Artist Xie Nanxing @ Capitain Petzel, Berlin - "f o r a d e c a s a" Exhibition

Xie Nanxing: f o r a d e c a s a

Capitain Petzel, Berlin

25 April - 1 June 2024

Capitain Petzel presents f o r a d e c a s a, a solo exhibition of paintings by Xie Nanxing (b. 1970, Chongqing, lives and works in Beijing and Chengdu).

f o r a d e c a s a is comprised of eight paintings which represent a complete body of work. The title, an abstraction of the Portuguese “fora de casa”, as in “jogo fora de casa” – the away game – reveals this series’ origins: while visiting Lisbon Xie Nanxing came across a notebook, the vibrant green pages of which were each marked with the lines of a football pitch. Perhaps a fun gift for the child whose bedroom walls are adorned with posters of footballers, or possibly a serious tool for the tactician for whom each match is an obsession. The markings of the football pitch – rendered most clearly against a comparable green background in f o r a d e c a s a # 1 – became the basis for this group of paintings, both as a loosely interpreted formal structure for each new work and as a catalyst for their content.

Football is a paradox. So trivial yet so serious. It is not a matter of life and death, the great Liverpool manager Bill Shankly reputedly said: it is much more important than that. Or perhaps it is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, said Gary Lineker, the Germans always win. Painting is also a paradox, at least for Xie Nanxing. It is not the truth, he has said, but neither is it just a game. It is “more like a game that is close to the truth, or rather a truth-mimicking game”. He has expressed a “mistrust” of painting, and yet he has spent the last three decades engaged in a deliberate and meticulous studio painting practice.

Nowhere is Xie Nanxing’s ambivalent, conflictual attitude towards painting more apparent than in the “canvas print” technique which he has often returned to over the last fifteen years and which he uses in several of these paintings. f o r a d e c a s a # 8, for example, is ostensibly the most abstract of the paintings in the exhibition – we see a central green circle, perhaps a centre circle, overlaid with faintly stippled polychromatic marks. As we continue to look, traces of figures begin to emerge to the left of the canvas, while to the right we see a harder-edged form and a rich patch of green reminiscent of the first painting in this series. These marks are in fact the literal traces of another painting which was made on an unstretched canvas that had been laid over the top of the surface we now see, such that some of the paint seeped through. That painting was then removed, never to be shown, and we are left with its “shadows” – evidence of painting having taken place.

And yet in this same series Xie Nanxing also embraces sheer painterly bravura, albeit interrupted by football scorecards, while in overtly citing Goya’s The Sleep Of Reason Produces Monsters (and not for the first time) Xie embraces his work’s place in a longer tradition of painting. Some paintings suggest abstraction, but others are uncharacteristically direct in their figuration. A football match can be tense and tactical, but it can also be an explosion of excitement. Catenaccio or heavy metal football. “Xie Nanxing’s paintings cannot be cast in the camps of either aestheticized objecthood or conceptual dematerialization”, the curator and art historian Ruth Noack has acutely observed, “they hover firmly in between”. 

CAPITAIN PETZEL

Karl Marx Alle 45 - 10178 Berlin

www.capitainpetzel.de

Hiroshi Sugimoto @ Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

Hiroshi Sugimoto

Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

October 26 – December 22, 2023

HIROSHI SUGIMOTO

Brush Impression 0897 (Fire), 2023

Gelatin silver print, 48-3/8 x 41 inches (framed) [122.9 x 104.1 cm]

© Hiroshi Sugimoto, courtesy of Fraenkel Gallery

HIROSHI SUGIMOTO

Tateiwa, 2022

Pigment print on Japanese rice paper, 

mounted to folding screen, 71-1/4 x 279 inches (overall)

© Hiroshi Sugimoto, courtesy of Fraenkel Gallery

Fraenkel Gallery presents the U.S. debut of two important new bodies of work by HIROSHI SUGIMOTO. In both series, the artist incorporates photographic techniques and materials into classical Japanese art forms, producing works that draw from the country’s spiritual history. Two immense folding screens, known as byobu, feature photographs of Japanese landmarks of sacred significance, delicately printed onto rice paper. The graphically striking series Brush Impression presents cameraless, one-of-a-kind calligraphic photographs made by painting Japanese characters onto light sensitive paper using photographic chemicals. Hiroshi Sugimoto’s ever-evolving artistic career has spanned nearly five decades, and this exhibition is his sixteenth with the gallery since 1991. Concurrently, the Hayward Gallery in London presents a major retrospective of the artist’s work, on view since October 11, 2023, until January 7, 2024.

Two large folding screens anchor the exhibition. Representing revered locations, these works feature photographic pigment prints made on traditional Japanese Washi paper. An eight-paneled screen, nearly 24 feet long, depicts a view of Tateiwa Rock, a volcanic formation in Kyoto Prefecture that has featured in folkloric legend. An 18-foot, six-paneled screen depicts wisteria vines in bloom at the Kasuga-Taisha Shinto shrine in the ancient city of Nara, where the exhibition Hiroshi Sugimoto – The Descent of the Kasuga Spirit, curated by Sugimoto, took place earlier this year. This screen was included in the exhibition, which paired Shinto and Buddhist antiques, some from the artist’s personal collection, alongside contemporary artworks.

In Brush Impression, Hiroshi Sugimoto creates kanji, the form of Japanese language based on Chinese pictograms, and hiragana, phonetic characters used in Japanese. Rather than using ink, Hiroshi Sugimoto paints with darkroom chemicals on silver gelatin paper to produce black and white or subtlety warm-toned works, which range in size up to nearly 40 by 30 inches. The study of calligraphy has long been an interest of Hiroshi Sugimoto’s—each unique piece records the movement of his large brush across the surface of the paper, producing gestural shapes as well as splashes, bubbles, and traces of bristles. The kanji characters he selects represent words for elemental forces such as fire and water, and the meaning of each word is heightened and reinforced by the expressive qualities of each piece. An orange glow suffuses Brush Impression 0810 (Moon), suggesting the rich color of a blood moon, while erratic splatters and drips surround the character for madness. Brush Impressions (IROHA Song), a set of 48 smaller works written in hiragana, transcribes an eleventh century Japanese poem. Famous in part for its pangramic inclusion of each symbol that makes up this form of the language, the poem has served as a sort of alphabet.

HIROSHI SUGIMOTO was born in Japan in 1948. Starting in the 1970s, he worked primarily in photography, eventually adding performing arts production and architecture to his multidisciplinary practice. In 2023, his 69-foot sculpture Point of Infinity was installed on San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Island, commissioned by the Treasure Island Arts Program in partnership with the San Francisco Arts Commission. The exhibition Hiroshi Sugimoto Honkadori Azumakudari is on view at the Shoto Museum of Art in Tokyo until November 12, 2023. Hiroshi Sugimoto’s work is held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and Tate Gallery, London, among countless others. His work has been the subject of numerous monographs. In 2009, he founded the Odawara Art Foundation, dedicated to traditional Japanese and international contemporary performing arts. Hiroshi Sugimoto is the recipient of the National Arts Club Medal of Honor in Photography; The Royal Photographic Society’s Centenary Medal; Isamu Noguchi Award; Officier de L’ordre des Arts et des Lettres; Praemium Imperiale Award for Painting; PHotoEspaña Prize; and the Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography, among others.

