Cao Jingping
Summer, 2008
Acrylic on canvas
His contemporary landscapes adhere to classical traditions while also meeting the visual demands of the 21st century. Cao Jingping integrates photographs with traditional Chinese painting techniques, an approach that provides great flexibility with respect to the precision of photography. Sometimes he intentionally fractures the visual reality in his works, intertwining elements of reality and fantasy.
Chen Zhiguang
Scrolls, 2008
Stainless steel
He has a unique understanding of stainless steel, believing that its reflective properties can help to integrate artworks and their surroundings. In this way, Chen Zhiguang constructs magical spaces where his creations and their immediate environments are closely linked.
Ants, 2008
Stainless steel
This artist uses ants as a subject for most of his works. According to him, the specialization of cooperative labor among ants makes them different than other creatures. Chen Zhiguang has a unique understanding of stainless steel, believing that its reflective properties can help to integrate artworks and their surroundings. In this way, he constructs magical spaces where his creations and their immediate environments are closely linked.
Chen Hongzhi
The Lost Wall No.1, 2008 (pictured)
The Lost Wall No.2, 2008
Oil on plexiglass
This work represents the artist’s reflections on urban civilization. He draws natural landscapes on fiberglass and then transforms these into three-dimensional screens intended for placement in urban living spaces. Chen Hongzhi’s screens obscure the boundary between the city and nature by adding natural elements to an urban context. His constructions highlight the fact that city-dwellers are gradually losing their sense of nature.
Chen Wenbo
Sunglasses, 2008 (pictured)
Rear View, 2008
Oil on canvas
He is interested in material goods, especially those that symbolize the achievements of industrialization. By depicting everyday objects in an exaggerated fashion and using extremely bright colors, this important young painter expresses a reaction against materialism, the excesses of the age, and the conspicuous consumption of his generation.
Chen Wenling
Cultural Landscape, 2008
Stainless steel
Sensitive to the rise of Hedonism in a society marked by consumption, his art reflects a search for innovative ways to criticize this unchecked pursuit of money and material possessions. In recent years, the artist has created magnificent, oversized metal sculptures whose discrete forms and expressions combine seamlessly into an organic whole. Chen Wenling’s art reflects both the color and physical sense of the real world and the whimsical unpredictability of imagination.
Chi Peng
Why Should I Love
You?, 2008
C-print
He is one of the first artists in China to use digital photography as a means of expressing the relationship between self and society. Chi Peng is an introspective person but also is sensitive to changes in the world around him, especially the process of urbanization. His works address the connection between people and cities.
Gao Lei
Building No.35-302, 2008 (pictured)
Building No.35-333, 2008
C-print
He graduated from the digital media faculty of China Art University. In keeping with the trend of synthesizing digital images in contemporary photography, his art adopts illusory elements from computer games. These works are digitally-processed images based on their real-life originals. In Gao Lei’s synthesized, illusory world, political, cultural, and social realities give way to the joy of virtual images that transcend national boundaries and social class distinctions.
Han Yajuan
Before the Big Night, 2008
Oil on canvas
Like many people born in the 1980s, she is
constantly in pursuit of new sensations and fresh experiences and her paintings reveal that overarching quest of her generation. The cartoon-like language in
Han Yajuan’s works not only effectively represents the romance and simplicity of this group, but also shows the difference between their visual understanding and visual representation. These young artists share similar life experiences and most of them have subconsciously acquiesced to consumerism through their art.
He Sen
Sleeping with a Toy, 2008
Oil on canvas
This artist, inspired by photography, is a master at portraying the world of urban youth with stark proficiency and cutting insight. His works chronicle the collective experiences of China’s new generation. Employing a dark, photo-realistic style, his subjects are depicted within foreboding environments. He Sen’s women typically appear consumed by debilitating emotions that range from depression to vacancy to confusion. Surrounding objects in the environment, too, may repeat those same characteristics.
He Wenjue
Watch Movie: The Postmodern Life of
My Aunt
, 2008
Oil on canvas
Since the 1990s, the artist has focused on the topic of ‘flowing objects.’ For him, ‘flowing’ is a special behavior that connects history to the present. Thus, ‘water’ and ‘light’ are key elements of his paintings. In He Wenjue’s view, water and movies are both materials that are actually ‘non-material.’ Water is natural without shape, whereas a film is man-made and keeps track of humankind’s precious memory in the unshaped flow of time.
