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YAO JUICHUNG
28 June - 23 August 2003
Aspex Gallery Portsmouth
Gods and monsters that inhabit ephemeral, ficticious or utopian realms are featured in Yao Juichung's photographic installations. The artist examines the human plight and explores our need to immerse ourselves in a world of illusion in order to escape the helplessness of real life.
Yao Juichung is a Taiwanese artist, critic and curator with an international reputation. He represented Taiwan at the Venice Biennale in 1997 and has exhibited extensively in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America.
ZHAN WANG AND SUI JIANGUO
26 March - 18 May 2003
Economist Plaza, St. James's Street SW1
Outside at the Economist Plaza The Red Mansion Foundation exhibited sculptures by two distinguished Chinese artists, Sui Jianguo and Zhan Wang.
DREAM 01
11 October - 21 October 2001
Chinese Art in the 21st Century @ The Atlantis
The exhibition showcased 75 works by 20 of the most exciting artists from China.
As China adopts some of the most fundamental characteristics of a capitalist society, from mass advertising to the emergence of nouveau riches, from shopping malls to skyscrapers, the pace of change is simply bewildering. DREAM was both a product and a reflection of this extraordinary stage in China's history.
The works we gathered together, incorporating a broad range of media (oil, wood-cut, ink, sculpture, photography, video, installation and performance art), provide a cultural synopsis of contemporary Chinese urban society.
China has changed immensely over the past three decades, and this is reflected in the development of its art forms. The end of the Cultural Revolution in the 1970s, followed by Deng Xiao Ping's open-door policy in the early 1980's led to a revolution in the Chinese art establishment. The floodgates of information were opened and this exposed Chinese society to half a century of Western art and literature in one measure.
Chinese cultural policy has become increasingly tolerant, creating more room for artistic expression, with the result that there are now several generations of artists each with differing experiences and perspectives of China's recent history.
The floodgates of information were opened and this exposed Chinese society to half a century of Western art and literature in one measure. Chinese cultural policy has become increasingly tolerant, creating more room for artistic expression, with the result that there are now several generations of artists each with differing experiences and perspectives of China's recent history.
Collectively, the artists are unified by their newly found freedom to focus on self-evaluation, exploring questions about individuality and the new consumer society that they live in.
Some of the Chinese avant-garde are creating works that would be prohibited in the UK - "Many of the works by these artists make Hirst and Emin look tame..." comments Kwok. "They are part of the extreme and urgent artistic debate that has emerged after the upheaval of the Cultural Revolution in China - in fact, it's probably the richest and most engaging artistic debate currently taking place anywhere in the world."
DREAM 01 represented the first opportunity for the British public to gain an insight into the whole spectrum of contemporary Chinese Art.
THE TALE OF ANGELS
Featured Artists: Gao Shiqiang, Jiang Zhi, Kwok Ying, Miao Xiaochun,
Shi Jinsong, Xiang Jing and Xiao Yu
Curated by: Jiang Jiehong
Dates: 26th February - 24th April 2009
Blades and latex: A Chinese re-imagining of a traditional Christian icon...
Angels are first described in the Bible. Created by God as a separate, higher order of creatures than humans, they possess aspects of intelligence, emotions, and free will. Today, angels are continuously imagined and represented, both in literature and visually, beyond their theological context and biblical origins; at the same time, the image of angels has been utilized for curiosity, communication or faith.
In the history of Western art, there have been numerous images representing angels, usually winged in appearance, implying their nature as God's heralds and flying creatures. In China, these spiritual beings have always been deemed as Western, yet, to many, the contemporary imaginings of angels do not necessarily derive from the original source, (their description in the Bible), but instead depend on the visual interpretations of Western art. This exhibition, The Tale of Angels, aims to set up a framework for discussion, and to encourage and invite Chinese artists to expand their boundaries, and develop new ideas for visual response. It intends to re-examine not only the theoretical notion of an angel, but also, more significantly, the ways in which angels, particularly in the context of Western culture, could be re-imagined. To the artist Shi Jinsong, the beauty of angels has an innocent quality. At an initial glance, his recent stainless steel installation of a Christmas tree has a glorious metallic shine, but it a closer look reveals some fearsome sharpened blades. This work exposes the balance between the beauty of angels and their potentially wrathful nature, and more importantly, the conflict between the amiability of 'imagination' and the injuriousness of 'realisation'. Jiang Zhi has imagined another chilling visualization; that of the flayed flesh of an angel, vulnerable in its nakedness and desolation, like a discarded skin.