FRAENKEL GALLERY

49 Geary Street, San Francisco, CA 94108

www.fraenkelgallery.com

Art Basel Hong Kong 2016: The Insights sector

Art Basel Hong Kong 2016: The Insights sector
March, 24-26, 2016

The Insights sector will be dedicated to curatorial projects by 28 galleries with spaces in Asia and the Asia-Pacific region and will feature solo shows, exceptional historical material, and strong thematic group exhibitions. This year’s edition features a particularly strong presentation of Modern work, with around half of the galleries presenting material from this period. This year’s Insights will provide a particularly diverse and in-depth overview of art from across the region with featured artists from Australia, Bangladesh, India, Iran, Japan, Mainland China, South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Turkey. 

Highlights include eight large photographic works by Michael Cook (b. 1968, Australia), forming a panoramic narrative reflecting on colonial histories and drawing on the artist’s Bidjara heritage, presented by This Is No Fantasy + dianne tanzer gallery (Melbourne); Antenna Space (Shanghai) presents sculpture by artists Guan Xiao (b. 1983, Mainland China) and Yu Honglei (b. 1984, Mainland China) each responding to themes of ‘postproduction’ and ‘reproduction’; a new body of work by Stella Zhang (b. 1965, Mainland China), a continuation of her existing series ‘0-Viewpoint’ and comprising sculptural paintings and an installation, brought to Art Basel by Galerie du Monde (Hong Kong); experimental ink work by Li Huasheng (b. 1944, Mainland China), presented by Ink Studio (Beijing); ceramic sculptures by Kimiyo Mishimo (b. 1932, Japan), many of which will not have previously been seen outside of Japan, brought by MEM (Tokyo); performative video work by Tadasu Takamine (b. 1968, Japan), an artist whose work draws attention to the societal effects of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, presented by Arataniurano (Tokyo); and, brought by Pi Artworks (Istanbul, London), new sculptures by Tayeba Begum Lipi (b. 1969, Bangladesh) reflecting on her childhood, accompanied by video and audio work.

1335Mabini
www.1335mabini.com

Kiri Dalena

Courtesy the artist and the gallery

Gallery EM
www.galleryem.co.kr

Hyemin Lee

White Dream 2015

Courtesy the artist and the gallery

Ink Studio
www.inkstudio.com.cn

Li Huasheng

0699, 2006

Image courtesy: INK studio and the artist.

Lawrie Shabibi
www.lawrieshabibi.com

Farhad Ahrarnia

Intuitive Notion of a Rotation, 2015

Courtesy: The artist and Lawrie Shabibi

Leeahn Gallery
www.leeahngallery.com

Ja Hyun Koo

Untitled, 2012

Courtesy the artist and the gallery

Liang Gallery
www.lianggallery.com

Hsu Chia-Wei

Courtesy of the artist and the gallery

Dhaka Art Summit 2014, Bangladesh

DHAKA ART SUMMIT 2014

Dhaka, Bangladesh

7 - 9 February 2014

The Samdani Art Foundation has confirmed the programme for the second edition of the Dhaka Art Summit, a pioneering initiative for South Asian art which brings together artists, curators, galleries and visitors from across Bangladesh and the world. A major non-profit platform, the event was conceived to support museum-quality exhibits in Bangladesh, the development of South Asian art and international artistic exchange.

Launched in 2012, the first edition attracted more than 50,000 visitors, and renewed international focus on South Asian contemporary art practices. The second edition will present a panoramic survey of artists from South Asian countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Featuring internationally acclaimed figures as well as emerging talent, the programme will comprise: solo projects, curated exhibitions, an ambitious public art project, a talks series, performances, experimental film screenings, and presentations by 33 local and international galleries.

An initiative of the Samdani Art Foundation, Dhaka Art Summit is organized in collaboration with the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, the country’s national academy of fine and performing arts. The second edition is supported by the British Council, the Goethe Institut, Alliance Française, Swiss Pro Helvetia and the Bangladeshi artist collective Britto Arts Trust.

This year, the Samdani Art Foundation has also collaborated with the Delfina Foundation (London) to award an outstanding young Bangladeshi artist the opportunity to attend a three-month residency at the Delfina Foundation in London as part of the bi-annual Samdani Art Award. A respected international jury for the prize includes Aaron Cezar (Founding Director, The Delfina Foundation), Jessica Morgan (Curator, Tate Modern and Artistic Director of the 2014 Gwangju Biennale), Adriano Pedrosa (Independent curator, editor and writer), Sandhini Poddar (Associate curator, Asian art, Guggenheim Museum) and Pooja Sood (Director, Khoj International Artists' Association).

PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS Under the direction of Diana Campbell Betancourt (Artistic Director, Samdani Art Foundation) and Mahbubur Rahman (Artist /Co-Founder, Britto Arts Trust, Bangladesh), the Dhaka Art Summit offers a unique opportunity to explore regional and global perspectives on South Asian art practices. The second edition will also create a platform for curatorial exchange and dialogue.

Solo Projects: 14 artists of international critical acclaim will present projects responding to Dhaka including Lida Abdul, Rana Begum, Rathin Barman, Shilpa Gupta, Runa Islam, Jitish Kallat, Tayeba Begum Lipi, Naeem Mohaiemen, Mahbubur Rahman, Rashid Rana, Mithu Sen, Tsherin Sherpa, Shahzia Sikander and Asim Waqif.

Summit Sessions: Leading global thinkers will participate in a series of talks about institutional collecting and support for art from the region including: Dr. Ziba Ardalan (Director/Curator, Parasol Unit, Foundation for Contemporary Art), Richard Blurton (Head of South Asian Section of the British Museum’s Asia Department), Aurélien Lemonier (Curator, Centre Pompidou) and Sheena Wagstaff (Chairperson, Department of Modern and Contemporary Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art). 

The Samdani Art Award exhibition will showcase the works of shortlisted emerging Bangladeshi artists selected by a respected panel of international curators. The Samdani Art Award aims to support, promote and highlight contemporary artists from Bangladesh between the age of 20-40. 

Meanwhile Elsewhere is the title of a ground-breaking public art initiative created by Raqs Media Collective, and curated by Diana Campbell Betancourt, which will transform 160 road signs and billboards across the city of Dhaka using faces of clocks and the Bengali language. The project will be launched at the Dhaka Art Summit and will continue to be on view during Bangladesh’s International Mother Language Day on 21 February 2014. 

Film & Performance: An exciting line-up of experimental film and performance art curated by Mahbubur Rahman will showcase the works of CAMP, Nikhil Chopra, Htein Lin, Bandu Manamperi, Aung Min Min, Sunil Sigdel, Arko Sumon and more. 

Gallery Presentations: 33 leading international artist organizations and galleries including Britto Arts Trust (Dhaka, Bangladesh), Drik Gallery (Dhaka, Bangladesh), Experimenter (Kolkata, India), Jhaveri Contemporary (Mumbai, India) and Project 88 (Mumbai, India) will support this edition of the Dhaka Art Summit with presentations of South Asian contemporary art as part of the programme. 