Li Jikai
Exuviating, 2008
Acrylic on canvas
His works represent the attitude of the generation of artists born in the 1970s. Instead of emphasizing social issues, they prefer to focus on who they are, where they are from, and where they are going. Li Jikai’s paintings are imbued with a spirit of solitude and meditation and represent a new trend in Chinese contemporary art: the disappearance of collective awareness and the emergence of artists as individuals.
Li Wei
Virtual City, 2008
Mixed media
Her fascination with the improvement in people’s lives brought about by technology and her confrontation with urbanization are intertwined. To express her feelings about this duality, she asks the audience to view her works from different angles – an approach common to traditional Chinese painting. Li Wei employs simple and pure lines customarily used for architecture with rice paper and charcoal as her basic materials.
Lin Tianmiao
Shadow No.1, 2008
Mixed media
The installation art and conceptual photography of this extremely influential woman artist embody a unique style and femininity. Her greatest strength is the ability to combine the intricacy of life experiences with a manipulation of materials. Lin Tianmiao’s woven silk installations require significant manual labor and are a reflection of traditional craftwork.
Liu Jianhua
Reflection, 2008
Bluish-white porcelain
This graduate of the Ceramic Art College in China is a master of ceramic craftsmanship and uses traditional philosophy and techniques to express his feelings about modern life. Liu Jianhua lives and works in Shanghai, the most rapidly developing city in the country, and has experienced first hand the growth and expansion of the city.
Liu Liyun
A Volume of Landscape No.1, 2008
A Volume of Landscape No.2, 2008 (pictured)
Silk and cotton
She studied traditional ink painting in China and design art in the United Kingdom, and ultimately developed a unique style that combines the best of both disciplines. Liu Liyun creates an optimal balance between the artistic appeal of ink and the real world by leveraging the flexibility of this medium as an emotional vehicle for conveying thought, feelings, and imagination. Among her works, one can view an engaging exaggeration of detail that calls to mind the natural landscapes and scenes unique to ancient China.
Liu Qinghe
Untitled, 2009
Ink wash on paper
He has thirty years of experience with ink painting and his examination of its possibilities in the 21st century is being embraced by others. The people and scenes found in Liu Qinghe’s works exemplify a combination of coincidence and consequence. Some figures are typical of reality; others are extremely unusual. The artist regards ink painting as a spiritual tool – a duality that adheres to tradition while fostering creative innovation.
Liu Ren
Sleepwalker – Temple of Heaven, 2008
C-print
She integrates photography and painting to express her dream of youth. Using painting software, Liu Ren combines a memory of her childhood with present-day experiences to create an ideal world. Her upbringing in a seaside city accounts for the water, clouds, and tides that are the visual elements she prefers. She associates these with Beijing’s traditional buildings to construct mysterious and impressive scenes that might be found only in a mystical fairyland.
Liu Ye
Missing I, 2008 (pictured)
Missing II, 2008
Acrylic on canvas
He borrows themes and structures from many famous Western paintings and melds these with the experiences of young artists. His work combines adult sensibilities with the language of cartoons. Although his figures are children, it is apparent that the stories the paintings tell are about grown-ups. The childish joy seen in Liu Ye’s work belies a deep melancholy.
Lv Shanchuan
January 21, 2009, 2009
Oil on canvas
This artist uses stories reported in newspapers as the themes of his large oil paintings. The issues embedded in his work span politics, the military, the economy and culture. All of these are important news in China and most of them have worldwide implications. This underscores Lv Shanchuan’s global vision. What matters to him most are not only the contents of the events, but also the scenes where these take place because they have the power to move and inspire the audience.
Miao Xiaochun
The Last Judgment, 2008
Video installation
This work represents a new achievement in Chinese contemporary photography and digital art. In the late 1990s Miao Xiaochun began creating three-dimensional images. In one of his artworks he placed himself into The Last Judgment by Michelangelo, creating a digital version of this masterpiece in which over 400 figures rise and descend in a cloudy space, facing their destiny. It is actually a museum of fate where a virtual word is connected to history and reality. His art expresses a profound concern about humanity and the planet.
THEY Group
THEY – CCTV, 2008 (pictured)
THEY – White Collar, 2007
Oil on canvas
THEY is an art group composed of two young artists. A key characteristic of their work is the use of the same scene in all of their paintings. This contains common images from everyday life and the essential elements never change. Other components, however, are in constant flux. In these works, seemingly unrelated people and objects are placed in a nondescript room, and, as if magically, are transformed into something meaningful and significant. THEY’s efforts can be considered an artistic reaction against information overload.
