Tag: chinese

Ai Wei Wei at Chambers Fine Art

This small exhibition of work by the Chinese dissident artist Ai Wei Wei at Chelsea’s Chambers Fine Art shows the artist continuing to work on themes related to the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan province. Here, a marble rendering of a twisted piece of metal rebar is placed on each casket, acting as memorial to the thousands of children who died when their shoddily constructed schools collapsed. (Through Nov 1st).

Ai Wei Wei, installation of ‘Rebar Casket and Marble Rebar,’ nos I – VIII, huali wood, marble and foam, 2014.

Jian-Jun Zhang in ‘Contemporary Chinese Prints’ at PacePrints

Riffing on Mao’s famous injunction to ‘Let the past serve the present,’ Chinese artist Jian-Jun Zhang presents traditional but damaged Chinese vase forms in silicone rubber, selling an updated version of ‘authentic’ national heritage. (At Pace Prints, 57th Street, through April 12th.)

Jian-Jun Zhang, vases from the ‘Vestiges of a Process’ series, silicone rubber, 2007 & 2011, and detail from ‘Flowing Water,’ 40 x 29 inches, set of five, unique monoprints.

Xie Xiaoze at Chambers Fine Art

Guangdong-born Stanford professor Xie Xiaoze expands his ‘Chinese Library’ series with huge new paintings of tattered, scholarly books. The show also includes paintings of politically sensitive images from Chinese social media giant Weibo relating to corruption, environmental damage and more. (At Chelsea’s Chambers Fine Art through April 12th).

Xie Xiaoze, Chinese Library No. 57, oil on canvas, 48 x 74 ¼ inches, 2014.

Xu Bing in ‘Ink Art’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Beijing-based artist Xu Bing is a star of the Met’s excellent ‘Ink Art’ exhibition, which features important work by prominent Chinese artists of the past few decades who have maintained a link with China’s traditional calligraphic and painting traditions. Here, Xu’s Book from the Sky submerses visitors in a sea of Chinese characters (with over a thousand unique variations) yet comes to question tradition and the relay of information by the fact that all are illegible. (At the Metropolitan Museum of Art through April 6th).

Xu Bing, Book from the Sky, ca 1987-91, installation of hand-printed books and ceiling and wall scrolls printed from wood letterpress type; ink on paper.

Gu Wenda at Chambers Fine Art

New York based Chinese artist Gu Wenda draws on scholarly Chinese painting for these nine and a half feet tall, ink on rice paper on board drawings, each featuring a landscape and calligraphy and relating to his recent project proposal for a landscaped garden rich with symbolism.  (At Chambers Fine Art in Chelsea through Dec 21st).  

Gu Wenda, installation view of ‘Central Park’ at Chambers Fine Art, Nov, 2013.  (In the foreground:  Central Park – Concept #1:  Winter Snow, chinese ink, rice paper mount on wooden board, 2008).