Rashid Rana, Artist, commented: “It is impressive what the Samdani Art Foundation has achieved in such a short time - it is a serious initiative that has left a marked impact on the region. There is no single center of the art world nowadays. I'm proud to have been able to work on both sides of the India and Pakistan border for years, and exceptionally pleased to now be working in Bangladesh. The steps the Dhaka Art Summit is taking are significant to create softer borders in a region that has significant and rich shared cultural history, which is rarely brought together.” 

Aaron Cezar, Founding Director, The Delfina Foundation, London, added: “Delfina Foundation is honoured to be partnering with the Samdani Art Award. By offering a three-month residency in London, the Samdani Art Award will further extend the exposure and profile of Bangladeshi contemporary art at large, while also supporting the professional development of the individual recipient. We are excited to join forces with the Samdani Art Award to offer this important opportunity and to help build the next generation of contemporary artists in Bangladesh.” 

Diana Campbell Betancourt, Artistic Director, Samdani Art Foundation, commented: “The Samdani Art Foundation has created a unique platform for the region, supporting visionary South Asian artists to share their work with Bangladeshi audiences, creating a place for the world's best international institutions to engage with art from the region, and providing Bangladeshi artists support and exhibition opportunities, enabling them to achieve local and international recognition and artistic growth”. 

Dhaka Art Summit 2014 

Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy

Website: www.dhakaartsummit.com

Ham Jin exhibition at Doosan Gallery New York

Ham Jin: Unseen 
DOOSAN Gallery New York 
November 14 - December 21, 2013 

DOOSAN Gallery New York announces korean artist HAM JIN’s solo exhibition Unseen. This exhibition will comprise of approximately fifty miniature sculptures from a recent series, all created using black polymer clay. 

Ham Jin’s installations of miniature sculptures constructed with materials such as collected dust particles, polymer clay, and dead insects satirize the contemporary condition of individuals trapped in the world of their own making. For his recent works, he employed only black polymer clay due to the material’s lightness and flexibility, which gave immediate form to Ham’s ideas, while limiting the color palette allowed him to focus on the forms and structures, and the properties of the material itself. 

Unseen denotes both that the works require up-close viewing to really see, as well as that the process of construction itself is not readily apparent to the viewer. In the recently finished Untitled series, abstract black sculptures appear as if they are black dots dispersed and floating inside the starkly white exhibition space. However, upon closer inspection, human faces emerge out of unidentifiable organisms, or in the urban series, New York City's buildings are standing aligned in rows, and sceneries that the artist directly saw and experienced are all part of Ham’s work. As in a poem where one word or one line could be interpreted and understood in countless ways, so is the nature of Ham Jin’s works.  

  

In this exhibition, Ham Jin’s intricate sculptures will provide a stimulating and pleasurable viewing experience that will occasion the opportunity to witness the artist’s unique vision and wit, along with the insight into another aspect and look at Korean contemporary art. 

HAM JIN (b. 1978) received a BFA in Sculpture from Kyungwon University. He has had solo exhibitions at pkm Gallery (2012/2011/2004, Seoul, Korea), Miki Wick Kim Contemporary Art (2008, Zurich, Switzerland), and Aomori Contemporary Art Centre (2007, Aomori, Japan). His works also have been included at Minsheng Art Museum (2010, Shanghai, China), Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton (2008, Paris, France), Rodin Gallery (2008, Seoul, Korea), Venice Biennale (2005, Venice, Italy), Mori Art Museum (2005, Tokyo, Japan), and de Appel Arts Centre (2003, Amsterdam, Netherlands). 

DOOSAN Gallery New York 

www.doosangallery.com

Lee Bul, Lehmann Maupin, Hong Kong, Inaugural Exhibition

Lee Bul, Lehmann Maupin Inaugural Hong Kong Exhibition
Through May 11, 2013

Lehmann Maupin inaugurated this month (14 March) its first international exhibition space in the historic Pedder Building in Hong Kong with a solo presentation of new work by korean artist LEE BUL, on view through 11 May 2013. The gallery has represented Lee Bul since 2007, and in that time, she has been the subject of two solo exhibitions at Lehmann Maupin, New York. The inaugural exhibition at Lehmann Maupin, Hong Kong marks the first solo presentation of Lee Bul’s work in China.  

Considered the leading Korean artist of her generation, LEE BUL has achieved international recognition for her formally inventive, intellectually provocative oeuvre. Characterized by an unwavering defiance of boundaries, Lee Bul’s work demonstrates a commitment to exploring a variety of challenging media while experimenting with form. Her work is influenced by and references utopian thought found in literature, art and architecture, which are formally applied in sculptural works that refer to society’s pursuit of perfection in all forms of life; physically and as a society. Her work is evident of her vast knowledge and interest in tackling themes relating to human nature while remaining inventive, analytical, and producing thoughtful and masterfully constructed works.

For the inaugural show, Lee Bul has envisioned a dynamic installation that continues her exploration of ideas about utopia and the human condition; one that works in harmony with the gallery’s original architectural character, which was left intact during the renovation process. The exhibition features new sculptures intricately crafted by hand from polyurethane. Resembling small, imaginary landscapes or futuristic ruins, the surface of these sculptures are deliberately finished with patterns of brushstrokes evoking a poetic, painterly feel. This quality is echoed in the selection of the artist’s drawings that are on view alongside the sculptures. Drawing has long been an integral and vital part of Lee Bul’s practice, an outlet for experimentation in ideas and forms that may eventually take shape as finished sculptural works. 

Of her creative process, Lee Bul has remarked, “I start to sketch or just write about my ideas and put them up all over my wall in my studio, and everyday I watch this grow into a map of ideas until one day I think, ‘Maybe I can make this more concrete and specific.’” Rounding out the exhibition, there are three sculptures from one of the artist’s existing bodies of work that also engage with metaphysical and poetic concepts of architectural environments.

One of the exhibition’s special features is a limited-edition artist book titled Mon Grand Récit: Not Every Fallen Leaf, featuring a suite of drawings produced as visual research for a series of works presented by the Cartier Foundation in 2008. The drawings are accompanied by poetic, epigrammatic texts authored by the American art critic, Barry Schwabsky. Of the 1,001 signed and numbered copies, 1 to 240 are “Art Editions” presented in solander cases, hand painted by the artist. Each “Art Edition” is a unique part of larger sequential groups that when combined together form a larger painting. The special “Art Editions” was launched at Lehmann Maupin, Hong Kong on opening day.

LEE BUL (b. 1964) grew up in Seoul, Korea, and received a BFA in sculpture from Hongik University, Seoul, in 1987. Her work has been exhibited extensively on an international level with solo shows at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (1997); Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland (1999); Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia (2001); MAC, Musée d’Art Contemporain, Marseille, France (2002); New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York (2002); Le Consortium, Dijon, France (2002); Japan Foundation, Tokyo (2003); Power Plant, Toronto (2003); Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2004); Domus Artium, Salamanca, Spain (2007); Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris (2007 – 2008); and most recently, the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2012); and the Artsonje Center, Seoul (1998 and 2012), among others. In March 2010, a permanent installation entitled "A Fragmentary Anatomy of Every Setting Sun" was unveiled at the Hara Museum ARC, Japan. Forthcoming solo exhibitions are scheduled at MUDAM – Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg, in 2013 and at the Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, UK, in 2014. Lee Bul’s work is part of numerous public collections around the world.

