Images © Zhang Xiaotao
Padiglione China
55ª Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte - La Biennale di Venezia
Transfiguration
He Yunchang, Hu Yaolin, Miao Xiaochun, Shu Yong, Tong Hongsheng, Wang Qingsong, Zhang Xiaotao
June 1st – November 24th 2013
Exhibition title: Transfiguration
Curator: Wang Chunchen
1 June – 24 November 2013
Preview days: 29, 30 and 31 May 2013
The 55th Venice Biennale will be held in Venice from June 1st through to November 24th 2013, China will participate in this international event of contemporary art in the form of a National Pavilion. Commissioned by China’s Ministry of Culture, “Transfiguration – the Chinese Pavilion of the 55th Venice Biennale” will be held by the China Arts and Entertainment Group in the Venice Virgin Garden and Armory from May 29 through to November 24, 2013, organized by the China International Exhibition Co., Ltd, affiliated with China Arts and Entertainment Group, featuring seven sets of conceptual installations which are separated but interrelated to each other.
“Transfiguration” is about to be presented in Venice
Wang Chunchen’s proposal of “Transfiguration” was selected during the assessment of the committee organized by Ministry of Culture of China, in February 2013. “Transfiguration” refers to contemporary changes in art and its thinking, especially referring to the surpassing of the gap between life and art, the transformation of life to art, of the commonplace to artworks or art performance, of non-art to art, etc., which contains one of the essences of contemporary art.
Seven artists are going to feature their works in the exhibition at the Chinese Pavilion. He Yunchang is a sincere and honest artist, and has always conceived and questioned the world, by using his own body as an expressive object, the exhibition features his work “Seawater of Venice”, which stresses that the communication between people is the continuum of social behaviors; In recent years, Hu Yaolin engaged in protecting, repairing and reconstruction of the buildings of ancient Chinese style, which have gradually disappeared from our vision, because of the rapid development of the cities. “Thing in Itself” symbolically imitates the shape of the large dome of the Pantheon in Rome, revealing the complex nature of the artist that as the reproduction of Chinese cultural heritage; Miao Xiaochun is a researcher of new media art, and his works are the observation and interpretation of history and culture, by a contemporary Chinese artist; Shu Yong focuses on the public participation and interaction, the installation “Ancient Song Bricks” is a collection of the vocabulary of cultural phenomenon, written by himself to portray the information of the philosophy of life, popular state and social change in contemporary society; Tong Hongsheng prefers to express his own inner feelings and beliefs in daily things, “Still Life Series” has symbolized the faith, which has become a cultural relic; Wang Qingsong’s photography can be seen as the symbolized images of Chinese reality, as well as the visual expression of the reading installation and educational landscape in Chinese transformation; Zhang Xiaotao is an artist of cross media, from the early creation of oil painting to the new media art used today, exploring the possibility of painting language with digital art, his animations can be regarded as the fables of the social changes and future prospects.
The word “Transfiguration” originated from the English language which originally referred to Christ’s appearance when Christ transformed into the images of the characters, extending to transformation, change, deformation, etc. Today, it has various directions, and is the combination of the tradition and contemporary, and its roots contain the meaning of “figure” or “image”, which coincide with the spirit of “the confluence of the dreams and images of humans”, advocated by the 55th Venice Biennale, themed “The Encyclopedic Palace”; “transfiguration” also contains geographic, spatial, and graphic concepts, such as position, location, and diagram position, carrying and symbolizing the characteristics of the times in its connation, prominently reflecting the features of the contemporary international community, not only China in upheaval, but also the world changing through globalization. One of the characteristics of art is to reflect and respond to the changes of the times, showing the dreams of humans and rendering of new images, because the change and development of the picture and image are composed of visual civilization and knowledge of humans. Transfiguration means that transforming a thing to a shape and even an image, and then the evolution of art and history.