Two lectures by the curator will be given during the course of the show, dates and topics tbc. Dr Jiang Jiehong is Senior Lecturer and Director of the Centre for Chinese Visual Arts at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, Birmingham City University.
Cang Xin has been an important representative of Chinese performance art throughout the 90’s. Constantly challenging the limits of his body and preconceptions of what performance art can be he has moved away from Western conceptual art to an altogether more searching and philosophical stance. His recent work has been inspired by Shamanism and includes his ‘Licking’ series in which he interacts with the internal spirit of each object.
In November 2006 Cang Xin was invited to London by The Red Mansion Foundation to take part in an artist residency, part of our wider programme of exchange activities. He stayed in London for 3 weeks during which time he produced a new series of work ‘Identity Exchange: London Series’, a continuation of the ongoing ‘Identity Exchange’ series.
1967
Born in Suihua, Heilongjiang Province, China
1988
Studied at the Tianjin Academy of Music, China
1991
Studied paint by himself
2006
Lives and works in 798 Factory, Beijing, China
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2006
“EXISTENCE IN TRANSLATION 1993-2006”, Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong, China
“OUTSIDE CONTEXT PROBLEM”, Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong, China
“GALLERY ARTISTS GROUP SHOW 6”, Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong, China
“CANG XIN – ONA B – THE GREAT WALL”, Magazin4, Bregenzer Kunstverein, Bregenz, Austria
2005
“VEHICLE AND MIRROR”, Beijing New Art Projects, Beijing, China Tribute to 85, Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
“BETWEEN PAST AND FUTURE: NEW PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEO FROM CHINA”, V&A, London, UK
“GALLERY ARTISTS – GROUP SHOW 5”, Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong, China
“BEIJING CONTEMPORARY”, Galerie Kampl, Munich, Germany
“OUT OF THE RED – 2: THE PHOTOGRAPHIC SESSION”, Marella Gallery, Milan, Italy
“LIVING IN INTERESTING TIMES – A DECADE OF NEW CHINESE PHOTOGRAPHY”, The Open Museum of Photography, Haifa, Israel
“BODY SCAPE”, Contemporary Chinese Photography and Performance Documentation, Red Gate Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
“UNUSUAL SCENE – FIVE CHINESE CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS”, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
“INWARD GAZES”, Documentaries of Chinese Performance Art, Macao Museum of Art, Macao
2004
“SPELLBOUND AURA”, The New Vision of Chinese Photography, Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei
“SENS INTERDITS?”, Sensuality in Contemporary Chinese Art, Equipe des Arts Plastiques de l’ADDC; Ville et Centre Cultural
“BETWEEN PAST AND FUTURE”, New Photography and Video from CHINA; New York, International Center of Photography; Asia Society Chicago, David Alfred Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art; Seattle, Art Museum; London, Victoria and Albert Museum; Berlin, Haus der Kulturen der Welt; Santa Barbara Museum of Art
“THE 9th NIPAF ASIAN PERFORMANCE ART SERIES ’04”, Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto, Nagano
“MOVING ON”, Contemporary art Museum, National University of Singapore
“THE 4th PINGYAO INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL”, Pingyao, Shanxi
“PUBLIC TERRITORY”, the 1st Architectural Biennial Beijing, Public Space and Urban Environment
“CHINESE CONTEMPORARY ART PHOTOGRAPH EXHIBITION”, Cologne, Germany
2003
“ASIAN ART FESTIVAL”, Japan, Fokouka Asian Gallery
“BARE ANDROGYNY”, Beijing, China
“A STRONGE HEAVEN”, Contemporary Chinese Photography Vienna National Museum, France National Museum, Czechoslovakia National Museum.