LEHMANN MAUPIN HONG KONG
407 Pedder Building, Hong Kong, China
Lehmann Maupin galleries website: www.lehmannmaupin.com

Contemporary Kogei Art Craft, Kanazama, Japan, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art

Art Crafting Towards the Future
21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan
Curator: AKIMOTO Yuji, Museum’s Director
April 28 - August 4, 2012

Artwork by MITSUKE Masayasu, Untitled, 2009
Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts
Private collection
Image Courtesy of 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa

Since becoming director of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan, in 2007, Yuji AKIMOTO has had contact with the vital spirit of Kanazawa's kôgei

Art Crafting towards the Future inquires into the contemporary validity of kôgei (Japanese artisan craft) and universalness of its appeal. The exhibition, this is to say, asks: Is kôgei an art genre expressive of our times, capable of speaking to people everywhere? Like other visual media, today’s kôgei is subject to the post-modern trends of the times. Like animation, manga, design, and contemporary art, it is an expressive medium used to create compelling new images. To this end, it employs methods specific to kôgei, and it references kôgei’s historical vision. Yet, today’s kôgei takes a clearly different approach from past kôgei.
In its visual imagery, for example, today’s kôgei resonates with animation, manga, design, and contemporary art—genres from which it has previously stood apart. In its attitude towards exhibiting, as well—while exhibit methods differ contingent on the creativity of each artist—today’s kôgei is turned to face the world at large. There is, thus, a clear trend of kôgei artists working in widely varying styles who are showing their works as art of the present day.
For this exhibition, I would like to refer to kôgei work of such character as “futurist,” in the sense of “kôgei of a new age” and “future-oriented kôgei.” The exhibits by the 12 featured artists are all kôgei, but I would like viewers to see and enjoy them as today’s art."

AKIMOTO Yuji, Director of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Exhibition’s curator

CONTEMPORARY KOGEI FEATURED ARTISTS
AOKI Katsuyo, b. 1972, Tokyo
HAYAMA Yuki, b. 1961, Arita, Saga
IKURA Takashi, b. 1962, Toki, Gifu
KITAMURA Tatsuo, b. 1952, Wajima, Ishikawa. Unryuan (lacquer craft studio)
KUWATA Takuro, b. 1981, Fukuyama, Hiroshima
MITSUKE Masayasu, b. 1975, Kaga, Ishikawa
NAKAMURA Kohei, b. 1948, Kanazawa, Ishikawa
NAKAMURA Shinkyo, b. 1957, Fukuoka
NOGUCHI Harumi, b. 1948, Tokyo
OHI Toshio, b. 1958, Kanazawa, Ishikawa
TAKEMURA Yuri, b. 1980, Nagoya, Aichi
YAMAMURA Shinya, b. 1960, Chofu, Tokyo

Art Crafting towards the Future is organized by the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan (Kanazawa Art Promotion and Development Foundation)

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan
Museum's Website: www.kanazawa21.jp

Chen Jiagang: Abandoned Fable. A retrospective exhibition at Han Art Gallery, Montreal, Québec

Chen Jiagang Retrospective: Abandoned Fable, Han Art Gallery, Montreal (Westmount), Québec, November 4 - December 3, 2011
 

CHEN JIAGANG was born in 1962 in Chongqing, Sichuan, China. The artist lives and works in Beijing. Han Art Gallery in Westmount (Québec) presents a retrospective exhibition featuring fifteen photographic works by Chen Jiagang. As one of today’s most renowned Chinese contemporary artists, Chen Jiagang is featured at the 12th Annual Toronto International Art Fair (TIAF 2011) through October 31, 2011 before his debut at Han Art Gallery.  Abandoned Fable opens on November 4th and concludes on December 3rd, 2011 

CHEN JIAGANG, Bridges, 2008. Photograph from The Great Third Front series. Courtesy and ©2008 Chen Jiagang. Courtesy  Han Art Gallery, Montreal

Chen Jiagang is a distinctive contemporary artist who consistently weaves a phenomenal historical analogue into his imagery.  In allowing time itself to disappear from space, Chen Jiagang composes a visual language full of complexity and contradiction that adds to this historical contemporary fable - a spatial narratology and an art form that relies on the cultural inheritance. His works narrate the impact of power and politics on environment, human inhabitation, gender balance and family development - all social perspectives that are systematically disseminated into the peoples’ spiritual realm of senses.  The artist utilizes language between certainty and uncertainty to rebel against dogmatic mainstream perspectives in a society where images are becoming increasingly standardized, to discard with the trend of commercialization in art, and to obtain independence with direction.   

In the past few years, the artist made many trips to the factories, mines and small villages in the mountains and in the valleys of Yuanan, Guizhou and Sichuan.  These provinces in particular, which once served as a strategic epicenter of industry in the 1960s determined by Chinese national politics, now find themselves in a vastly different circumstance. 

Trained as an architectural designer, Chen Jiagang regards memories as the most authentic source in human life and believes that images act to preserve these memories.  Aside from bringing to attention intensely social and political issues, his works explore these issues from various perspectives, taking a distanced standpoint to explain history, enabling him to express his aesthetic need on the basis of an intensely personal experience.     

In regards to technique, Chen Jiagang often chooses to capture his images when the sun has just set, immediately after the clouds have emitted the last rays of light and warmth over the deserted and abandoned space.  It is common for him to portray a powerful contrast between subject and space, as demonstrated in his depiction of young women dwarfed by industrial ruins from the past. For example, in one of his works, a woman is portrayed pacing back and forth, seeming reluctant to leave the place she finds herself. Sinking into the darkness and disappearing into her surroundings, the woman is a subtle sign and yet a vibrant creature who breathes life into the remaining walls and majestic ruins filled with traces of the past. The corner store is now deserted, and the path leading towards the space serves only as a football field. These oft-frequented places of the past now remain abandoned and forlorn. Chen Jiagang uses this imagery to compose the bitter sound of a mournful elegy without emitting a single sound. A period which would otherwise be forgotten as history is captured in a moment where people and space observe one another silently with indignation. 

In a country that is presently experiencing one of the highest rates of development in the world, it is not surprising that the works of Chen Jiagang prompts the viewer to question the usefulness and absurdity of this mad race towards development that humanity has been pursuing for decades. His works are deeply entrenched in the new preoccupation of Contemporary Chinese artists, preoccupations that are social, political, and environmental.  As a successful architect and contemporary art collector from the start, Chen Jiagang now exhibits his most recent accomplishments - a monumental photographic product that is entrenched in a powerful aesthetic and conceptually loaded with meaning and inquiry. 

The works of Chen Jiagang have been exhibited in renowned museums and galleries across the globe—including The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal, and the Art Gallery of Central Academy of Fine Art in Beijing.  His works have been consistently purchased by private collectors throughout his career.  Most recently, Chen Jiagang’s works were featured in the Red Flag exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal. A landmark exhibition, Red Flag served as the first show to bring Contemporary Chinese Art and Quebecois aesthetic together under one roof.  During this exhibition, Chen Jiagang’s works were featured alongside some of the most well-known Contemporary Chinese artists, including Gu Wenda, Ai Weiwei, Zhang Huan, Xu Bing, Wang Tiande and the Gao brothers.  

