Hong Kong hailed as art’s Promised Land by Art+Auction Magazine

HONG KONG ART MARKET

Sanyu, Lotus et poissons rouges, 1955

The state of the arts in Hong Kong are strong and flourishing, earning Hong Kong the high praise of being touted as Asia’s arts ‘promised land’ by Art +Auction Magazine in the March 2010 issue.

The article entitled ‘Promised Land’ describes the active art market in the city, which has recently expanded financially and creatively.

David Spalding writes for Art +Auction that:

‘Hong Kong is rising as a major art center, thanks to its thriving auction market and rapidly growing contemporary-art scene.’

‘The Hong Kong art scene has evolved rapidly, overcoming its regional myopia to become a key continentwide player and gaining prominence within the local cultural landscape.’

Auction Market

Hong Kong achieved the distinction as the 3rd largest auction market in the world in 2007, after the U.S. and U.K, and has maintained this positioning through 2009. A March 2010 article in The Economist titled How China Bucked the Trend: What Really Happened in 2009, states:

In 2009, when the global art market shrunk by more than a third to $43.5 billion, compared with $63.9 billion at its peak two years earlier, the Chinese art market bucked the trend. Sales in mainland China and Hong Kong reached a record high of $5.5 billion, up from $5 billion in 2008, boosting China’s share of the world art market that year to 14%, its highest share ever.

Indeed money freely flowed at Hong Kong’s various art auctions in late 2009, which set records and continually surpassed expectations. The following Fall 2009 Hong Kong auctions caught the attention of art world:

Zeng Fanzhi’s Untitled (Hospital Series), 1994

Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s October 6th sale of 20th-Century Chinese Art was estimated to generate $10.4 million USD in sales, but instead produced an impressive $14 million USD. This successful sale included Sanyu’s Lotus et poissons rouges, 1955,  which sold for $4.7 million, 31% higher than its greatest estimated price.  This is the artist’s 2nd highest auction price to date, and solely accounted for a third of the show’s total revenue.

The Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Paintings sale yielded $6.4 million, more than double its estimated yield and 76% more than the spring sale in this category.

The sale’s standout work was Indonesian painter Lee Man Fong’s Magnificent Horses, 1966, which was estimated to sell for approximately $200,000–$320,000 USD, but raked in an artist-record of $1 million USD.

Christie’s

Christie’s also experienced successful sales in November that produced $213 million USD over 5 days. A reported 47% of the buyers of contemporary Asian works were from mainland China, and favored pieces by more-established artists.

In the November 29th sale of Asian Contemporary Art and Chinese 20th-Century Art, Zeng Fanzhi’s Untitled (Hospital Series), 1994, surpassed its expected high of $1.5 million to attain $2.5 million. The November 30th Southeast Asian Modern and Contemporary sale featured Indonesian painter I Nyoman Masriadi’s Master Yoga, 2009, which also exceeded its high estimate of $130,000 to realize $467,102.

Socially active gallery scene, international flavor

Hong Kong has also earned the designation as Asia’s visual contemporary arts ‘promised land’ due to its vibrant and growing gallery scene, which features fine art not only from Asia, but the entire world. In addition, many of these socially responsible Hong Kong galleries have taken it as their mission to connect to and nurture the larger creative community. Hong Kong’s 10th annual ArtWalk, which was held on March 17th,  included 62 participating galleries that opened their doors to the public for this charity event that supported Hong Kong’s Society for Community Organization (SoCo).

Notable galleries featuring Asian artworks include:

Hanart TZ, founded in 1983 by the local critic and curator Johnson Chang Tsong-zung, has helped bring international exposure to mainland Chinese artists throughout the 1990s. This work has continued most recently with a solo exhibition of new paintings and mixed-media work by the young Fo Tan artist Lam Tung-pang (who is also represented in a concurrent group show at the Hong Kong Museum of Art through April 25).

The Osage Gallery focuses on East and Southeast Asian art, while 10 Chancery Lane Gallery holds exhibitions of Vietnamese and Cambodian contemporary art. The Thai gallery Tang Contemporary Art — which has become significant here since opening a space on Hollywood Road in 2008 — offers an eclectic mix. The artists represented in its booth at last year’s Hong Kong art fair included the Thai-Indian Navin Rawanchaikul, the Beijing-based Yan Lei and longtime Paris resident Wang Du.

Western art represented in Asia

There is also a growing local Hong Kong market for Western art, and numerous galleries have risen to meet this need.