“PUBLIC SPACE AND PERSONAL EYES – NEW VISION IN CHINA”, Kampnagel Artist Center, Hamburg, Germany
2002
“N IDENTITY”, Nanjing, CHINA
“BIENNALE OF SYDNEY- THE WORLD MAY BE FANTASTIC”, Sydney, Australia
“MASK Vs. FACE”, Redgate Gallery, Beijing, China
“PHOTOGRAPHY GROUP EXHIBITION”, Courtyard Gallery, Beijing China
“KE LI LANG OVER-INTEREST CONTEMPORAY ART EXHIBITION”, Singapore
“PINGYAO INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL”, Pingyao, Shanxi
“MAKING DREAM”, Portrait Donglang Gallery, Shanghai
“BRIDGE-CONTEMPORARY ART EXHIBITION”, Jilin Changchun
“THE 1 GUANGZHOU TRIENNIAL”, Guangdong Art Museum, Guangdong
2001
“CHARMING CHINA”, Bangkok, Thailand
“THE 8th INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCE ART”, Tokyo, Japan
“HOT POT”, Kinesisk Samtidskunst, Chinese Contemporary Art, Norway
“VIRTUAL FUTURE”, GuangDong Museum of Art
“HONG KONG CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY”, Hong Kong Art Center
“CONTEMPORARY CHINESE PHOTOGRAPHY”, Galerie Loft, Paris, France
“UPRISING”, Singapore, Kualu Lumpar, Taiwan, Beijing, Macau
“ANNUAL EXHIBITION OF CHINESE PHOTOGRAPHY”, Shandong, Dong Ying, China
“COURTYARD GALLERY FOUR PERSON EXHIBITION”, Courtyard Gallery, Beijing, China
“NICE CHINESE PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL”, Nice City, France
“DIALOGO”, Chinese contemporary art exhibition, Mantova, Italy
“CHINESE CONTEMPORARY PERFORMANCE PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION”, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong
“DIALOGO – OTHERS”, Chinese contemporary art exhibition, Chiesa Santa Teresa dei Maschi, Bari, Italy
“KNOWLEDGE IS POWER”, Chinese contemporary art exhibition, Beijing Xidan, China
2000
“XIEYANG ISLAND PERFORMANCE ART FESTIVAL”, Guangxi, China
“2000 IMAGE AND NET ART Exhibition”, Changchun, China
“HOME? CONTEMPORARY ART Project”, show, Shanghai, China
“MAN AND ANIMALS”, performance art show, Beijing, China
“INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY ART INTERFLOW EXHIBITION”, Nanjing, China
“PHOTOGRAPHS OF FOUR ARTISTS”, show, London, UK
“AMAZING CHINA”, Eastlink Gallery, Shanghai, China
“INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCE ART FESTIVAL”, Beijing, China
“ASIAN ART FESTIVAL”, performance art photo exhibition, Paris, France
“DOCUMENTATION OF CHINESE AVANT-GARDE ART IN 90’s”, Fuknoka Asian Art Museum, Japan
“CHINA’S HUMAN LANDSCAPES”, Land Art Exhibition, Guilin, China
“UNUSUAL AND USUAL”, Contemporary Art Exhibition, Shanghai, China
1999
“MODERN PHOTOGRAPHY OF FOUR ARTISTS”, Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
“OUT OF CONTROL”, Beijing Design Museum, CHINA
“START FROM CHINA”, New Art Exhibition, Beijing
“UNUSUAL WAY OF WRITING”, show, Art Academy of Nanjing Normal University. China
“DOCUMENTATION OF CHINESE INSTALLATION ART EXHIBITION”, Hong Kong
1998
“431 VIDEO AND COMPUTER ART EXHIBITION”, Changchun, China
1997
“PROGRAM FOR THE PATIENT: AUTO-WRITE”, solo show of performance art, Beijing, China
1996
“CAGE”, Installation and performance show, Beijing, China
“COMMUNICATION”, Solo show of performance art, Beijing, China
1995
“HEIGHTEN THE NAMELESS MOUNTAIN BY ONE METER”, performance art, Beijing
“ORIGINAL SOUND”, performance art show, Beijing, China
“CHINESE CONTEMPORARY ART EXHIBITION”, Changchun, China
1994
“ASIA CONTEMPORARY ART”, Tokyo, Osaka, Japan
“POST ELEVEN”, Zhaoyao Gallery, Beijing, China
“VIRUS SERIES: TRAMPLE THE FACE”, Sole show of performance art, Beijing, China
1993
“VIRUS SERIES: No.1”, Sole show of performance art, Beijing, China
CAO FEI
Cao Fei is no doubt one of the most remarkable and powerful artists of this generation. Born in 1978 in Guangzhou, Cao Fei has grown up in the world of electronic entertainments and advertisements. Fascinated by the vibrant landscapes of the consumer society, She started with her artistic career at an extremely young age. Cao Fei has developed a highly personal language of image making demonstrating the fantasy, desire, critique and jouissance vis-à-vis the mutating reality.
Cao Fei’s work was recently shown at China Power Station: Part 1, an off-site Serpentine Gallery exhibition of contemporary Chinese video, sound and installation art co-produced by The Red Mansion Foundation at Battersea Power Station.