In this retrospective solo exhibition at the Han Art Gallery in Québec, fifteen major works have been selected to showcase the essential and integral value of Chen Jiagang’s creativity in the first several chapters of his career. 

HAN ART GALLERY
Westmount, Québec, Canada  H3Z 1P6www.hanartgallery.com

Body and Soul - Art works from Hara Museum Collection, Japan

Body and Soul - Selections from the Hara Museum Collection
Hara Museum ARC, Gunma-ken, Japan
September 17, 2011 - January 4, 2012 

The expression “body and soul” has had a long tradition of use in America, among other countries, appearing in countless titles of songs and movies. In Japan the expression has also become a common one that is mainly encountered in music. On display in the contemporary art galleries are works selected from the Hara Museum Collection with “body and soul” as the keyword. The body has been compared to many things; for example, a container for the soul or a shell for the spirit. Some view the body and soul as being one and the same thing, or the body as a medium through which the self interacts with others and the surrounding world. 

Mickalene Thomas, Mama Bush : One of a Kind Two, 2009 

Photo courtesy of the Hara Museum ARC, Gunma-ken

We in this media age experience the body with its expanded capabilities made possible by various tools and technologies. In some of some of the paintings, photographs, sculptures and other works on display, the body is clearly the subject; in others it is not. Nonetheless, it is hoped that their myriad expressions will inspire viewers to consider anew the connection between the body and the spirit and what the body means to them. 

Izumi Kato, Untitled, 2006 

Photo courtesy of the Hara Museum ARC, Gunma-ken

Featured artists: Izumi Kato (photo), Yayoi Kusama, Ushio Shinohara, Tabaimo, Miwa Yanagi, Tomoko Yoneda, William Kentridge, Laurie Simmons, Mickalene Thomas (photo) and others

Hara Museum ARC, Gunma-ken, Japan 
Galleries A, B and C
Web site: www.haramuseum.or.jp

ACAW 2011 NYC Asian Art Celebration

Asian Contemporary Art Week 2011

New York City 

March 21 - 31, 2011 

Now in its seventh year, Asian Contemporary Art Week celebrates and promotes Asian contemporary art through artist conversations, panels, screenings, book launches, exhibitions, and curator tours at over 35 museums and galleries. This year, ACAW take place throughout New York City, and opened on the first day of spring: March 21, also celebrated as the New Year in many countries of Central Asia. Events take place at various locations around NYC for ten days, ending on March 31. 

RACHID RANA

Rashid Rana, Aar Paar. 2000-2004. 

Collaborative project by Shilpa Gupta and Huma Mulji in Karachi.

“Asian Contemporary Art Week highlights the latest trends in contemporary art while recognizing that contemporary art in Asia doesn’t come out of nowhere,” says Asia Society Museum Director Melissa Chiu. “This year’s program showcases emerging artists and work never seen in the U.S., and also recognizes the enduring importance of influential artists such as M.F. Husain and Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, both participants in our series of artist discussions.” 

As part of its mission to educate the public and to increase the visibility of artists, ACAW 2011 features DIALOGUES IN ASIAN CONTEMPORARY ART, a series of talks with more than 25 leading artists and professionals in the field. “Over the course of the week, ACAW Dialogues will strive to disseminate broader, more thorough knowledge of art communities and artists’ activities within and outside of Asia,” notes ACAW director Leeza Ahmady. “Enthusiasm for this project continues to build and expand, with a U.S. West Coast-based consortium now coming together to plan similar initiatives in San Francisco.” 

With numerous exhibitions and artist dialogues, ACAW 2011 includes artists from the US and Asia. Among the countries represented are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burma, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan and Pakistan. 

MONIR SHAHROUDY FARMANFARMAIAN

Monir Farmanfarmaian, Untitled, 2010. 

Mirror mosaic, reverse glass painting, 210 x 130 cm. 

Courtesy of the artist and Haines Gallery San Francisco 

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE ACAW DIALOGUES include: a discussion with Mariam Ghani at the Museum of Modern Art (March 21); Rashid Rana and Pooja Sood at Sotheby’s (March 22); M.F. Husain  and Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian at Asia Society Museum (March 23); David Elliott, Massimiliano Gioni and Suzanne Cotter at the Guggenheim Museum (March 25); Ushio Shinohara and Tomokazu Matsuyama at Asia Society Museum (March 28); Liu Xiaodong at the Guggenheim Museum (March 29); Xie Xiaoze interviewed by Robert Hobbs at China Institute (March 29); a discussion with Asian Cultural Council 2011 grantees/contemporary artists Rahraw and Manizhah Omarzad, Firoz Mahmud, Chaw Ei Thein, and Fong Wah Phoebe Hui led by Leeza Ahmady at Location One (March 29); Yang Jiechang and Zheng Shengtian in conversation with Jane DeBevoise at Museum of Chinese in the Americas (March 31) and Almagul Menlibayeva at Priska C. Juschka Fine Art (March 31). Another highlight is a dramatic installation by New York-based Korean artist ATTA KIM, who will create a 5 and 1/2-ft-tall, 1,300 pound ice sculpture of a seated Buddha that will slowly melt in Rubin Museum of Art’s spiral lobby, from March 25 through 27. ACAW Dialogues program is sponsored by Asian Cultural Council, New York.  

ACAW 2011 PARTICIPATING VENUES include: Aperture Gallery; Asia Art Archive; Asian Cultural Council; Asia Society and Museum; Bose Pacia; China Institute Chambers Fine Art; Ethan Cohen Fine Arts; Gallery Korea/Korean Cultural Service; Indo-American Arts Council; Jack Shainman Gallery; Japan Society; Leila Taghinia-Milani Heller Gallery; Location One; Meulensteen; Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA); Museum of Modern Art; Priska C. Juschka Fine Art; Queens Museum of Art; Rubin Museum of Art; sepia EYE; Sotheby’s; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; Sundaram Tagore Gallery; Taipei Cultural Center; Tally Beck Contemporary; Thomas Erben Gallery; Tyler Rollins Fine Art; and Zürcher Studio. 

Asian Contemporary Art Week is an initiative of the Asian Contemporary Art Consortium, which includes: Melissa Chiu and Miwako Tezuka, Asia Society Museum; Steve Pacia and Shumita Bose, Bose Pacia; Agnes Hsu, China Institute; Ethan Cohen, Ethan Cohen Fine Arts; Jean Kim, Gana Art Gallery; Jack Shainman, Jack Shainman Gallery; Joe Earle, Japan Society; Leila Heller, Leila Taghinia-Milani Heller Gallery; Esa Epstein, sepia EYE;  Alexandra Munroe and Sandhini Poddar, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; Barbara London, The Museum of Modern Art; Thomas Erben, Thomas Erben Gallery; Tyler Rollins, Tyler Rollins Fine Arts; Jack and Susy Wadsworth, Collectors; Xiaoming Zhang, Private Art Consultant; and Leeza Ahmady, ACAW Director (Independent Curator).

ACAW web site : www.acaw.net

Art Fair Tokyo New Executive Director Takahiro Kaneshima

Announcement of Change in Executive Director at ART FAIR TOKYO

The ART FAIR TOKYO Committee Executive announces that Misa Shin, Executive Director of ART FAIR TOKYO since 2005, will be stepping down at the end of May 2010.

