TRANSCENDENCE - Icompendiummedia.icompendium.com/elisabet_APT-Soho-Fuxing-PDF.pdf · 2019-03-15 · TRANSCENDENCE 2x·2z APT Institute in collaboration with SOHO Fuxing Rd Opening

T R A N S C E N D E N C E ·

APT Institute in collaboration with SOHO Fuxing Rd Opening Art Project

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C U R A T O R I A L S T A T E M E N T

To celebrate the vibrant energy of Soho Fuxing Road complex, APT Institute is proud to present Transcendence - a group exhibition by APT artists. As the exhibition title suggests, we wish to stimulate, enlighten and elevate those who encounter the exhibition above and beyond their hectic city lives. The artworks are created by international artists who share Shanghai’s cosmopolitan point of view and celebrate its diverse palette. From traditional oil paintings to light installations, we hope to portray different emotions and imaginations evoked by historical and contemporary Shanghai through a carefully selected ensemble from the APT Collection. Viewers are transported to the creative wonderment of the artists’ imagination, and reexamine the essence of modern day Shanghai. Not only aesthetically pleasing, the artworks are very relatable with their narratives about the amazement of city lives and the struggle of modernity. Viewers are granted the chance to reflect, dream and be inspired with the artworks dotting across the complex. Our goal is to provide slices of enjoyment for the people coming through Soho Fuxing Road for work and leisure.

SOHO APT Institute APT “ ”

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APT

SOHOSOHO


E X H I B I T I O N T H E M E

Sailing through the wind and waves in the torrent of urbanization and globalization, there are times to

march ahead, and times to linger and contemplate our past and future. The exhibition is a story of

collision, meditation and integration. Each artist showcases their unique understanding and reflection

of the very same era we live in. They try to communicate messages beyond words using unusual

methods, and to challenge our ordinary perspectives of the world.


P A R T I C I P A T I N G A R T I S T S - W u D i n g

Another explain to non-logical structure (2014) I Giclee Print I 125cm*100cm

If you stare at something for too long, you do not see it in its original form anymore. It becomes a word, a song, a form of substance… It is the object in our experiences, or an alien symbol. Fluorescent lights are installed inside Wu Ding’s artwork. A calming white light shines through the cracks, and it flickers. There is a liveliness in the still, and the cyclic movement never ends. The artist is searching for a substantial dimension in all images and representations.


P A R T I C I P A T I N G A R T I S T S - M o r g a n W o n g

Journey-Hong Kong (2007) I Digital Print I 180cm*110cm

The artwork is an abstract expression of the inevitable and involuntary contact between people. Wong filmed 24 walks that he did in one day on a busy street in Hong Kong. He then made all 24 videos available for audiences on the Internet and the one-pixel-width video vertical bars on the artwork represent these videos being watched by different viewers. People get used to the crowded streets, dazzling lights and endless noises. This artwork incorporates physical and psychological space, virtual and actual presence.

Morgan Wong


P A R T I C I P A T I N G A R T I S T S - X i e C a o m i n

Mandala series I Oil on Canvas

When mathematics meets metaphysics and order meets chaos, the artist Xie Caomin’s Mandalas are born. His Mandala series, which create order from the chaos of the ruins of the World Trade Center out of which their imagery is extracted and (re)shaped, are about cycles and repetitions, rise and wreck followed in turn by the rise of new and different forms of order and technological advancement. The falling and rising again are not one, but they are part of the same cycle, the same dialectic. As Wallace Stevens wrote in "Connoisseur of Chaos," "a violent order is a disorder and a great disorder is an order.”


P A R T I C I P A T I N G A R T I S T S - E l i s a b e t h C o n d o n

Fandian Flower (2014) I Mixed Media on Canvas I 200cm*250cm

Elisabeth

The painting depicts a magnolia, Shanghai‘s symbolic flower. The artist uses images from the Bund as parts of the flower, combining Chinese ink, colored ink, acrylic and glitter mixed with binder, to show both Western and Chinese influences at work. The artist opened up a new perspective for us to see the city and its beauty from outside.


P A R T I C I P A T I N G A R T I S T S - L i u Z h e n c h e n

Kaleidoscope (2009) I 13 min I HD video installation

In “Kaleidoscope” the artist has taken images from the internet and newspapers, in which people smile and are obedient. These seemingly happy faces were fragmented and put together in a swirling, hypnotic kaleidoscope. Everything is apparently very beautiful but behind that very same beauty lies the most crucial information, waiting to be properly decoded.


P A R T I C I P A T I N G A R T I S T S - S H I Y O N G

A Bunch of Happy Fantasies I Neon Light Installation I 500cm*500cm

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A Bunch of Happy Fantasy is a neon installation. Shi Yong wrote down the fantasies, made them into neon light, and invertedly displayed. Shi Yong focuses on fantasy and reality. In terms of ideology of consumerism, modernization of the city, daily behaviors and emotional feelings, he altered the ideas and created his works. This piece is materialized fantasy creation of words and materials. "Fantasy" is an unspeakable thought, and the work once again conveys the artist's subtle control of human perception and cognition. A bunch of inverted mumbling and sweet red lights makes the "happy fantasy" real and touching.