The London gallery Ben Brown Fine Arts opened a Hong Kong space last November showing works by leading Western artists Gerhard Richter, Thomas Ruff and Jeff Wall, alongside those of established Asian artists like the Japanese Yayoi Kusama and the Calcutta-born, Brooklyn-based Rina Banerjee.

The Schoeni Art Gallery, which opened in 1993 with an exhibition of works by Chinese, Russian and Swiss artists, is boldly mixing things up, with the 2008 launch of Adapta, a collaboration with the U.K.-based Web magazine UKAdapta on projects involving urban and  graffiti artists like Banksy.

Additional galleries facilitating the introduction of Western art to Asia include: the Cat Street Gallery, Art Statements, and the Fabrik Gallery.

EW/KCE

Related Posts:

• Fotan 2010 – a growing cluster of art studios in Hong Kong– Feb 10
• More art, better art, riskier art at Art HK 09– May 09
• Is Singapore threatening Hong Kong as next Asian art mecca? Wall Street Journal– Nov 09
• Luck for Sothebys at Southeast Asian auction 2009 in Hong Kong– Apr 09

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Questioning “Made in China” – Interview Avant-Garde Beijing Artist: Huang Rui

CONTEMPORARY CHINESE ART

Artist Huang Rui standing in front of Shadow at Comerchina exhibition at 10 Chancery Gallery.

 Father of contemporary Chinese art, Huang Rui  is a Beijing artist who dares to think and act differently in a society that demands conformity. Prominent founder of the historically momentous 1979 Stars Group as well as the famous Beijing 798 Factory, Huang Rui showcases his exhibition Comerchina at 10 Chancery Lane Gallery (17 Sep – 10 Oct 2009) in Hong Kong.

Characteristic of his previous work such as “拆那(demolition)/China”, this series of new paintings called “Hall of Fame” is a collage that tweaks a pun on advertising imagery contributed by online participants.

In an exclusive interview with Art Radar, Huang Rui explains the layers of political and economic connotations in Comerchina, the difficulties facing art in this consumer society and the impossibility of escaping political scrutiny.

Q: Why is the exhibition called Comerchina?

The theme is related to commercialization and China. Ever since the 1990’s, China has become more and more commercialized in three aspects.

First, politics is becoming a servant of commerce. Second, commerce is labeled with cultural slogans. Third, the entire structure of society is changing and, as an integrated society,  is very dangerous.

 It’s different from a global society, which is only an element of an integrated society. It’s not a dictatorship, but rather a particular organizational system.  

Politics, the demand for a rise in economic standards and personal interests means that other important concerns such as art are being sacrificed. We need to reflect, criticize, and protest.

Q: How do your new paintings and installations in this show speak to over-commercialization and the power of money in China? What do the numbers represent? 

Hall of Fame 1-25 by Huang Rui, silk-screen printing/collage/canvas, 45X60X25cm pieces, 2009

If someone attacks you, you attack him as well. It’s a natural response. In my work, the number represents you and me, since everyone uses cell phones. In the work of a 100-yuan bill with Mao, there are 100 numbers. 100 out of 100 represents an integrated society. “Made in China” refers to the global economy and the power of cooperation.

Q: How do you see contemporary art in China evolving? Where is it going (the trends)? Would you consider yourself a trend leader?

 

 

Chairman Mao Wan Yuan by Huang Rui, 128X88X4.6X6cm, 2006

 

 

Huang Rui’s take on trends in Chinese contemporary art

It’s getting more commercialized, there is more variety and commerce is a factor that makes cooperation indispensable. Chinese society in the South including Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Shenzhen are producing imitation art. Hong Kong is focused on business, so real art is hard to develop. Artists in Hong Kong either have to bear with it or move out. It’s not up to the individual artists to enforce change. Our power is confined to criticizing and perhaps creating new structures or models, new thinking, and making proposals. To lead changes in the art world, it is up to the social elites, the politicians, and the urban planners.

Q: In your work Shadow, the characters taken together mean “maintain dictatorship of the proletariat”**. Would this work be permitted in mainland China?

 

Shadow(1-25) by Huang Rui, 90X60X27cm, oil on canvas, silkscreen lithograph, 2009

 

 

It is now permitted, but this only happened recently. There were a lot of controversies with the Twin Tower (2001), which comprised layers of words and political expressions. My intent was to draw an analogy. The Twin Towers in New York were a symbol of menace as well as a political and economic strength. Likewise, the thinking of Mao and that of Jiang Ze Min are symbols of power yet also have tones of menace. Another work of mine that was banned from exhibition was “Chairman Mao Wan Yuan“(2006) [Note: wan sui in Chinese refers to “longevity” or “10,000 years”. The character wan also means 10,000.]