Mina Shin has directed a total of four editions of ART FAIR TOKYO, since her appointment as Executive Director in November 2005. During this time, her aims have been to encourage the development of an art market in Japan and to create a truly international art fair in Tokyo. Under each year of Shin’s direction, ART FAIR TOKYO has attracted a wide variety of international and domestic art collectors and art enthusiasts. The fifth edition, held in 2010, attracted a record 50,000 visitors. “This proved that the spring-time ART FAIR TOKYO has firmly established itself on the international art scene”. Shin succeeded in developing the Japanese art world by nurturing a new generation of potential collectors through her message that art should be thought of as something to buy, and not just as something to look at.   

In the future, Shin will serve as an Advisor to ART FAIR TOKYO.

The ART FAIR TOKYO Committee Executive announces that Takahiro Kaneshima will be appointed as the new Executive Director of ART FAIR TOKYO as of June 1, 2010. For the last five years, Kaneshima has been active in the East Asian art scene, particularly in the field of support-activities for artists and the management and coordination of many art projects.

"I am very excited to have the chance, as Executive Director of ART FAIR TOKYO, to sincerely and dynamically work towards demonstrating the wonders of Tokyo’s art scene to the world," Kaneshima said. "We need to consider the specific role of Tokyo in Asia and how ART FAIR TOKYO should function in the global art scene. I believe that ART FAIR TOKYO can be more appealing to the world by reflecting Japan's unique characteristics and its potential, so I greatly look forward to further developing and refining the quality of the fair."

“Working on the foundations built by Shin, ART FAIR TOKYO will continue to grow, taking advantage of Kaneshima’s network and his proven skills of organizing fascinating projects in the East Asian region.” (Press release)

Takahiro Kaneshima’s Short Biography

Executive Director of ART FAIR TOKYO since June 1, 2010, Director of FEC (Far East Contemporaries), Takahiro Kaneshima has managed research projects related to contemporary art in East Asia, activities for supporting artists, and interexchange activities. After graduating with an M.A. in Media and Governance from the Graduate School of Keio University, he worked for NOKIA and Toshiba Corporation. Since 2005, he has been involved in a variety of contemporary art businesses in Beijing. Kaneshima has worked for TOKYO GALLERY + BTAP in Beijing, and served as the East Asia producer for "ART iT." Takahiro Kaneshima was born in 1977 in Tokyo.

Next Post about the New Organizational Structure of the Art Fair Tokyo Committee

__________________

Beijing Photo Art Fair 2010

 

Art Beijing Contemporary Art Fair will launch on April 29 and will close on May 2, 2010. Photo Beijing –Contemporary Photography Art Fair– will still be a part of the show. Here are some words from the Executive Director of Art Beijing about this upcoming event.

 

 

 

“ Through efforts of the past four sessions, Art Beijing has gradually become one of the most important international contemporary art activities, and social and cultural activities as well. Art Beijing gains the support from Beijing Municipal Government, Beijing Culture & Art Foundation, and major art institutions and art media. In 2009, there are more than 150 domestic and international professional media and mass media participated in and reported the fair. Among those, 10 media, as the special support media of Art Beijing and Photo Beijing, make in-depth special report on the fair. In addition, many foreign professional media correspondents also carry out follow-up reports on Art Beijing and sincerely offer their in-depth affirmation and criticism. More than 7000 honored guests attended in the VIP Preview Exhibition and other 30000 spectators in the following four days have enjoyed active communication and interaction with exhibitors. Groups of VIP collectors from the world gather in Beijing, pay close attention to the trend of contemporary arts, and touch the charm of Beijing.

Art Beijing 2010 is committed to building a higher level of international contemporary art platform. The fair will include 80 exclusive galleries from all over the world to exhibit their newest art works. We will focus on Asian art resources with the rapidest growth throughout the world, gradually expand to South Asia, and expect to become the key trading center for Asian contemporary art works. Entering into the third year of The Green House Program by 2010, 30% of 25 galleries exhibited in Photo Beijing will be reserved for foreign galleries to hold more varied and professional thematic exhibitions. The fair is no more a simple platform for exhibition, but promotes a system of independent curator, support young creative artists, and create opportunities for them. In addition, this year we further step to provide more innovative and modern exhibition facilities, provide delicate adjustment and considerate services in attracting investment, promotion, and VIP reception etc. so as to help exhibitors and collectors gain better commercial return “.

Executive Director of Art Beijing
Dong Mengyang

Art Asia Miami 2009 Curatorial Programming

 

 

ART ASIA Miami Announces New Curatorial Programming

 

With its return to the Wynwood Art District for the second year, ART ASIA Miami -December 2-6, 2009- announces its continuing commitment to supporting educational programs and has appointed independent curator Leeza Ahmady to launch an entirely new curatorial platform. The landmark exhibition titled Truly Truthful showcases internationally recognized artists whose works contest categorical presentations of truth and reality in the world. The exhibition presents some of the best artists working both inside and outside of Asia; they challenge presentations of truth as superlative, established, rigid, objective, and specific.

Using clever methods such as: documentary footage, staged events, real and fictive characters, renewal of age-old crafts, and construction of new myths in a variety of media (painting, installation, video, photography and sculpture), the artists in Truly Truthful engage viewers to ponder established notions about Asian contemporary art, and other so called truths in relationship to aesthetics, consumerism, colonialism, societal stagnations, individual and collective inertia, and human consciousness.

Born in Afghanistan and raised in New York, Leeza Ahmady is an independent art curator, educator, and noted specialist in art from Central Asia. As the Director of Asian Contemporary Art Week (ACAW) at Asia Society, Leeza Ahmady is instrumental in organizing the annual citywide event that involves leading New York City galleries and museums to participate in special exhibitions, receptions, lectures, and performances.

The artists in Truly Truthful are selected through nominations by experts in the field including some of the members of the Asian Contemporary Art Consortium, (ACAC).

 

  Gulnara Kasmalieva and Muratbek Djumaliev - Untitled (Spring), 2009
  C-print - Courtesy: Winkleman Gallery

 

In addition, ART ASIA will continue its film series by presenting the newest film from Yi Zhou titled The Ear. The Ear features Pharrell Wiliams with music by Ennio Morricone, and costumes designed by Rick Owens and BBC Ice Cream. Inspired by Nikolai Gogol’s satirical short story The Nose, The Ear features an EarBridge that is part of a public proposal for Baku, Azerbaijan. Zhou is a young Chinese artist who has lived in Rome from the age of ten and is now residing between Paris and Hong Kong. Zhou creates multimedia installation artworks that blend film, digital animation, photography, sculpture, painting, drawing and contemporary music.

 

  © Yi Zhou, THE EAR, 2009 - Film Still - Courtesy: Contrasts Gallery

 

ART ASIA’s move to its new location at the renowned Soho Studios Wynwood Convention Center located at 2136 NW 1st Avenue, between 21st street and 1st Avenue, will provide galleries with maximum exposure to an extensive array of international visitors, such as collectors, curators, gallerists, artists, and the general public. Home to leading galleries, museums, studios and alternative spaces, Wynwood is a marketing hub for art enthusiasts around the world in December.

