Uh-oh! Pandaman
dal 1/7/2004 al 28/8/2004
Segnalato da
1/7/2004
Uh-oh! Pandaman
Art Space Portsmouth (ex Aspex Gallery), Portsmouth
Uh-oh! Pandaman will be the largest public exhibition of Zhao Bandi's work outside of China, showing simultaneously in four cities throughout the summer. His photographic works transcend the boundaries between art and advertising and are inspired by government propaganda and public service information. The work features the artist and his toy panda, engaged in cartoon-style, speech-bubble dialogue about issues of concern to contemporary society.
Zhao Bandi & the Panda
Uh-oh! Pandaman will be the largest public exhibition of Zhao Bandi's work outside of China, showing simultaneously in four cities throughout the summer. Exhibitions at Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham and Manchester Art Gallery will be accompanied by billboard and bus shelter posters displayed around all three cities, and will run concurrently with an exhibition at London's Piccadilly train station.
Zhao Bandi is something of a celebrity in his native Beijing. His stylish rock n' roll persona, western influences and his perceived lack of consideration for the classical traditions of Chinese visual art has meant that he has often been rebuked by the mainstream. A television interview with him was once withdrawn by censors as his long hair was deemed 'unsuitable'.
His photographic works transcend the boundaries between art and advertising and are inspired by government propaganda and public service information. The work features the artist and his toy panda, engaged in cartoon-style, speech-bubble dialogue about issues of concern to contemporary society. Appropriating the most public of sites for his work, using city-based billboard hoardings and illuminated poster sites on the Beijing subway and in Shanghai's main shopping street, they deliver, direct to the public, messages promoting health and safety, or condemning pollution and crime.
Works produced in 1999 and 2000 are on display at eight billboard sites across Portsmouth, throughout the month of July. The messages are clear and discrepancies in the translation of the captions from Chinese into an ungrammatically correct English seem to emphasize that the issues engaged by the work are universal.
The caption 'Safety is everything' accompanies a photograph of Zhao Bandi driving a car. In the foreground, Panda is safely seat-belted into the passenger seat next to him. In another work, Zhao Bandi asks the Panda if he may smoke a cigarette. Panda's cutting response acknowledges the contribution of smoking to the current ecological climate and it's impact, in turn, on the survival of the Panda's own species. Each of the works convey simple, straight forward messages that are, perhaps, too often overlooked when presented in the way that government condoned, state sponsored public service announcements often are.
Produced in 2003, in the midst of the viral epidemic that struck cities around the world, none more so than Beijing, Fight Against SARS, is a rallying-cry delivered by our hero, Pandaman and his faithful sidekick. The work conveys at once, the extreme and unprecedented effect of such a global virus, together with the inability of those affected to defend themselves.
Invariably, Fight Against SARS attracted considerable media attention and was widely reproduced. Two media organisations however, The Beijing Evening News and the international current affairs magazine, World Knowledge did not seek permission to use the image, nor did they credit the artist. In an attempt to test the system that Zhao Bandi considers himself a willing exponent of, he took the two organisations to court. A Tale of Love Gone Wrong for Pandaman, is a video edited from the court proceedings and exhibited here alongside, Fight Against SARS. In the video, Zhao Bandi appears forlorn and disinterested in the court case as he sits, silently, with Panda and his lawyers only to present as evidence to the court, a letter from his girlfriend.
His most recent Trip to Western series, was made during a month long residency that the artist undertook in the UK, in the Summer of 2003 and a selection of these works are also on display at Aspex. They illustrate his conversations with the people and culture of the West. The presence of the Panda in these works emphasizes it's endearing and symbolic association with China. Together, Pandaman and Panda are cultural ambassadors, improving their understanding of the world, to return to China with what they have learned.
A catalogue featuring extensive documentation of this project, an essay and an interview with the artist will accompany this exhibition, priced £9.99
Thursday 15 July, 7.30pm
Gallery Talk
Joanne Bushnell, Director of Aspex will talk about Zhao Bandi's work and the exhibition.
Admission FREE, pay bar
Thursday 12 August, 7.30pm
Uh-oh! Pandaman Catalogue Launch & Gallery Talk
To coincide with the launch of a catalogue to accompany this exhibition, Russell Beastly and Ian Noble of design partnership Visual Research will talk about their involvement in the project and their response to Zhao Bandi's work.
Admission FREE, pay bar
A performance by the artist will also take place at Aspex during the exhibition. A date and time for the event will be confirmed shortly. Please contact the gallery for further information.
A collaboration between Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham and Manchester Art Gallery, supported by Arts Council England and Visiting Arts. In association with the Red Mansion Foundation and Platform for Art - the Public Art programme for London Underground
Aspex Visual Arts Trust is a registered charity (1007620) & is financially supported by Arts Council England South East & Portsmouth City Council
Aspex Gallery is open Tuesday - Friday, 12-6pm & Saturday, 12-4pm
Arrangements can be made for educational, group and ARC: Aspex Artists' Resource Centre visits on Mondays. Admission is FREE
Preview Friday 2 July, 7-9pm
Aspex Gallery
27 Brougham Road
Portsmouth
P05 4PA
England, UK