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Germinators
dal 1/7/2008 al 29/7/2008

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ChinaSquare



 
calendario eventi  :: 




1/7/2008

Germinators

ChinaSquare, New York

Germinators includes the work of 11 up-and-coming artists from China and Taiwan, whose work deeply addresses and begins to strip barethe reality of the radical change and societalrestructuring that is playing out across the domestic landscapetoday.


comunicato stampa

Essay by Eric C. Shiner

ChinaSquare Gallery New York is pleased to present Germinators, a group featuring Cao Jingping , Chen Wei, Li Jikai , Liao Yibai , Ma'chunfu , Qu Jieheng , Unmask, Wang Haiyang , Wang Tiantian , Wang Yaqiang , and Zhang Peng . Germinators, on view from July 2nd to 28th with a reception on July 10th from 6 to 8pm, is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue with an essay by Eric C. Shiner.

Germinators includes the work of 11 up-and-coming artists from China and Taiwan, whose work deeply addresses and begins to strip bare the reality of the radical change and societal restructuring that is playing out across the domestic landscape today. Much like a seed nestled deep within the earth that gradually sends out shoots struggling to break free in pursuit of the sun, the work presented in Germinators is equally engaged in the germination of a wholly new social landscape that grows in leaps and bounds as it both analyzes that growth and becomes part of it in equal measure.

As China and Taiwan continue their radical journey into uncharted territory, so, too, do artists living there engage in a most-intriguing game that attempts to make light of the new world around them. The works included in this exhibition, in all of its raw and powerful imagery, seem to fuse notions of organic bodies colliding with technology and the future, and at times with Nature itself. All of it points directly to the stark realities of contemporary life in these two cultures marked by constant flux. Looking carefully at the artists' works, it soon becomes apparent that, for them, change is a most fertile field from which to draw subject matter.

Painter Cao Jingping presents large-scale images of insects that not only reflect the strong Chinese tradition of nature painting, but also seem to hint at a menacing presence thanks to the sheer size of the bugs depicted. Cao conceptually links the ideas of industrial grit and (re)production: the two most certainly go hand-in-hand as China continues its drive into the future.

Artist Chen Wei addresses the realm of Nature in his large floral paintings. Chen's wispy brushwork invokes imagery of a strong gust of wind that seems to further rend the flowers from their earthen foundations; there is an intrinsic violence in these otherwise beautiful paintings, something that, in their balance between good and evil, is alluring nonetheless.

Li Jikai is concerned with the physicality of the earth, here presenting a view of the globe, seemingly conquered placidly it would seem by a young boy in hip street clothes who has laid claim to the upper reaches of North America in his large painting Crawling on the Earth (2008). Li presciently addresses the global fear of China's growing might, yet subverts it with his soft palette and seemingly innocuous child's play.

Sculptor Liao Yibai works within the vocabulary of play, but with often sinister underpinnings. Liao's sculptures represent martyrdom of the flesh with the victory of the manmade/industrial. Liao distorts the natural, creating a hybrid character that might be equal parts dog, lizard, bird and dragon, although its shining metallic façade completely negates the idea of a living, breathing being.

Young Taiwanese painter Ma'chunfu addresses the ever-increasing points of contact between Nature and Technology in his angst-ridden pictures that often feature a young boy surrounded by, and usually trapped within, the networks of our new industrial age. Ma'Chunfu's paintings smartly address the current state of life in China and his native Taiwan, as those living there must always and forever negotiate their ever-changing land- and mind-scapes on a daily basis.

Qu Jiehung focuses more on man's relationship with nature, through the form of the butcher's interaction with the carcasses of pigs. On close inspection, one realizes that these are realistic depictions of contemporary consumer life, as far away as that might be from the high-end retail outlets that have sprung up in cities across China.

The sculptors known collectively as Unmask look at the meeting points between skin and technology, creating sensuous three-dimensional objects that are conceptual casts of the human form. The bodies depicted within the steel mass of the work seem to grow out of it and be completely embedded in it all at the same time. The artists show that the human and the technological are forever bound together, especially in contemporary China where both hard physical labor and unprecedented technological growth are intrinsic to the real lives that play out there.

Painter Wang Haiyang portrays alternative bodies in his sumptuous paintings that directly confront the staid status quo of traditional Chinese society. Wang uses gender-based nonconformity and depictions of angst as his critical weapon against those aspects of society with which he disagrees.

Wang Tiantian presents collage-like work with cut-out yellow figures that seem to be hybrids of video game characters and paper dolls. She looks at the philosophical underpinnings of traditional Chinese literature, while conversely applying it to contemporary life in a rough script that may hint that drinking alone in the here and now is a most unsavory activity.

Wang Yaqiang also references traditional modes of depicting human figures in his work, although the similarities with the past end there. Wang's works feature young men who are seemingly aloof to certain traits in Chinese society, and their titles and subject matter allude to a certain sense of critique toward society at large. His work signals a shifting ideology that may well unfold in the near future.

Zhang Peng uses digital manipulation in his large-scale photography-based works to create incredibly haunting imagery of big-headed and doe-eyed little girls in extreme environs. By placing young girls in such adult environments, Zhang hints that there is trouble brewing, and leaves it up to us to decide for ourselves the outcomes of these macabre and sexualized tales.

On view from July 2, 2008
Reception: July 10, 2008 / 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

ChinaSquare
545 West 25th Street, New York USA

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