Co-founder of ART ASIA, Jeffrey Lawson says, “We are extremely excited to return to Miami and have invested heavily in all aspects of ART ASIA to ensure its continued success as the premier fair dedicated to Asian contemporary art with the highest quality curatorial programming.” In 2008, the inaugural event drew over 30,000 visitors including collectors, art advisory firms, museum groups, and media sources. The Preview Night Party at the Mandarin Oriental attracted over 1,200 VIP clients and journalists, setting the tone for its successful five day run. Building on last year’s overwhelming success, ART ASIA Miami 2009 will reach new heights with enhanced curatorial and educational programming.

 

 

Sislej Xhafa, Beh-rang, 2004

Video Still, 00:03:18

Courtesy: Center for Contemporary Art Afghanistan, (CCAA)

 

 

Art Asia - 355 West 36 Suite 3001 New York / NY / 10018

 

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The First Art Fair Tokyo 2005 Explained

Art Fair Tokyo 2005

Japan’s largest gallery show, Art Fair Tokyo, opens in August 2005 at the Tokyo International Forum. With more than 80 national and international primary galleries, the fair will be a showcase of 1500 selected art works, ranging from antiques, traditional Japanese paintings, modern art, to contemporary art.

Concept of Art Fair Tokyo

Art fair is a trade fair which consists mainly of renowned galleries dealing with primary artworks. Every year, the likes of Art Basel or the Armory Show, effectively activate as hubs in the contemporary cultural and economic market, receiving a lot of attention from all over the world. Art Fair Tokyo is initiated as a cultural and economic representative from Japan.

Art Fair is not an exhibition as seen in the art museums

One of the interesting and important aspects regarding Art Fair Tokyo is that people can buy the exhibits. Purchasing artworks is much to do with loving art, bringing it into one's life as well as enjoying the whole process such as talking with gallerists and researching. Tokyo Art Fair provides useful information for art collecting and organizes a series of small seminars in which people can learn how to start collecting artworks. A friendly seminar series entitled "Let's go buy Art" will give people some clues.

Invitation to a lifestyle with art

In the 21st century, art is an essential part of our lifestyle. Art Fair Tokyo which exhibits only carefully selected and high quality art works, encompassing contemporary art, modern art and antiques, aims to be a perfect event for everyone who is interested in culture. On this occasion, we would like to collaborate with you to promote a new way of life with art.

The Art Fair Tokyo Committee

2004 Shanghai Biennale - Shanghai Art Museum - Techniques of the Visible - Participating artists

2004 Shanghai 5 Biennale

Techniques of the Visible

Shanghai Art Museum

September 29 - November 27, 2004

The Exhibition

Since its first edition in 1994, the Shanghai Biennale has been China"s first and foremost international exhibition for contemporary art. Continuing this commitment to contemporary artistic practice, the theme of the 2004 Shanghai Biennale, Ying Xiang Sheng Cun, “Techniques of the Visible”, will focus on the close relationship between art, science, and technology, in particular how art has revealed the interdependent social and political forces that produce and subject technology and humanity.

By bringing together the work of more than 120 artists from Asia, Africa, North America, Latin America and Europe, the curators have worked towards a diversity of approaches to technology, revealed both through the number of artist projects exhibited and the variety of sites in which these installations are located.

The exhibition space of the Shanghai Art Museum is divided into five areas, focusing on projects dealing with spaces of visual production and consumption: the film studio, the dark room, the theatre, the painting studio and the cinema. In the Museum, the contemporary practices range from traditional forms, to photography and film. To emphasize the multiple interrogations by artists towards technology by bringing together practices from around the world, the curators of the 2004 Biennale have expanded beyond the main venue of the Shanghai Museum.  The dispersal of these projects in the public spaces outside the Museum reveals an effort made by the curators to highlight a multifaceted approach to the theme of the Biennale.

In the People’s Park, located beside the Museum, more than ten installation spaces will be constructed to act as Media Houses for projects that investigate the relationship between technology and human action.  The works exhibited here will utilize every possible new media method. 

A more historical dimension of the theme of the Biennale will be investigated in an exhibition geared towards the establishment of a Museum of Chinese Photography in Shanghai.  The exhibition will look at the development of photography in simultaneity with the emergence of Modernism in China.  Pictures and captions representing historical documents of Chinese photography will be displayed in a corridor of more than 100 meters in length, set up in the People’s Park.

International Film & Video

In addition to the exhibitions in the Museum and People’s Park, a program of International Film & Video will also be shown at the Auditorium of Shanghai Art Museum (4th Floor, 325 West Nanjing Road).  Divided into three sections: experimental short films by contemporary artists (including a special screening for Hong Kong Short Art Film); Chinese independent films 2000-2004; and Chinese documentaries, the Opening Screening of this program will be at 6:30 pm on Wednesday September 29th, featuring the films of Yoko Ono. A timetable of screenings will be available on the website www.shanghaibiennale.com.

International Symposium

Along with the exhibitions, the Shanghai Art Museum will host an International Symposium on September 29 and 30, bringing together distinguished scholars, curators, critics and contemporary artists. This two-day symposium will provide a space for the development and concerns revealed by the main theme of the 2004 Biennale. Taken from Chinese terminology of ying xiang and sheng chun, the concept emerges from an interest in the technology-based visual products that retain critical historical and emotive references. Ying Xian Sheng Cun suggests that artistic practice engaging with “technology” is inherently placing itself within a historical continuum, where cultural metaphor becomes critical to its understanding. The Symposium will also take place in the Auditorium of Shanghai Art Museum (4th Floor, 325 West Nanjing Road). 

Opening Gala

An Opening Gala will be held on the 28th of September in the People’s Park adjacent to the Shanghai Art Museum, to coincide with the famous Mid-Autumn Festival. This night will include performances and multi-media installations by twenty artists, as well as internationally recognised D.Js and V.Js.

Public Lectures

A Public Lectures program will also be announced, scheduled to take place between September 28 and November 27, where curators, scholars and participating artists will be invited to discuss the exhibitions and other key topics related to issues of technology and art.

A catalogue with contribution of the curators and the works in the exhibition will be available, together with a Guide for the Public.

