Liu Xiaodong @ Faurschou Foundation Copenhagen

Liu Xiaodong: Painting As Shooting
Curated by Jérôme Sans
Faurschou Foundation Copenhagen
Through December 16,  2016

Photo of artwork ‘Xuzi at Home’.

© Xiaodong Studio

Liu Xiaodong

2010

Oil on canvas, 140 x 150 cm.

Collection of the artist

Photo of artwork ‘The Nude Black Maya’.

© Xiaodong Studio

Liu Xiaodong

The Nude Black Maya, 2009,

Oil on canvas, 200 x 250 cm.

Private Collection

Faurschou Foundation presents the third and final Liu Xiaodong exhibition in its Copenhagen space.

Painting as Shooting is conceived as an exhibition in three chapters, curated by Jérôme Sans and produced by Faurschou Foundation, in Venice, Beijing and Copenhagen. The first step, which took place at the Cini Foundation for the 56th Venice Biennale, was the first major European institutional exhibition to fully explore Liu Xiaodong’s unique practice, as one of China’s most influential painters of the last two decades. The second, presented by Faurschou Foundation in its Beijing space, presented the most recent series of works created by the artist during his stay in Ordos in Inner Mongolia. The last chapter, mixing the first two shows, represents the most updated survey on Liu Xiaodong’s work.

The exhibition, Painting as Shooting, focuses on a unique selection of some of the artist’s most important projects from the last decade. They deal with major global, sociological, cultural, economic, ecological and environmental issues from the past ten years. It is not meant as a retrospective exhibition, but rather as a journey through images of the various worlds and situations he has witnessed all over the world, in locations such as China, Asia, Cuba, Europe, Israel, etc.

Photo of artwork ‘Jincheng Airport’.

© Xiaodong Studio

Liu Xiaodong

Jincheng Airport, 2010,

Oil on canvas,

300 x 400 cm.

Collection of the artist

Most recently Liu Xiaodong reactivated the issue on human migration, which appeared in his earlier "Hot Bed" series. Previously he portrayed migrants within Asia, both in his homeland China and in Thailand. Today Liu focuses on the largest migration and humanitarian problem since World War II: communities taking the most dangerous trip across the Mediterranean Sea and the most hazardous routes into Europe to escape the wars in the Middle East and Africa, hoping to find a better future in Europe. This issue will not only impact Europe, but the rest of the world.

Liu Xiaodong's projects will also be presented in an extended book, containing large graphical illustrations, sketches, diary notes and texts by Jérôme Sans. In addition to the exhibition there will be shown ten documentaries each following the different projects.

Painting as shooting

Liu Xiaodong is a painter of everyday life. His images are of family and friends set against modest scenery capturing ordinary moments, such as eating, laughing or playing games. However, in-depth exploration of what is hidden behind the small stories that populate the surface of his work reveals a much bigger picture. Xiaodong’s paintings are pointing with simple gestures to the reality of the periphery, the margins and the paradoxes of our contemporary society. It is the reality that no one dares to speak about; the tough reality of daily existence that reaches out to us from displaced communities—from migrant workers, victims of ecological and natural disasters and sex workers to the new homeless—all sharing the dream of a better life.

Liu Xiaodong approaches his work with the eyes and the storyboard practice of a filmmaker. Each of the artist’s major works begins with a simple idea from one of his daily diary entries, describing the events he has witnessed, photos he has taken or people he has met, and then transforms them into live characters on his canvas. In a way the artist’s paintings resemble a production set where he acts as a director who collaborates with actors to play, record or recreate a situation, various impressions or the effects thereof. It is hereby that Liu Xioadong embodies the concept of "painting as shooting."

Biographies

Photo of the artist Liu Xioadong

Photo by © Jiang Jia

Liu Xiaodong (1963) lives and works in Beijing. He holds a BFA and an MFA in painting from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing (1988–95). The artist gained recognition in the 1990s and represents the Chinese Neo-Realism style. His solo exhibitions include Kunsthaus Graz, Austria (2012) and Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2010), while his work was also shown in various group exhibitions such as the Shanghai Biennale (2000, 2010), the 15th Biennale of Sydney (2006) and the 47th Venice Biennale (1997).

The artist Liu Xiaodong with the curator Jèrôme Sans, Venice, 2015.

Photo by Yu Hong, © Faurschou Foundation & Liu Xiaodong Studio

Jérôme Sans is an internationally renowned curator, art critic, artistic director who has curated numerous major exhibitions around the world. He was the former director of the ground-breaking Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art in Beijing and co-founder of the acclaimed Palais de Tokyo in Paris. He is currently artistic director of one of the most important urban development projects in Europe, the Lyon Rives de Saône-River Movie, and co-founder of Perfect Crossovers ltd, a Beijing based cultural consultancy group.

