Participant Artists: Zhu Ming, Xiao Lu, Huang Rui, Duan Yingmei, Cang Xin, Zhou Bin, He Yunchang, Yang Zhichao, Xing Xin, He Chengyao, Dong Jinling, Liu Chengrui, Zhang Binbin
Curators: Cecilia Freschini,Jonas Stampe,Chen Yunbing
KCCA is pleased to present Beyond Action, a curatorial project by Cecilia Freschini, Jonas Stampe and Chen Yunbing, which comes in two parts: an accurate selection of contemporary Chinese performance art, accompanied by a series of live actions. A critical journey on performance art in China that will start on the opening day and then will take part every weekends till the end of the exhibition. Under the conception of Beyond Action, curators drive the audiences to a historical panoramic and deep comprehension regards of the state of performance art in China. At the same time, viewers will also experience performance art dynamic and seductive power through a series of site specific live works thanks to a sort of performance festival complementary to the main exhibition. This will provides and promotes a direct meeting with artists and their work during the happening of the creation process. This unique event, thought of as critical studio, put together figures crucial to the happenings of Chinese performance art which often have spelled the international contemporaneity. In fact these thirteen well known participating artists have been active since decades within the field of performance art, most of them are very famous internationally where their work has been recognized and selected for relevant art event such as the Venice Biennale and other significant big events. This narrative incorporates documentations about previous performance; it is a collection of photographs, video and objects related to one select work for each artist.
Curatorial Statement:
“A paradigm shift seems to occur on the international art scene. It is slow like all changes. But it is there. It is a constant and it is global. It formulates a new understanding of contemporary art. With behavior art at its core. Many fundamental Chinese cultural characteristics constitute some of the most essential qualities in behavior art and its proximity is stronger than we first may think. So, it is no coincidence that some of today’s most important performers are Chinese indeed, with a number of them present in this show. With this exhibition we suggest a historical discourse, which retraces the specific path that performance art has taken from his very first beginnings till now, in order to remember and to state how much this practice has been playing an important yes vital role for the development of contemporary art in China. As the title suggests, our intention is to focus on the artists soul and consciousness, beyond actions, in order to apprehend and explore the particular spirit of performance art in China.”