2004 Shanghai Biennale Participating artists 

including Film and Video 

(listed alphabetically)

Tariq Alvi, Rotterdam, London

Tiong Ang, Amsterdam

Big Dipper Group (Tang Yingshan \ Sun Zhezheng \ Wang Kai \ Yan Fenglin), Beijing \ Nanjing \ Shanghai \ Wuxi

Miguel Rio Branco, Rio de Janeiro

Tania Bruguera, Havana, Chicago

Robert Cahen, Paris

Chen Haiyan, Hangzhou

Chen Jieren, Taipei

Chen Shunzhu, Taipei

Chen Xiaoyun, Hangzhou

N + N  Corsino (Nicole & Norbert Corsino), Marseille

Mauricio Dias \ Walter Riedweg, Rio de Janeiro

Gonzalo Diaz, Santiago (Chile)

Stan Douglas, Vancouver

Touhami Ennadre, Paris

Kota Ezawa, San Francisco

Feng Jiangzhou, Beijing

Feng Mengbo, Beijing

Feng Qianyu, Yangjiang (Guangdong)

Fu Yu \ Jia Haiqing, Beijing

Coco Fusco, New York

Gan Chao \ Liang Zi, Shanghai

Geng Jianyi, Hangzhou

Maruch Santiz Gomez, San Juan Chamula (Mexico)

Group Muro Sur, ( Represented by: Voluspa Jarpa \ Josefina Guilisasti ), Santiago (Chile)

Gu Xiong, Vancouver

He Jianjun, Beijing

Hong Donglu, Taipei

Hong Kong Art Centre \ Videotage, Hong Kong

Hou Bo, Beijing

Hu Jieming, Shanghai

Hung  Keung, Hong Kong

Jia Zhangke, Beijing

Jiang Yue, Beijing

Choi Jong Bum, Seoul

Philipp Lachenman, Cologne

Ladder to Heaven Group ( Jiang Zhi, Cao Fei, Yang Fudong, Chen Xiaoyun ), Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Hangzhou

Yuri Leiderman, Moscow , Cologne

Mee Ping Leung, Hong Kong

Li Tianbing, Hu-an ( Fujian )

Li Xiao, Beijing

Li Yang, Beijing

Shu-Min Lin, New York

Liu Bingjian, Beijing

Liu Wei, Beijing

Liu Zheng, Beijing

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Montréal, Madrid

Lu Chunsheng, Shanghai

Oswaldo Macia, London

Fabian Marcaccio, New York

Sebastian Diaz Morales, Comodoro Rivadavia ( Argentina )

Ni Haifeng, Amsterdam

Nibroll (Represented by Takahashi Keisuke), Tokyo

Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba, Ho Chi Minh City

Khyentse Norbu, Paro ( Bhutan )

Ellen Pau, Hong Kong

Park Junebum, Seoul

Vong Phaophanit, London

Keith Piper, London

Qiu Shihua, Shenzhen

Qiu Ting, Beijing

Qiu Zhijie, Beijing

Kerim Ragimov, St. Petersburg

Rong Rong \ Inri, Beijing, Tokyo

Michal Rovner, Tel Aviv, New York

Graciela Sacco, Rosario ( Argentina )

Berni Searle, Johannesburg 

Shao Yinong \ Mu Chen, Beijing

Cindy Sherman, New York

Karla Solano, San José (Costa Rica)

SS Creative Group (Represented by Zhu Qingsheng \ Russell Pensyl), Beijing

Su Xia, Guangzhou

Sun Liang, Shanghai

Vivan Sundaram, New Delhi

Trinh T. Minh-ha, Berkeley (California)

Tsai Wen-yin, New York

Tseng Kwong Chi, New York

Humberto Velez, Manchester

Julia Ventura, Lisbon, Amsterdam

Bill Viola, Los Angeles

Jeff Wall, Vancouver

Wang Bo, Beijing

Wang Hui, Beijing

Wang Jianwei’s Group ( Shi Qing \ Wang Wei ), Beijing

Wang Ningde, Guangzhou

Wang Qiang \ Suzuki Ryoko, Beijing, Hokkaido

Wang Xiaoshuai, Beijing

Wang Youshen, Beijing

Wei Xing, Kunming

Wu Ershan, Beijing

Wu Quan, Beijing

Xiao Yu, Beijing

Xu Xiaobing, Beijing

Miranba Ngai Tsui, Hong Kong

Xu Zhen, Shanghai

Yang Fudong, Shanghai

Young Hay, Hong Kong

Yoko Ono, New York

Yu Hong, Beijing

The Mapping of Yanchuan Country Paper-cuttings, Beijing, Yanchuan ( Shanxi )

Yue Minjun, Beijing

Zhang Hui, Beijing

Zhang Peili, Hangzhou

Zhang Xiaogang, Beijing, Chengdu

Zhao Gang, Chengdu

Zhou Hao \ Ji Jianghong, Guangzhou

Zhou Tiehai, Shanghai

Curators

Xu Jiang (Head Curator) was born in Fujian, China. He is currently the President of China Academy of Art, and the Vice Chairman of Chinese Artists Association. As a practicing artist he held one-man shows in Berlin, Hong Kong and Hamburg. His work was also exhibited during the first Guangzhou Triennial (2002), the 14th Asian International Art Exhibition (1999), The 24th San Paolo Biennale (1998), the 1st Shanghai Biennale (1996) and the 1st Asian Pacific Triennial (1993). He has curated and contributed to the international events such as "The Living in Time" (Berlin) and "Edge of the Earth - Migration of Asian Contemporary Art and Regional Politics" (Tokyo, Bangkok, Istanbul, Teheran, Hangzhou).

Sebastian Lopez was born in Argentina. He is currently the General Director of the Gate Foundation, Amsterdam. He taught at the Art History Institutes in Amsterdam and at Leiden University. He has already curated and co-curated quite a lot of exhibitions including East International; The Democracy Show; Talking Back to the Media; A City-A World; Art > Work > Nature; Not a Chinese Show and A Short History of Dutch Video Art in Amsterdam (the latter one toured to San José, Madrid and Zagreb). He has also contributed to exhibitions such as Latin American Artists in Europe. Creativity Between Cultures, 1945-1982, (Venice). He is the editor of Van het Post-Modernisme (On Post-Modernism) and Talking Back to the Media, among others. He also contributes to Third Text(London); Camera Austria(Vienna), Lápiz(Madrid); Kunstforum and Neue Bildende Kunst(Berlin).

Zheng Shengtian was born in China and taught at the China Academy of Art. He is currently the managing editor of an English magazine called Yishu - Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art (published in Taipei), and a Board member of the Vancouver International Center for Contemporary Asian Art. As an independent curator his curatorial work over the past few years has included Jiangnan - Modern and Contemporary Chinese Art Exhibitions (Vancouver), The Art of Proletarian Cultural Revolution (Vancouver, Toronto, Winnipeg), and Shanghai Modern ( Munich). He has also frequently contributed frequently to periodicals and catalogues about contemporary Chinese and Asian art. He was the Vice Director of the Academic Committee for the 2nd Shanghai Biennale and a committee member of the 4th Shanghai Biennale.

Zhang Qing was born in Suzhou, China. He is currently one of the curators of the Shanghai Art Museum and the head of Shanghai Biennale's Office. He was chosen as one of the "Best Curators in China" in 2000 by CCTV and other 49 Media organizations. He has curated or co-curated exhibitions such as City_Net Asia 2003 (Seoul), Art of Cai Guoqiang (Shanghai), Junction - Architectural Experiment of Contemporary Chinese Art (Shanghai). As a member of the editorial board of Art China, a bi-monthly periodical, he has frequently contributed to essays and interviews on contemporary Chinese art and has published a book Chinese Art, 1990-1992. He was the co-curator of the 3rd Shanghai Biennale.

Directed by the Shanghai Municipal Culture Broadcasting Film & TV Administrative Bureau

Organized by the Shanghai Art Museum and East Morning Newspaper, Shanghai

Co-organized by Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Dongjie Advertising & Media Co., Ltd., Shanghai People’s Park Management Company

SHANGHAI BIENNALE

Shanghai Art Museum 

325 W Nanjing Road, Shanghai

www.shanghaibiennale.com