Corporate. Xu Zhen has been seen for some years as one of the most critical and at the same time most virtuosic of the leading figures of a younger generation of Chinese artists.
curated by: Katrin Bucher Trantow and Peter Pakesch
Xu Zhen has been seen for some years as one of the most critical and at the same time most virtuosic of the leading figures of a younger generation of Chinese artists.
His artistic strategies are thus a mirror of a rapidly evolving Chinese art scene. They employ an 'art of conforming', veering between a partial use of conceptual art up to Re-enactment, with an ironic critique of the system and a craftsman's precision. The often theatrical, highly provocative sculptures, pictures, Performances and films confront contemporary China with social-political and cultural taboos, and more besides.
In Graz, too, the works on show, which can be produced serially in his 'MadeIn Company' (the term refers to the commonly found label 'made in China'), comment on a short-lived, globe-spanning consumerist society. They ask where our behaviour will lead in future and create possible systems offering cultural and spiritual reconciliation.
Image: Xu Zhen, Eternity – Poseidon, Pigeons (detail), 2014. Produced by MadeIn Company. Courtesy of the artist.
Press contact:
Institut für Kunst im öffentlichen Raum Steiermark / Universalmuseum Joanneum
head of department: Elisabeth Fiedler kioer@museum-joanneum.at
Opening: September 26, 6pm
Kunsthaus Graz
Universalmuseum Joanneum
Lendkai 1, Graz
Hours: Tuesday–Sunday 10am–5pm