FAURSCHOU FOUNDATION
www.faurschou.com

Rives de Saone, Berges du Rhone, Lyon. Art public le long de la Saône : au programme

Rives de Saône, Parcours d'art contemporain le long de la Saône
Inauguration Septembre 2013

Tadashi Kawamata, Le Balcon, Ainay 

© ITEM CORPORATE

Depuis une dizaine d’années, Lyon renoue avec son environnement fluvial et plus gobalement son paysage. Le projet « Rives de Saône » s’inscrit dans la démarche de reconquête des fleuves matérialisée par l’aménagement des Berges du Rhône. 

Pour l'aménagement des Rives de Saône, urbanistes, paysagistes, maitres d’œuvre et artistes ont travaillé de concert, comme si l’art, la nature, le paysage et l’architecture vivaient ici une certaine symbiose.

Le projet se déroule sur 50 km de la pointe de la Confluence au Sud jusqu’au Val de Saône plus au Nord, dont une partie se déroule au cœur même du site classé patrimoine mondial de l’Unesco. 

Sept premières séquences menées de concert par les aménageurs, paysagistes, architectes, artistes sont livrées début septembre 2013. Le projet associe en effet pour chacune des sept séquences des couples concepteurs urbanistes, architectes et paysagistes et douze artistes, unis dès l’origine du projet dans un dialogue constant. 

L’objectif est bien de préserver l’environnement et de conforter la biodiversité, en étirant la végétation des secteurs naturels, dont le Val de Saône, jusqu’au cœur de l’agglomération afin de réintroduire la nature en ville. Le patrimoine végétal exceptionnel de la Saône est une caractéristique majeure que le projet Rives de Saône entend mettre en valeur. La création d’un véritable fil vert le long de la rive gauche de la Saône jusqu’aux jardins de la Confluence offrira aux visiteurs une promenade végétalisée au plus près de l’eau, un espace de découverte de l’environnement. 

Deux mots caractérisent le projet : révéler et reconnecter. A travers des opérations d’aménagements, l’introduction de nouveaux espaces et de nouveaux usages, la Saône est reconquise au profit de tous, remise en valeur sous toutes ses facettes. Elle renoue ainsi avec les quartiers et villages qu’elle traverse, et avec leurs habitants. 

Un programme d'art public intégré 

Direction artistique : JEROME SANS & APC+AIA / ARTER

Elaborés en concertation avec les divers maîtres d’œuvre et paysagistes, et pensés en relation avec l’histoire, la poésie et la typologie de chaque site, les projets d’art public retenus dans le cadre de la première tranche d’aménagement des Rives de Saône rythment le parcours au fil de l’eau et les huit séquences identifiées. Placée en des points stratégiques, chaque réalisation introduit de la surprise au détour d’un escalier, d’un pont, d’un chemin, afin de convier le promeneur à des expériences sensorielles et intellectuelles, aussi diverses que l’est la création contemporaine sous toutes ses formes.

Un fil rouge artistique a été confié à l'artiste TADASHI KAWAMATA, fin connaisseur des sites aquatiques sur lesquels il a souvent travaillé : grâce à sa présence récurrente, il crée un lien, une trame narrative, entre les différents sites selon l’approche directrice qu’il a lui-même défini « Marcher, Toucher, Voir ». 

Séquences du parcours d'art contemporain le long de la Saône

- L'Espace Kitchener/Marchand et Bas-Port Rambaud : ADR

- Promenade du défilé Saône : Tadashi Kawamata / HYL - Coup d'éclat

- Débouché de la Passerelle du Palais de Justine : Michael Elmgreen et Ingar Dragset / Dumetier design - Alep architectes - LEA

- Bas-Port Gillet : Pablo Reinoso - Meschac Gaba / Ilex - Marc Speeg et Philippe Michel

- Le Chemin Nature : Pascale Marthine Tayou - Erik Samakh - Tadashi Kawamata / Base - ON

Pascale Marthine-Tayou, Chemin nature 

© Base

- Ancienne Ecluse de Caluire et Cuire : Jean-Michel Othoniel / HYL - Gérard Périole

- Promenade de Fontaines-sur-Saône : Le Gentil Garçon - Tadashi Kawamata / Tim Boursier-Mougenot & Anne-Laure Giroud - Alep architectes - LEA

La Sucrerie, Le Gentil Garçon 

© Fabien Astruc

- Promenade des Guinguettes de Rochetaillée-sur-Saône : Lang & Baumann - Didier Fiuza Faustino - Le Gentil Garçon - Tadashi Kawamata / In Situ - LEA

Tadashi Kawamata, La Cabane, Rochetaillée 

© ITEM CORPORATE

Zhang Huan: Hope Tunnel at UCCA Beijing

Zhang Huan: Hope Tunnel
Ullens Center for Contemporary Art - UCCA, Beijing
Through October 24, 2010

Zhang Huan’s Hope Tunnel is a curated social project related to the 2008 earthquake in Wenchuan, Sichuan Province.

