2016.04.16 Sat, by
CHINA NOW
OXO Gallery, London

[press release]

11 May – 22 May 2016 11.00-18.00
Media Preview: 11 May 16.00-18.30
Opening Reception: Wednesday 11 May 18.30-20.30 gallery@oxo, Oxo Tower Wharf, South Bank, London, SE1 9PH Selling Exhibition of Young Contemporary Chinese Artists

“Today, to be a Chinese contemporary artist, one does not need to be a spokesperson for any political ideology. The unprecedented diversity is the nature of YCAs.” —Lang Xiao and Lin Shuchuan
Curated by Lin Shuchuan from The Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts, the ChinaNow exhibition invites 10 leading Young Chinese Artists (YCAs) to exhibit their works in London together for the first time. Ranging from paintings, sculptures and digital art, artists Chen Chenchen, Double Fly Art Centre, Feng Zhengquan, Han Jianyu, Huang Yishan, Shan Dingkai, Wu Didi, Wang Yuyang, Wu Jian’an and Zhang Quan, represent the indefinable diversity of YCAs.

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Over the past three decades, China has not only witnessed its economy growing exponentially, but also its contemporary art market. Todays’ China, the world’s second largest economy, had recently over-taken the UK to become the second largest global art market. Although these positions have switched back following the economic slowdown, it is undeniable that the Chinese art market has become increasingly globalized and diverse. Ai Weiwei is still the dominant icon of Chinese contemporary art in the eyes of western audiences and an ever wider range of Chinese contemporary artists names are frequently included in international auction houses and exhibitions. Mainland China’s top collectors have begun to shift their eyes from Chinese contemporary art towards the western modern masters, while the rapidly emerging Chinese private art museum sector, has also become thirsty for western modern and contemporary art exhibitions. Moreover, this dynamic evolution has brought the young Chinese artists (YCAs), born after 1975, a vast variety of choices and unlimited possibilities, allowing this generation to create work with more freedom and less restrictions than ever before. According to Lang Xiao and Lin Shuchuan, the producer and curator of the ChinaNow exhibition, “Today, to be a Chinese contemporary artist, one does not need to be a spokesperson for any political ideology. The unprecedented diversity is the nature of YCAs.”
“Choosing London to present the ChinaNow exhibition is because this great city is the birthplace of YBAs (Young British Artists). Like YBAs, YCAs share the same ‘can-do spirit’, said Lang Xiao. Although YCAs is not a new concept, ChinaNow will attempt to define an indefinable group with the following ten features:

YCAs
1. Born after 1975, as the only child of the family. Due to China’s “one-child policy” (imposed in 1978- 2015), most YCAs are the only and last generation of single-child Chinese families.
2. Graduated from China’s art academies with solid art techniques
3.The generation of social media (if not the western Facebook or Twitter, but Chinese WeChat and Weibo) 4. Ambitious and self-confident
5. Eager to stay in tune with the western art market and power dynamics in the global art world
6. Having witnessed the takeoff of contemporary Chinese art market, with different insights on “success”
from Chinese artists of previous generations
7. Rooted in the high-powered market economy and everyday competition of urban life
8. Domestic migrants – pursuing careers in China’s Tier-1 mega-cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou
9. Non-ideological: No needs or willingness to be a spokesperson for any political ideology, avoiding self- labeling
10. Rising in tandem with the same-age Chinese collectors, patrons and brand-new museums

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All of the ChinaNow artists, who were born after 1975, graduated from the most well-known Chinese art academies, such as the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. Without exception, the 10 artists are pursing their careers in China’s mega-cities, particularly in Tier-One cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. With more than 20 artworks, the ChinaNow exhibition will reflect the diversity and dynamics of Chinese society today. For example, a looping video by Double Fly Art Centre (a collective of nine contemporary artists, founded in 2008) explores the influence of FaceTime as a modern communication technology on society, while artist Wu Jian’an, inspired by the ancient tradition of ‘paper cut’, presents figures from Chinese mythology, connecting the complicated relationship between popular, modern western culture and historic Chinese art in his collage work Intertwined Power.
On the opening day, ChinaNow will invite Mr. Marko Daniel, Curator and Convenor of Public Programs at Tate, Dr. Katie Hill, Program Leader of Art of Asia and their Markets at Sotheby’s Institute of Art and Ms Karen Levy, Owner of DSLcollection and Director & Co-founder of The Art of This Century, to join a panel discussion on ChinaNow – Young Artists, Young Collectors, and Young Museums, to share their insights on emerging trends in China’s contemporary art scene.
Club1985 – an international and invitation-only network for collectors and patrons, who are willing to foster a greater interest and understanding of contemporary Chinese art by YCAs, will be launched during the ChinaNow exhibition.
————————————————Exhibitions Facts——————————————————-
【Curator】Lin Shuchuan, The Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts (AMNUA), China 【Producer】Lang Xiao, ARTouch Consulting
【VIP Preview】11 May 2016 18.30-20.30
【Public】11 May-22 May 2016 11.00-18.00
【Tickets】Admission free
【Location】Gallery @ OXO, Oxo Tower Wharf, Bargehouse Street, South Bank, London, SE1 9PH 【Panel Discussion】11 May 2016 China Now- Young Artists, Young Collectors, and Young Museums 17.15 【Social Media】Facebook/Twitter/Instagram @ARTouchConsulting or @Chinaowexhibition #Chinanow

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About Curator
Lin Shuchuan (B. 1986)
Lin Shuchuan is a curator, documentary producer and art critic. He works as the curator at The Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts. His curating career has started since 2007. He is particularly interested in young Chinese independent and undiscovered artists, and actively promotes these artists through exhibitions and documentaries, such as ‘Polyphony’ and ‘Semi-Freedom’ long-term art projects. He has also successfully curated solo exhibitions for leading Chinese artists, including Qiu Zhijie, Yue Minjun and Zhu Yingchun.

About Producer
Lang Xiao (B.1987)
Graduated from Renmin University of China and The London School of Economics and Political Science in media and communication, Lang Xiao founded ARTouch Consulting, a London-based arts PR & arts Consultancy in 2013. Specialising in cross-cultural communications campaigns, projects in China and the UK, the company has successfully organised several art exhibitions for international famous artists and worked with leading art institutions and commercial brands, such as E&Y, Burberry, British Museum, The Lowry, and Henry Moore Foundation. In 2014, She co-organised British modern artists L.S. Lowry’s first ever overseas museum exhibition in China. With her achievement in the art and cultural industry, she was selected to join the inaugural Chinese Diaspora Emerging Leadership Program, initiated by Lord Nat Wei in 2013. She became a Fellow of Royal Society of Arts and a member of Chartered Institute of PR in London in 2015. Now she is the Young Patron of Institute of Contemporary Art, London.

About ARTouch Consulting
ARTouch Consulting is a London-based arts PR & arts consultancy, specializing in cross-cultural communications campaigns and projects in China and the UK, as well as representing artists in the two countries. Founded in 2013 by Lang Xiao, ARTouch Consulting has already organized a number of successful museum and gallery exhibitions, and engaged with art fairs, international festivals and art consulting projects, including organizing British modern painter L.S. Lowry’s first ever overseas museum exhibition in China. Clients and partners include E&Y, Burberry, The British Museum, The Lowry, Henry Moore Foundation, AXA, The Lowry, Crane Kalman Gallery, The Art Museum of Nanjing University of China, British Council, China-Britain Business Council, BBC, The Royal College of Art, University of the Arts London, Fringe, City Academy London, Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, London Southbank and so on.

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