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3/11/2012

Media Variegations

Asian Art Works, Beijing

curated by Dr. Thalia Vrachopoulos

Artists: Ran Hwang, CangXin, Longbin Chen, Gaozhong Wu, Zheng Lu,Hoyoon Shin

Historically, art media have articulated, shaped and defined the very conception of artworks. The 21st Century is known for a plethora materials and subjects that break with the past, as well as those that look back for inspiration and at times actually engage with history outright. The inventive nature of CangXin’sEvolution and Involution made of black metallic components and machine parts, results in a contraption that speaks of human progress and digression. This piece is comprised of a series of nested human heads that move up and down mechanically. Longbin Chen’s Skull of Art leads us to think of death but placed in the context of his other series ZhuWei’s (Zhu, Wei’s) Buddha head, it is also of resurrection and the after-life. These works by their recto side appear to be made of white stone while being quite colorful on their verso and are actually created out of compiled books and magazines.The resulting striations can be understood in terms of tree time rings, or seen for what they are; palimpsests of periodicals carved into shapes.Ran Hwang’s poetic Plum Blossoms is made of brown, red and white buttons on a whitepainted background. Buttons have long been considered a fashion industry item yet in Hwang’s hands it becomes fine art because of her concept.This beloved blossom feels romantic, yet in its embracing lilting branches seems more melancholy and no wonder, as it is traditionally associated with winter. Gaozhong Wu’s vertical mirror also reverses normal expectations by offering the viewer solid pink where he’d usually expect to see his own reflection.

And he also denies the role of the beautiful object by providing us with a most exquisitely detailed and carved frame around his mirror while rendering the mirror’s purpose obsolete.It epitomizes Andre Breton’s philosophy of the reconciliation of opposites in bringing into one form the most dissimilar materials. Zheng Lu’s monumental wire Head overturns the idea of traditional monolithic solid bronze sculpture. Zheng challenges notions of heroic and commemorative public sculpture by providing us with a wire mesh head of an unknown man. He also reverses the solids and voids through his delicate and transparent material. The wire mesh of his monumental head weaves in and out, connects and breaks at points then picks up the cell patterning again continuing into its shape. Hoyoon Shinplays with the idea of permanence/impermanence both from a spiritual but also from an artistic point of view. Traditional approaches respect the sculptural mass of an object and presume that sculpture is mostly mass rather than space. Shin’s sculptural constructions are made of cut out paper that seen frontally exhibit space, and when viewed from the side are solid.

All six artists in this show use a variety of materials developing their repertoires while respecting their chosen media. Rather than fighting their materials’ natural tendencies, they were able to follow their structural laws, while considering their means both in their conception and in their execution to produce successful artworks.

Opening 4 november from 3-6pm

Asian Art Works,
D-09-2, 798 Art District, No. 4 Jiuxianqiao Road, Beijing, China 100015,
Admission free

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