Tu Shaohui
Red Wall No.1, 2008
Red Wall No.2, 2008 (pictured)
Red Wall No.3, 2008
Dusk, 2008
Ink wash on silk
He focuses on the experiences and cultural sensibilities of the new generation. In all of his works, the scenes are developed around their emotions, whether in relation to a street lamp, shadow, bird, kite or bicycle. For Tu Shaohui, there are deeper meanings in these mundane things of the world – coincidence, illusion, frustration and loneliness – and all are related to the uncertainties of young people when confronted with new environments.
Wang Mai
Capturing the Energy Monster through Wisdom No.9, 2008
Mixed media
He creates artworks which are like fairy tales for grown-ups – an expression of his great interest in cartoons. Wang Mai attempts to represent the characteristics of consumerism which are closely related to globalization. His works call attention to the consumption and competition revolving around the planet’s limited resources underscoring the importance of developing energy alternatives while establishing a new relationship between material life and spiritual life.
Wang Mingxian
Bird’s Nest, 2008 (pictured)
New CCTV Building, 2008
Mixed media
An expert in the art of the Cultural Revolution, his works are influenced by that time period but also incorporate new ideas in contemporary art. With this unique methodology, Wang Mingxian has created artworks that depict modern buildings and places them within the context of traditional landscapes.
Wang Xiaohui
Self Portraits: My Last 100 Years, 2008
Photography on rice paper and multi-media installation
A photographer active in both Europe and China, she combines different artistic genres to record the experiences of her journey into the world. In the field of autobiographical photography, Wang Xiaohui’s works are like diaries and reveal the secret of survival. These include a series of digitally-synthesized self portraits based on her experiences. Wearing clothes typical of eras from the beginning of the 20th century to the present, her images symbolize the constant social change in China.
Wei Qingji
Spiderman 2, 2008
Ink wash on paper
Ink painting has a long history in China. Some contemporary ink painters add new elements to this tradition. In Wei Qingji’s works, he explores this interface between old and new and has created an innovative and creative synthesis. Most of his compositions address daily life and memory – serving as diaries and connecting his recollections with conceptually active images or spiritual symbols.
Weng Fen
Bird’s Eye View – New
Beijing 8, 2008 (pictured)
Bird’s Eye View – New
Beijing 9, 2008
C-print
His works revolve around China’s vast and rapidly changing social environment. Buildings and landscapes in constant flux serve as the source materials for Weng Fen’s photography. He always places one or more girls into a cityscape, associating them with their surroundings. In these images the girls are witnessing the growth of the city, suggesting a complex psychological reaction to change and encouraging people to be concerned about the impact of urban expansion.
Weng Yunpeng
View from Park Lane Hotel, 2008
Oil on canvas
This artist responds to the advent of the media age by representing the world through images in new media juxtaposed with people’s common experiences. In each of his works there is a TV set broadcasting a news program and reminding us of the relationship between daily life and the environment. Weng Yunpeng focuses on indoor spaces which are imbued with a strong sense of the resident’s personality and thereby further express the relationship between private life and the world beyond the individual.
Xing Danwen
Urban Fiction Series No.15, 2008
C-print
Courtesy of the artist and Ooi Botos Gallery.
The artwork was produced in a format that differs from Xing Danwen’s Series specifically for this exhibition.
Her works are the result of frequent travels around the world. According to this artist, “In modern cities solitude means more than being alone. It is a psychological experience. New objects are intertwined with old ones, and it seems that people are living in grids.” In her photographs the exteriors of building models are always the initial focus. The dramatic scenes inside are perceived only through careful observation. Xing Danwen’s virtual scenes permit audiences to see and feel people’s solitude and the gaps between them.
Yang Qian
CCTV in Moonlight, 2008
Fluorescent paint on canvas
He experienced the panoply of Western art while living in the United States for over a decade. After returning to China, Yang Qian created the new genre of ‘double painting’ which reveals different images when painted surfaces are exposed to specific kinds of light. When this occurs one image is changed into another. Consequently, the artist creates two images that are simultaneously opposed and associated. These ‘double paintings’ pull the audience into each work and encourage a process of interaction.
Zhan Wang
Rockwork No.107, 2008
Stainless steel
Since the beginning of the 1990s, he has used rockwork, commonly seen in classical Chinese gardens, as an inspiration for his art. The artist uses stainless steel to imitate a variety of traditional rockwork styles and places his sculptures in urban landscapes. His works have been shown in cities around the globe and convey the conception of art as it enters into public spaces. With his strong social imagination, Zhan Wang endows stainless steel with modern cultural meanings.