The artists
He Yunchang, sometimes known by the familiar nickname A Chang, is known best as a performance artist, but produces variations on his themes across multiple mediums. They are what he calls “different parts of one single entity, different forms of documentation and interpretation of the same act.” His past projects have included, in addition to performance, jewelry making, photography, painting, video, and sculpture. Most of his performances have in common daunting, exhausting, or futile premises, such as having one of his ribs surgically removed, attempting to cut a river into halves with a knife, wrestling 100 people in a row, or walking the perimeter of England with a rock to return it to its original place.
Hu Yaolin’s artistic practice is an extension of his primary occupation—restoring and rebuilding traditional Chinese houses—as well as his study of those pending demolition. During these trips and projects, Hu collects various items and architectural components, including entire structures, which become the material and conceptual basis for Hu’s installation work. In creating his pieces, Hu sometimes reassembles the houses with obviously anachronistic supports, like glass doors and windows or modern steel. The works explore themes regarding the transformation of contemporary China, its rapid development and urbanization.
Miao Xiaochun is known for creating conceptual photographs that explore classical Chinese culture and contemporary urbanity. He photographs his scenes and figures separately, and then digitally combines them. In some of these works, the artist is featured as one or multiple characters; many of the compositions are based on iconic paintings, like Hieronymus Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights (c. 1490-1510) and Michelangelo’s Last Judgment (c. 1537-1541). Miao, however, deigns to categorize his work as conceptual. “Choice is always involved. From this perspective, all photography is conceptual photography,” Miao said. “In actuality these two cannot be separated, nor are they antagonistic.”
Shu Yong works in many mediums—including painting, photography, sculpture, and performance—but always returns to his near-obsession with bubbles. “In my viewpoint, ‘bubble’ is not just a specific symbol, but also a concept,” Shu says. “I use various methods to deduce bubble, making it a totem in both conception and form.” His depictions range from literal, in the form of soapsuds, to provocative and symbolic, as in one famously controversial series of sculptures, “Bubble Woman, of ballooning women’s breasts. Shu, who has famously called China his laboratory, thinks of his works as ways to address cultural mythology, politics, and contemporary anxiety.
Tong Hongsheng is known for his contemporary religious paintings, stemming from classical Western traditions of religious art and portraiture. His oil paintings typically feature Buddhist monks of all ages in their habits, depicted under dramatic lighting against plain backgrounds. These paintings are, collectively, a portrait of Buddhism in contemporary China, as well as an expression of Tong’s personal approach to spirituality. Before he became dedicated to this subject matter, Tong was known for his portraits of well-known figures.
Wang Qingsong’s staged photographs are vehicles for incisive, witty commentary on economic expansion, social tension, and rising Western influence in contemporary China. His work has been compared to that of Andreas Gursky and Gregory Crewdson due to similar aesthetics and photographic techniques, but Wang’s subject matter is his own, stemming from observations of, and concern for, the future of Chinese society. Images such as Competition (2004), a photograph of a stage set exhaustively plastered in corporate posters, and Follow me (2003), which depicts Wang sitting in front of a huge chalkboard covered with words that refer to the recent contemporary art boom, are resplendent with detail and references to history, popular culture, and Western art, rewarding close looking with a fuller picture of his ironic, deft touch.
Behind Zhang Xiaotao’s grotesque and lurid paintings lie the artist’s sympathy for the suffering in civilization; he calls his works “magnified pictures of our material life, which is full of absurdity and lust.” Zhang’s common subjects include festering decay, human waste, abandoned structures, and animals associated with danger and contamination—like snakes, rats, and ants—which he paints in vibrant and highly magnified detail on a monumental scale. In one notorious series called “The Enlarged Prop” (2009), Zhang paints gigantic, neon-colored condoms floating in indiscernible substances, with anxiety-ridden faces articulated in their folds. The paintings also have in their background reinterpretations of Chinese sexual manuals in a wallpaper-like pattern; the series is an oblique reference to China’s overpopulation and one-child policy.