Many of my works were not just banned in China, but also elsewhere such as Japan, where I used to live. In 2005, there was a 3D Asian Art Fair in Korea and Singapore, but the Consulate General of China protested against the exhibition of my work.

**note: In the Commerchina book that Huang Rui gave me, there are pages of quotations by Mao categorized respectively under upholding, proletariat, classes, and dictatorship. 

Twin Tower by Huang Rui

Q: Tell us about your activity as an artist against political force.

I participated in the Wall of Democratic Rule (1978-1981) in Beijing. With Deng Xiao Ping’s permission, people could voice their opinions, until Deng Xiao Ping withdrew the democratic wall in 1980. I also participated in an underground magazine about arts and literature.  In 1979, I founded the Stars Group of 1979 along with other members. Just search on the web and you’ll easily unearth a lot of information about the group.

WM/KE

Related Posts:

• Why do critics like Zhang Huan but not his show? Live pigs installation at White Cube 2009 – review roundup – Oct 09
• Liquidity propels prices, Chinese Political Pop is back – Sothebys Contemporary Asian Art Auction 2009 Hong Kong – Oct 09
• What is the next step for the development of Chinese art? BBC video – Oct 09
• V+A museum-commissioned photography show The Mother of All Journeys lands in Hong Kong – interview Dinu Li – Oct 09
• Embedding the Bed in Public Space – interview Hong Kong artist and ParaSite director Tim Li – Aug 09

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5 80s born contemporary Cambodian artists featured in historic show Forever Until Now

 CAMBODIAN ART SHOW REVIEWS

This post features introductory profiles of 5 Cambodian contemporary artists born in the 1980s in the 14 artist historic group show Forever Until Now curated by Cambodia-based Erin Gleeson.  The show which can be seen at Chancery Lane Gallery Hong Kong until April 29 2009, aims to document the development of Cambodian contemporary art. 

This is the third post of a three part series; see the related posts section below to read more about artists born earlier.

Chan Dany, Kback Phni Tes, pencil shavings

 

CHAN Dany (1984) – Chan Dany is one of the few emerging artists in Cambodia creating contemporary work that employs a flexible knowledge of kbach rachana or Khmer decorative forms – an ancient code of organic shapes and patterns applied in diffferent styles. In this show he exhibits part of a series of meticulous and delicate works made with pencil shavings which from a distance appear to be embroidery.

 

Ouk Sochivy, The Band, oil on canvas

 

OUK Sochivy (1984) – It is common in Cambodia for elders to pass on their trade to the next generation. Before his death in December 2008 Say Ken commonly known as the grandfather of contemporary art in Cambodia – instructed his granddaughter how to paint with his self-taught flair.

Vandy Rattana, Fire of the Year 6, C-print photo

VANDY Rattana (1980) In Fire of the Year 2008 photographer Vandy Rattana captures a hopeless story common in today’s Cambodia. With few fire trucks and bribes required for protection, a sense of chaos and resignation reigns in this series of photographs taken in the destroyed district called Dteuk Tlah or ”clear water’ (a site where 300 hundred families lived in stilted homes above a floating blanket of plastic waste). Vandy is a catalyst for creating community among photographers and artists in Cambodia and is the founder of Steiv Salapak, an art collective and gallery in Phnomh Penh.

Than Sok, Ktome Neak Ta, Incense sticks glue

THANN Sok (1984) – Thann Sok graduated from Reyum Art School in 2005. His current practice is an extension of his second year study of architecture. The work in this exhibition is called Ktome Neak Ta. It is a wall installation of 15 miniature houses made of incense sticks. Found in the majority of rural Cambodian homes and in the northeast corners of Buddhist temple grounds, the Neak Ta shrines serve as a site for communication with Neak Ta one of the most omnipresent divinities which populate the supernatural world of the Cambodian countryside. Incense and prayer is offered in a time of need but after the crisis has passed, the shrine is thrown away and a new one built representing a clearing of the old and a chance to begin anew. This is a multi-layered work which is also a comment on the political evolution of Cambodia since Pol Pot.

