, “点火”, 布面丙烯 200 x 146cm, 2013
Li Jikai, “Boy and Boat,” acrylic on canvas, 80 x 100 cm, 2013
李继开, ” 船与男孩”, 布面丙烯, 80 x 100cm, 2013
Ye Funa, “Fake Scenery Utopia, ” video, 36.5 x 61 cm, 2013
叶甫纳, “假景-乌托乡行”, 录像, 36.5 x 61 cm, 2013
Wang Jinsong, “Ink Scenery No.59,” ink on paper, 366 x 72 cm, 2009
王劲松, ” 水墨风景 No.59″, 布面油画, 366 x 72 cm, 2009
Shi Xinning, “On The Set,” oil on canvas, 200 x 160 cm, 2011
石心宁, “片场”, 布面油画, 200 x 160 cm, 2011