1978 Born in Guangzhou
1997 Graduated from the Affiliated Middle School of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts
2001 Graduated from Guangzhou Academy of Fine Art
Now lives and works in Guangzhou
Solo Exhibition:
2005 “Cosplayers”, Lombard-Freid Fine Arts, New York
”Cosplayers”, CourtYard Gallery, Beijing
2004 “San Yuan Li”, CourtYard Gallery, Beijing
Group Exhibition:
2005 The 2nd Guangzhou Triennia: “BEYOND”, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou
”Out of Sight”, De Appel Foundation of Amsterdam, Amsterdam
”Parallel Realities”: Asian Art Now, 3th Fukuoka Triennale, Fukuoka, Japan
”Follow Me!” Contemporary Chinese Art at the Threshold of the Millennium, Mori Museum, Tokyo
”I still believe in miracles”, Part.II, Musée d’Art Moderne de la ville de Paris / ARC, Paris
”CIRCULAR-domus”, San Siro stadium, Milan
”Emergency Biennale in Chechnya”, Palais de Tokyo, Paris
”The 1st Moscow Biennial: Dialectics of Hope”, Mosow, Russia
”Yoko Ono: Water Event 2005”, Astrup Fearnley Museum, Oslo, Norway
”London Chinese Film Festival 2005 SOAS”, University of London, London
“Beijing Case: Culture of the High Speed Urbanism”, German Federal Cultural Foundation (Kulturstiftung des Bundes), German
2004 “Do It”, Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami
”Nuit Blanche”, Art Public Contemporain, Paris
”Impakt Festival”, Utrecht, Netherlands
”Past in Reverse: Contemporary Art of East Asia”, San Diego Museum of Art
”Die Chinesen: Contemporary Photography and Video in China”, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany
”5th Shanghai Biennial”, Shanghai Museum of Art, Shanghai
”China Moon”, Watermill Center 2004 Summer Program, New York
”A l’Est du Sud de l’Ouest”, Centre National d’Art Contemporain, Villa Arson Nice, France
”Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video From China”, ICP and Asia Society, New York
”Taetig Sein”, Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kuenst e.V. (NGBK), Berlin
”China Now”, Gramercy Theatre, Museum of Modern Art, New York
”Heads & Portraits”, Produzentengalerie, Hamburg
”Feverish Unconscious”, Chambers Fine Art, New York
”Generation Video”, Maison Europeenne de la Photographie, Paris
”Out the Window: Spaces of Distraction”, Japan Foundation, Tokyo; Darling Art Foundation, Seoul
2003 Left Wing, Left Bank Community, Beijing
”Screening Programme”, MK2 (Bibliothèque), Paris
”Fabricated Paradises”, Le Parvis centre d’art contemporain, Ibos, France
”10th Biennial of the Moving Image”, Geneva
”Zooming into Focus”: Chinese Contemporary Photography from the Haudenschild Collection, San Diego State University & San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego
”Public Space and Personal Eyes”, Kampnagel, Hamburg
”Alors la Chine”, Centre Pompidou, Paris
”Z.O.U.”, 50th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
”+system”, Short Videos from the World 2002-2003, BizArt, Shanghai
”The Minority Is Subordinate to the Majority”, BizArt, Shanghai
2002 “In/Video”, Milan
”Kino Film Festival”, Manchester, UK
Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou
”Media City” Seoul 2002, Korea
Gwangju Biennale, Korea
Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, France
”Making China”, Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York
2001 “Weightlessness”, Galerie Volker Diehl, Berlin
”The New Media Art Festival: Non-linear Narrative”, National Academy of Art, Hangzhou
”Living in Time”, Hamburger Bahnhof Contemporary Art Museum, Berlin
”City Slang”, Art Village, Hong Kong
Berlin Biennale, Berlin
”Take Part”, Galerie Urs Meile, Luzern, Switzerland
”Virtual Future”, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou
2000 “Fuck Off”, Eastlink Gallery, Shanghai
”Pusan International Contemporary Art Festival: Leaving the Island”, Pusan, Korea
”PhotoEspana 2000”, Madrid
1999 “8th Biennial of Moving Images”, Saint-Gervais Geneva, Switzerland
”4th Cross-Strait”, Hong Kong and Macau Student Film & Video Festival, Hong Kong
“Video screening”, Galerie Büro Friedrich, Berlin