 

Sorn Setpheap, Naga, Wall installation paper

 

 

 

 

 

SORN Setpheap (1988) – As a graduate of Reyum Art School in 2005 and Reyum Workshop in 2007, Sorn has been exposed to a range of contemporary practices from visiting artists. Since 2006 this artist and dancer  has been training in the US with the New York-based Japanese dance group Eiko+Koma. In this show, Sorn exhibits a sculpture of a Naga – a serpent believe to be the mythical origin of the Khmer people – made of hundreds of pieces of folded paper creating an undulating form – a new form for a new generation.

 

Reviews and related links

A Coming of Age for Cambodian artists – IHT – March 2009 – The show 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, along with several other events, marks a turning point for Cambodian artistic life today. In December Cambodian artists will be represented for the first time at the sixth Asia Pacific Triennial in Brisbane, Australia, and a few weeks before, the Fukuoka Asian Art Triennial in Japan will again showcase the Southeast Asian nation.

A Haunting Exhibition in Hong Kong – Asia Sentinel – 17 Feb 2009 – this review was published on the eve of the long delayed trial of Tuol Sleng prison director, Kaing Guek Eav – aka \”Duch\” – the first of four Khmer Rouge leaders to be brought before the UN-backed war crime court. 12,000 people died at Tuol Sleng, known as S-21, now the Genocide Museum. This review discusses the effect the Cambodian genocide which saw the death of 1.7 million people has had on art.

Cambodian Art: Past to Present – 17 Feb 2009 – CNN – Miranda Leitsinger – As well as reviewing the works, this piece documents the hardships and challenges of producing art in Cambodia.

After a troubled past, new expressions in Cambodian art – IHT – July 2006 – this covers the role Sopheap Pich is has played in catalysing the art scene in Cambodia

Related categories: Cambodian art, religious art, reports from Hong Kong, emerging artists

Related posts:

• Historic show documents development of contemporary art – Forever Until Now – March 2009 (post 1 in 3 part series)
• 5 60s and 70s born Cambodian artists in historic show – Forever Until Now – March 2009 (post 2 in 3 part series)

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Historic show documents development of Cambodian art – Forever Until Now

CAMBODIAN ART SHOW

In a unique documentary and historic show, Cambodian-based curator Erin Gleeson brings the works of  14 Cambodian modern and contemporary artists  to 10 Chancery Lane Gallery in Hong Kong. This post is the first in a three part series.

 

Forever Until Now – 10 Chancery Lane, Hong Kong – to 25 April 2009

The ground-breaking show aims to provide an overview of the evolution of experimental and contemporary art in Cambodia and covers 3 generations of artists born between 1933 and 1988.

What prompted the exhibition? 

Dealer Katie de Tilly began planning the exhibition last summer when she took an exploratory trip to Cambodia  and was shown around by bamboo sculptor Sopheap Pich and  US- born curator Erin Gleeson who has been based in Cambodia for the last 5 years. Whereas Thailand and Vietnam have been receiving international exposure for some time, Cambodian contemporary artists are on the cusp of  interntional recognition. The work of Cambodian artists will be shown for the first time at the up-coming Asia Pacific Triennial 2009.

 Why is Cambodian art getting attention now?

Until a decade ago contemporary art in Cambodia simply did not exist but after the opening of the Reyum Institute of Art and Culture in 1998 and other galleries such as Java Cafe, more cutting-edge works began to emerge among the traditional works of silk weavings, silver and stone sculptures.

It has been over 30 years since the 1979 toppling of the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot’s totalitarian regime. During the last decade Cambodia has enjoyed a period of political stability which has allowed an opening up to external cultural influences and a gradual blooming of the art scene.

During the Khmer Rouge from 1975-1979 a dozen or so artists left the country to study abroad  but when they returned there was little art infrastructure to support their practice.

Despite an absence of government funding for the arts, international collectors are beginning to become aware of the significant changes in Cambodian art practice thanks to the activities of private galleries (from Thailand in particular), curators ( like Erin Gleeson who established the artist resoure centre Bassac in Phnom Penh last year) and artists themselves such as Sopheap Pich who was selected for the Best of Discovery section at Shanghai Art Fair in 2008.

The artists

The artists fall into three groups. The first group only – artists born in the 1950s or before –  are covered in this post.

