Yingmei Duan, “Happy Yingmei,” 2011/2012, Art of Change, photo by Linda Nylind, all images courtesy Southbank Centre London
The first major exhibition to focus on contemporary installation and performance art from China, “Art of Change: New Directions from China” opened September 7th at the Southbank Centre in London. The exhibition traces the artistic development of a selection of some of the most innovative artists from China, spanning in time from the 1980s until today.
Chen Zhen, “Purification Room,” 2000/2012, Art of Change, photo by Linda Nylind
Themes including Change, Transformation, Instability, and Discontinuity are explored by Stephanie Rosenthal, Chief Curator, Hayward Gallery. The works are displayed in a material and active way, and exhibiting a variety of old and recent work by each artist, the exhibition focuses on change of appearance over time. The feeling of the exhibition is volatile and kinetic: sculptures hung in unconventional ways, a wildly thrashing hose pipe “dancing” through space, and structures made by live silk worms.
Yingmei Duan, “Sleeping,” 2011/2012, Art of Change, photo by Linda Nylind
Exhibited artists include: CHEN Zhen, Yingmei DUAN, GU Dexin, LIANG Shaoji, PENG Yu and SUN Yuan, WANG Jianwei, XU Zhen and MadeIn Company. The show will be on view until December 9th, 2012.
Xu Zhen, “In Just a Blink of an Eye,” 2005/2012, Art of Change, photo by Linda Nylind
Liang Shaoji, “Windows,” 2012, Art of Change, photo by Linda Nylind
Liang Shaoji, “Listening to the Silkworm/Nature Series No. 98,” 2006/2012, Art of Change, photo by Linda Nylind
Installation view of works by Sun Yuan & Peng Yu, “I Didn’t Notice What I am Doing,” 2012, Art of Change, photo by Linda Nylind
Installation view of works by MADEIN COMPANY, 2012, Art of Change, photo by Linda Nylind
Gu Dexin, “1997-6-16-1998-6-13,” 1997-98, Art of Change, Image courtesy the artist and Galleria Continua, San Gimignano / Beijing / Le Moulin. Collection Timothy Van Housen & Ellen Kim-Van Housen
-E.Baker
Related Links:
Exhibition Page [Southbank Centre]