P A R T I C I P A T I N G A R T I S T S - W e n g F e n

Sitting on the wall-HaiKou I Photography

Sitting on the wall, back to the camera, the young female student look out over the city, as if seeing herself and the city in the future. these young girls are experiencing the transition of adolescence. Once exhibited in Centre Pompidou, the artist Weng Fen’s photography work is now on display in a city, just like Haikou and the young girls sitting on the wall, that is also experiencing dramatic changes.

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P A R T I C I P A T I N G A R T I S T S - S h i Y o n g

QQ‘s Fantasy (2002) I Video

The work QQ Fantasy displays moving parts of a stooping body and the construction under the city sky in alternating order. By changing the pictures continuously, the performances of the body are expressed through a series of illusory actions that get more intense as the performer is finally awaken. As to the installation method, the image is projected onto a white film, while the sound comes out of the bass loudspeaker affixed to the film. A concrete sound corresponding to the rhythm of the performance is overlapped purposefully with an illusory performance untouched with other subjects in this image. The subject expresses that, under the circumstances, desire can only be met by comforting oneself, which is both related and unrelated to the real life.In short, his work is an amalgam of Shanghai's eclectic 'anything goes' attitude towards the built environment.

QQ

OK


P A R T I C I P A T I N G A R T I S T S - O d e l e Z h a n g

Whale II I Oil on Linen

The paintings are built on contrasts. The animals are large and mix cuteness with a power that is sometimes menacing. As these natural creatures encounter the technological environment of humans, complications ensue. A whale towers over what might be a city or rows of ancient stelae. In his mouth, an antique automobile begins to disintegrate.

Odele, ,

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P A R T I C I P A T I N G A R T I S T S - O d e l e Z h a n g

Zebra I Oil on Linen

The paintings are built on contrasts. The animals are large and mix cuteness with a power that is sometimes menacing. As these natural creatures encounter the technological environment of humans, complications ensue.The artist is well prepared to explore such conflicting elements. Although she was born and spent her early childhood in China, she then moved to Israel, and went to high school and college in the US. Today her time is split between America and Shanghai. With a foot in several cultures, she is attuned to the way conflict and creativity both result when different worlds collide.

Odele, ,

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P A R T I C I P A T I N G A R T I S T S - L i u Z h e n c h e n

La marche (2013) I 10 min I HD video

Accompanied by a turtle, the artist Zhenchen LIU walk through his hometown Shanghai. Without pause, he walks the night until noon, watching his memories through the transformation of the city. In a stop motion style, the countless images continue to accelerate, accompanying the movement of the artist through the city and time.

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P A R T I C I P A T I N G A R T I S T S - X i e C a o m i n

Self Portrait (2010) I Oil on Canvas I 210cm*170cm

Face is a metaphysical landscape of human being, the domain set in between a figure’s individuality and his social persona. To twist the image is meant to escape from the face as the center of human being, and rediscover them from the painting’s surface. Twisted and masked face causes randomness and chaos, which leads the figure escape from the trap of the identity to uncertainty, to the border of human and thing, which communicates the idea that a person is not composed of one, but many things. Human is not still within, but is random inside out.

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P A R T I C I P A T I N G A R T I S T S - D o n P o r c e l l a

Bust of Shanghai Woman (2014) I Pipe cleaners I 25x20x15 inches

Porcella’s interest in nature and human evolution came from exploring the Sierra Nevada wilderness. Now living and working in NYC, Porcella seems to be recalling his earlier experiences in an animalistic call of the wild. By creating paintings, sculpture, drawings and installations from materials such as handmade wax and woven pipe cleaners, Porcella seeks to transform these low-brow materials and elevate them to a high art context, while simultaneously laughing at the human condition and presenting a unique world that is shamelessly awkward and unabashedly comical. Porcella’s work often references art historical movements, America’s rampant consumerism, and alien conspiracy theories, which allows the subjective and strange to penetrate humorous representations of a wildly imaginative reality.

Don Porcella

For further information please contact: [email protected] [email protected]

TRANSCENDENCE�超·越CURATORIAL STATEMENTEXHIBITION THEMEPARTICIPATING ARTISTS - Wu Ding 吴鼎 PARTICIPATING ARTISTS - Morgan WongPARTICIPATING ARTISTS - Xie Caomin 谢曹闽PARTICIPATING ARTISTS - Elisabeth Condon PARTICIPATING ARTISTS - Liu Zhenchen 刘真辰PARTICIPATING ARTISTS - SHI YONG 施勇PARTICIPATING ARTISTS - Weng Fen 翁奋PARTICIPATING ARTISTS - Shi Yong 施勇PARTICIPATING ARTISTS - Odele ZhangPARTICIPATING ARTISTS - Odele ZhangPARTICIPATING ARTISTS - Liu Zhenchen 刘真辰PARTICIPATING ARTISTS - Xie Caomin 谢曹闽PARTICIPATING ARTISTS - Don PorcellaSlide Number 17

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TRANSCENDENCE - Icompendiummedia.icompendium.com/elisabet_APT-Soho-Fuxing-PDF.pdf · 2019-03-15 · TRANSCENDENCE 2x·2z APT Institute in collaboration with SOHO Fuxing Rd Opening