The following artists born from 1930s – 1950s  were formative in the development of today’s Cambodian contemporary art because each in different ways appropriated new sources of inspiration. Grandfather of art, Svay Ken focuses on the immediate and everyday instead of the sublime whereas Vann Nath’s dark  heavy work reflects the experiences of terror and torture which Cambodia suffered during Pol Pot. Stylistic development is apparent in the comic art and illustration work of Em Satya while Duang Saree is influential for innovating the traditional motifs and representations in temple art into new forms which better reflect contemporary society.

 

• SVAY Ken (1933-2008) – painter – Known locally by the respectful title Lok Ta (grandfather), Svay was remarkable for turning away from traditional art practice glorifying ancient monuments and rural landscapes and depicting in his rough self-taught style the every day moments and objects of Cambodian life. His work as a porter at the lavish Raffles hotel led to sales of his art to tourists which in time evolved into international recognition. He is collected by Fukuoka Asian Art Musuem, the Singapore Art Museum and the Queensland Art Gallery. He will represent Cambodia in the 6th Asia Pacific Art Triennial 2009.

 

 

• VANN Nath (1946) – one of the most honoured figures in Cambodia he is one of 7 survivors of the Khmer Rouge’s secret prison known as S-21 where 14,000 people were tortured and executed during the 1975-79 Pol Pot regime. His jailors spared his life so that he could be put to work painting and sculpting portraits of Pol Pot. Vann Nath typically paints the dark and violent events he has witnessed.

 

Duong Saree, Kbach Tonle Sap 2, watercolour

• DUONG Saree (1957) – Duong Saree is a renowned teacher and innovator of Cambodian Traditional Painting. Over 6 months in 2007 she completed the largest traditional painting in Cambodia (outside the Royal Palace Walls). What is interesting about Duong Saree’s practice is that she is evolving the traditional motifs of temple painting  – usually strictly adhered to – in order to better represent the contemporary world. In this show she innovates new forms for water to complement the five surviving representations of water found in temples.

 

Em Satya, Deadly Curse of the Diamond, Watercolour

• EM Satya (1952) – a comic artist – Cambodian comics first appeared in the 1960s taking inspiration from the style of French and the colour of Indian comics. He is best known as “Nono” the pseudonym under which he drew caricatures and political cartoons for newspapers in the 1990s. His newest graphic novel Flower of Battambang (2006) is already seen as a contemporary classic.

This is the first of a three-part series on this show.

Related posts

• 5 60s and 70s born Cambodian artists in historic show – Forever Until Now – March 2009 – (post 2 of 3 posts on this show)
• 5 80s born Cambodian artists in historic show – Forever Until Now – March 2009 – (post 3 of 3 posts on this show)

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Sexual desire was capitalistic, prohibited says founding father of Chinese contemporary art Wang Keping

 

Untitled 29 1990 cherry 18cms

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHINESE ART MUSEUM SHOW REVIEW

Review of Wang Keping works 1979-2006 show at He Xiangning Art Museum in Shenzhen China from 25 October 2008 to 23 November 2008.

On two floors of the little known He Xiangning Art Museum in Shenzhen China, sculptor Wang Keping’s works stand dark and squat on white pedestals: bulging globular forms which seem to hang bauble-like in mid air. Ranging from table top-sized to several feet high, the works selected span the period from 1979 to 2006 and show how his oeuvre has evolved from his earlier ideologically-inspired creations to later works which reflect his preoccupation with nature and in particular the female form.

Like other Chinese sculptors, Wang Keping has developed his own instantly recognisable style. Gleaming burnished woods are formed into what seems to be tight piles of bulbs and irregular orbs. From a distance, framed by the rectangular white architectural pillars and beams of this intimate museum, the sculptures appear to be abstract. Close up however the viewer can discern glowing breasts, round chignons and curved arms holding the balled body of a baby. Closer again, the viewer is drawn to reach out and smooth hands over the cracks and grains in the wood which are an integral part of each final sculpture.

Untitled 14 2001 ash 46cms

“Wang Keping sometimes takes a year, sometimes up to three years to complete a sculpture” explains gallerist Katie de Tilly of 10 Chancery Lane who co-curated this show with Feng Boyi of the He Xiangning Museum. “He selects the wood when it is wet and then he waits to see how the wood cracks while it is drying and he lets these cracks direct him as he works towards the final form”.

Regarded as a founding father of Chinese contemporary political art which emerged after the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1979, Wang Keping was one of the first artists to use his work publicly to criticise China and its government. In that year 23 artists came together to create the ‘Stars’ (Xing Ning) exhibition. This was an illegal exhibition in which the non-conformist and mostly self-taught artists hung their work on the railings of the National Art Museum of China before it was closed down by police.

Katie de Tilly takes up the story “After struggling with the authorities they managed to have it reopened in Behai Park two months later and this created an explosion which threw the doors to political and artistic freedom in China wide open.” The ground-breaking Stars Exhibition received international press coverage and the sculpture Silenceby Wang Keping made it to the front page of the New York Times where Fox Butterfield the newspaper’s Beijing correspondent commented “…Mr Wang’s brazenly political often grotesque sculptures stole the show”.

In 1984 frustrated by the restrictions of his homeland, Wang Keping emigrated to France with his wife Catherine Dezaly a French teacher at the Beijing University. The liberal climate in Europe allowed him to embrace his interest in the female form. “It is not only because I am a man, it is also because ..desire was prohibited. The leaders told us to work for the masses, the party. Sex was immoral, evil and capitalistic. At that time we never saw a woman’s body not even in books or films but it was something we always were thinking about”.

A man of strong enthusiasms Wang Keping’s appreciation of wood is sensual and his eyes light up with passion as he talks about its elemental qualities. “the wood whispers to me its secrets. Trees are like a human body with hard parts like bones, tender parts like flesh. You cannot go against its nature. I can do nothing but follow the wood and accept being its accomplice”.

But don’t be deceived by the distinctive tyle and repetition of motifs in Wang Keping’s works. He plays no part in contributing to China’s reputation for formulaic ‘pile ’em high’ market-feeding art. For example Wang Keping does not work with assistants: “Sculpting is like making love” he says “I don’t need anyone to help me”.

His art is slow, his vision unique and his execution his own. Perhaps this is what makes Wang Keping so confident that his work will stand the test of time. “What is important is that you create something that will remain throughout history. And with time it stays. Often all the superficial things float to the top and all the things that weigh sink to the bottom and when the water is poured away it is the things at bottom that remain.”

Latest on Chinese contemporary art, sculpture, reports about art in China

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Photography, symbols and emerging artist – Top ten shows in Hong Kong September 2008 part 3 – Saatchi Online

EXHIBITIONS HONG KONG 

 

Lai Nga-Yu (Alice): The Garden
7 September to 21 September 2008
Space One, Fotan Arts District

The vibrating fizzing colours of Hong Kong artist Alice Lai’s Kandinskyesque abstract works shimmer with energy and express her love of life: “Our existence must be celebrated” she says. Lai uses negative space and pattern in her acrylic on canvas works to create entrancing fantasy other world landscapes filled with ovoid shapes and craggy lines. This is the first solo show for this promising graduate of the Chinese University in Hong Kong and Leeds University in Britain.

 

Ryan Wong: The Race
Blue Lotus Gallery, Fotan
7 September to 21 September 2008

While you are over in the Fotan warehouse arts district, be sure to check out renowned film and documentary maker Ryan Wong’s photographic show ‘The Race’ in Space One’s sister gallery Blue Lotus. Personal assistant to Jet Li, Ryan Wong has worked with a host of stars in his career including Nicole Kidman and John Woo. Timed to coincide with the start of Hong Kong’s racing season, his show contains rich dramatic shots in which he conserves split seconds in the shifting action of race meetings. Through these images, like motion picture stills, Ryan Wong teases us with flashes of anticipation, absorption and jubilation showing us the exhilarating escapist drama of a race meeting.

 

 

Shao Yinong: Between Sky and Earth – White Dew
10 Chancery Lane Gallery
4 September to 11 October 2008

‘Between Sky and Earth-White Dew’ is one part of a twenty-four part exhibition, planned internationally, in which Shao Yinong explores the Chinese Lunar Calendar. Offering a fresh interpretation of Chinese ideology, this almost experiential installation is made of one continuous painting of traditional Chinese cloud symbols in muted colours, sometimes on silk and sometimes direct on the walls, wrapping the gallery and its corridors as if drawing visitors into a mist that seems to settle wherever it falls. “White Dew” is the first solar date on the Chinese Lunar Calendar that signifies the sudden change in temperature at the start of autumn, forming morning dew so dense that it appears white. Shao Yinong, better known as part of duo Shao Yinong and Muchen who have exhibited in the Pompidou Centre, Shanghai Art Museum and the Mori Museum in Japan, uses “White Dew” as a delicate symbol to explore issues of transition, illusion and change in the modern East.

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