“Hope Tunnel is conceptual art on a grand scale, a monument to hope, a space in which art becomes a vehicle for awareness, philanthropy and the public good. A towering display of destructive power frozen in time, it allows us to reflect on the scale of recent earthquake disasters, commemorate the victims and contemplate the possibility of reconstruction and the challenges that lie ahead.”

UCCA Director Jérôme Sans describes Hope Tunnel as being “conceived by an artist who believes that art has the power not just to move us emotionally, but to galvanize us into positive action. We may be dwarfed by the wreckage of freight train no. 21043 and humbled by the destruction wrought by nature, but as the title reminds us, we still have the power to help—and to hope.”

Artist Zhang Huan calls his train “a witness to history” that should be preserved. “At a time when the whole world is looking toward the future, preserving the past seems more important than ever. Reflecting on the disaster, investigating the causes, mitigating future dangers and finding ways to live in harmony with our environment rather than trying to conquer it—that’s where the real future is, the tunnel of hope that leads us to tomorrow."

Moving beyond “art for the sake of art”

Hope Tunnel is more than just a train, an installation piece or a Memento mori that recalls our own mortality. It is a multi-faceted philanthropic project and an experiment in using art to serve the public good.

“As a non-profit public arts center, UCCA is in a unique position to carry out curated social projects such as Hope Tunnel. Free of the artistic constraints and profit motives that restrict many traditional museums and galleries, UCCA possesses the resources, vision and innovation needed to harness the social and philanthropic power of art.”

“At UCCA, we are committed to engaging not just with the “art world” but with society in general and the world at large. Through exhibitions, films and educational events that reflect what is happening in Beijing, in China and around the globe, we seek to create a forum for dialogue and a place for developing innovative solutions. “

“Art should be about more than just making pretty things and putting on spectacles,” says UCCA Director Jérôme Sans. “It means caring about the world around you and giving something back to society.”

The long journey of freight train no. 21043

When the Sichuan earthquake struck on May 12, 2008, freight train no. 21043 was passing through a tunnel in the border region between Gansu, Sichuan and Shaanxi Provinces. Loaded down with grain and aviation fuel, the train collided with a boulder, caught fire and became trapped in the tunnel's inferno. It took workers six months to dig out the wreckage, clear the tunnel and reopen the railway line to earthquake-damaged areas of Sichuan.

When he heard the news reports and saw the photos of the Sichuan earthquake and the train disaster, Zhang Huan was badly shaken. Realizing that the train had both historical value and emotional resonance, he decided to try to preserve it for posterity. After a long and complicated process, the artist managed to obtain the wreckage and transport it to his studio in Shanghai for selective renovation.

When two large carriages of the train are installed in UCCA's largest exhibition hall amidst railway tracks and quake debris, visitors are able to examine the wreckage and watch a documentary that follows every step of the train’s journey from a salvage company in Xi’an to Zhang Huan’s workshop in Shanghai to UCCA in Beijing. A percentage of ticket sales will go to the Red Cross Society of China Jet Li One Foundation Project to fund disaster relief and reconstruction projects in Yushu, Qinghai Province.

In conjunction with Hope Tunnel, two of Zhang Huan’s large incense-ash sculptures are on display in the UCCA lobby: Military Officer and Cultural Officer.

BIOGRAPHY: ZHANG HUANG

Internationally acclaimed artist Zhang Huan was born in 1965 in Anyang, Henan. He currently lives and works in Shanghai. As an active member of the Beijing art scene in the 1990's, he was involved mainly in performance art and was considered one of the foremost avant-garde artists in China. After relocating to New York in 1998, he became a full-time artist working in a variety of different mediums and giving artistic performances in major cities worldwide.

In 2005, he returned to Shanghai and established the Zhang Huan Studio, where he continues his artistic work, expanding into new realms and developing new forms. The ash-painting technique he created has added another method of painting to the art history books. Zhang Huan has also pioneered a variety of other techniques, such as sculpting in ox-hide, wooden door carvings, and woodcuts with feather additions, to name just a few.

