Two Individual cases of Contemporary Art from Southwest China:Wang Chuan and Yang Shu
A Thousand Plateaus Art Space will be pleased to present the work of Wang Chuan and Yang Shu since 1980's at JINGART 2018. Both of their works are rooted in the contemporary tradition of Southwest China. It will not only be a re-excavation of one profound thread in Chinese Contemporary history, but also a presentation of the work our gallery has been conducting in Southwest China for years. With these two case studies, we hope to show the most experimental and active part of contemporary art tradition in this region to collectors and art professionals.
In 1989, both of them participated in the milestone exhibition in Chinese contemporary art history - China/Avant-Garde (National Art Museum of China, Beijing). Wang's artistic career started in the early 80's, engaging itself in Scar Art movement, while Yang showed his talent as a pioneer after the 85' New Wave in 1985. As participants and witnesses, their art careers overlap almost the entire history of Chinese contemporary art.
As a precondition to combine two individual cases, there is a dialogue between their styles. In Chinese contemporary art world, Wang is renowned for his persistent and profound exploration on abstract painting. As his counterpart, Yang widely draws from avantgarde techiniques and applies them to his abstract surface with graffiti and collage. Strong contrasts between the two cases are revealed not only in the presentation of image, but also the ways they think. However, if we put their works into a larger scope—the historical process of Chinese contemporary art, both cases are based on the idea 'from Expressionism to Conceptual Art' originated from southwest China, while finding their way to escape from its impacts and limitations.
Different from trends in other regions in China during 80's, the contemporary art tradition in southwest plays a significant role in development of Chinese contemporary art. It is characterised by metaphors for life and daily experiences in expressionistic images. Wang gets the awareness of how decisive the exploration of form is at the early stage, thus attaches his personal life experience to abstract spirit. In Yang's work, sexual desire, emotion and fleeting moments are omnipresent, asking questions about infinity in diverse ways. The fragmental tone and the mentality of diaspora enables him to restart from the southwest tradition and forward to a wider contemporary art field.
A Thousand Plateaus Art Space will be pleased to present their works since 1980's. It will not only be a re-excavation of one profound thread in Chinese Contemporary history, but also a presentation of the work our gallery has been conducting in Southwest China for years. With these two case studies, we hope to show the most experimental and active part of contemporary art tradition in Southwest China to collectors and art professionals.
A Thousand Plateaus Art Space represents these artists: