ZHAO YAO

Beijing Commune is pleased to announce the opening of Zhao Yao‘s solo exhibition You Can’t See Me, You Can’t See Me on June 12^th, 2012, which serves as a continuation of his last show on the same day last year. Zhao Yao’s latest paintings and installations will be showcased. What is the significance in the context of the same date, the same venue and the same artist along with a year’s gap?

Various details implicitly tell the viewers that this exhibit aims at ‘exhibit,’ which consists of reflecting the accumulation of time and space, déjà-vu-sque displaying approach, as well as visually aggressive artworks. Distinguished from common presentation of the outcomes, this exhibit departs from reexamine the validity and meanings of an exhibit; moreover, to undermine the naïve relationship between the artists and the audiences that was set up by means of presenting exhibits over and over again.

Zhao attempts to make the viewers thoroughly give up their preconceived ideas about him, so as to be capable of fleeing away from their expectations and to acquire the ultimate liberation to create artworks. ‘Re-creation’ is an attitude or value, within which signifies a restrained strong and dynamic creativity, figuratively the massive gravity of a black hole, which greatly entangled with the artist’s works. As Zhao says, the spur of creativity actually immerses in the inertia of desires. Yet, he also mentions his doubt about so-called ‘creativity,’ and the unreasonable pursuit of art in the society. His contradictory attitude often implies denial of one’s own.

The artworks this time originate from four sources. Firstly, Zhao uses different materials to recreate the works displayed in ‘I Am Your Night’ at Beijing Commune yesteryear. He enlarges or compresses the artworks in differentiated proportions, or takes out the initial artworks (without any changes) for the exhibit this time. Lastly, he borrows his sold artworks from the collectors. Zhao deliberately intertwined the roles of artists, viewers, gallerists and collectors by manipulating these four methods. Consequently, Zhao’s current show practically fulfills re-consumption of last exhibit, and simultaneously opens the door of concept. It not only hoists and continues last exhibit, but serves as a period in a sentence. Under the prerequisite of few changes, Zhao tentatively observes the viewers’ feedbacks with patience: can they obtain the same inspiration as before? Or are they aware of the existence of creativity this time? The viewers are by no means passively met with the artworks; rather, they explore and alter the memories together with the artist.