In 2009, Zhang Huan directed and stage-managed the lyric opera Semele, performed at the La Monnaie Royal Theatre in Belgium. He is the first Chinese modern artist to direct a lyric opera. In 2005, Zhang Huan and his wife founded the Gao An Foundation, which establishes "hope elementary schools" in impoverished areas of western China. They have also provided scholarships and study grants to ten major universities in China.

Curators: Jérôme Sans, UCCA Director
Project Coordinators：Paula Tsai, Joy Bloser

UCCA - ULLENS CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ART - BEIJING - PR CHINA

www.ucca.org.cn

Jérôme Sans: New Director of UCCA - Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing

On March 1st, Jérôme Sans joined Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA) as its new director

Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA) is a non profit art center founded in Beijing by collectors Guy and Myriam Ullens in November 2007. UCCA presents exhibitions of established and emerging artists and is developing a trusted platform to share knowledge through education and research.

The arrival of Jérôme Sans initiates a phase of new developments following UCCA’s successful launch led by artistic director Fei Dawei. Fei Dawei’s leadership, as well as his contributions to the preparation and successful opening of UCCA, has been indispensable. Before the art center project began, Fei Dawei was responsible for organizing research, collections, and exhibitions for years as director of the Ullens Foundation. Under his professional guidance, the Ullens Foundation became one of the most active organizations promoting Chinese contemporary art worldwide and also one of the largest centers for the collection of Chinese contemporary artwork within two years after its establishment in 2003. Fei Dawei’s rich experience in organizing exhibitions and his comprehensive knowledge of Chinese contemporary art circles led the Ullens to invite him to lead the preparation and opening of UCCA as artistic director. Since 2005, Fei Dawei has been instrumental in the successful establishment of the art center and was the curator for the opening exhibition: '85 New Wave: The Birth of Chinese Contemporary Art. During this period, he also continued his work as director of the Ullens Foundation. Having set the organization of UCCA on the right course, Fei Dawei has now chosen to concentrate on his primary interests of academic research and promoting art education.

Jérôme Sans has been known for rethinking the curatorial practice and approach, first as an independent curator then as an inventor of new models of institution, such as the world acclaimed Palais de Tokyo in Paris that he co-founded and directed until January 2006. After creating the Palais de Tokyo, Jérôme Sans moved to the UK where he became director of programs at the BALTIC Center for Contemporary Art in Gateshead. Jérôme Sans curated numerous international exhibitions such as the 2000 Taipei Biennial in Taiwan My Home is Yours / Your Home is Mine co-curated in 2001 with Hou Hanru at Tokyo Opera City, the 2005 Lyon’s Contemporary Art Biennial, and the 2006 Nuit Blanche in Paris. He is also the author of several books including Araki, published by Taschen in 2001, Au Sujet de about Daniel Buren, published by Flammarion in 1998, the recently released In The Arab World Now published by Galerie Enrico Navarra in 2008 and has contributed to various art publications. Jérôme Sans is among the most creative and adventurous personalities working in today’s art scene. ''UCCA’s audience is mainly composed of a new generation of Chinese in search of change and new things,” said Guy Ullens, founder of UCCA. “The choice of Jerome is a perfect fit for us.’’

Jérôme Sans’ ambition is to make UCCA a new model for private institutions, a place to live, and a platform for open dialogue. UCCA is acting as a beacon for the arts in China, as well as a major point of reference in the international art scene. Expanding beyond the traditional concept of a museum, Jérôme Sans’s goal is to develop UCCA into a distinctive destination that breaks the outdated mold of how an art center is perceived and welcomes a variety of audiences. “To achieve such objectives,” said Jérôme Sans, “UCCA will showcase the latest of China’s contemporary art, design, fashion, music and multimedia in a vibrant, exciting, alternative space, featuring a restaurant, a bar, a shop and a cinema, to offer a unique experience of contemporary creativity’’.

Jérôme Sans' experience, his far-reaching work on international projects with artists and key art world figures, and his long experience working in Asia for major exhibitions (Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Bangkok) and with Chinese artists such as, Chen Zhen, Wang Du, Yan Pei Ming, Huang Yong Ping, Wang Jianwei, as well as curators such as Hou Hanru and Fei Dawei, will enable UCCA to further expand its cultural program and facilitate the access of its audience. While UCCA is an art organization in China serving local audiences, it has also brought together an international team. This expansiveness reflects the continued growth of cultural life in Beijing and stands at the center of UCCA’s vision. By being both local and international, UCCA aims to bring art dialogue between China and the wider world to a higher level.

Ullens Center for Contemporary Art

798 Art District,

No.4 Jiuxianqiao Lu,

P.O. Box 8503,

Chaoyang District,

Beijing

P.R.China 100015

http://www.ucca.org.cn/