TOKYO GENDAI 2024

Calligraphy is an ancient and elemental medium but long marginalised in Asian art world. Xu Jiong (b.1983 in Hangzhou, China; currently based in Beijing) uses it as his primary medium for storytelling. Xu’s calligraphy demonstrates perspective and spatial displacement, surpassing the regularity and flatness inherent in artworks themselves, thereby subverting the typical reading mode of traditional calligraphic pieces. Moreover, Xu integrates collage techniques with acrylic paint, tape, and found objects on a poetic foundation, responding to the classical spirit of landscape through the lens of contemporary life.His significant exhibitions include solo show Meeting You Again (2023) at QiongJiu Gallery, Beijing; solo show Home (2023) at Nanjo Art Museum, Okinawa, Japan; Calligraphy Biennale (2022) at Hengshan Calligraphy Art Center, Taoyuan; group show Morgenrot und Abendbrot (2022) at Galerie Nagel Draxler, Munich; Landscape 2022 SS (2022) at Each Modern in 2022 and Self-Portrait (2019) at Each Modern. His art was included in Hiraku Suzuki’s 2021 catalogue Signals/Drawing Tube.

Parallelly, Hiraku Suzuki (b. 1978, Miyagi, Japan; currently based in Tokyo) recreates lines of oriental and ancient cave paintings in the quest for liberation, connection, and beauty. Suzuki has shown in exhibitions at The Museum of Modern Art in Gunma, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Yinchuan Museum of Contemporary Art, Wroclaw Architectural Museum, Kunstraum Düsseldorf, Maison de la culture du Japon a Paris, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa and Mori Art Museum. He leads an art platform Drawing Tube for alternative drawing research and practice since 2016. Suzuki frequently collaborates with artists from other fields such as musicians and poets, and has carried out many large-scale public projects. He is an associate professor at Tokyo University of the Arts.

Xu Qu (b. 1978 in Nanjing, China; currently based in Beijing) creates expansive maze-like paintings that offer minimal visual cues yet construct endless structures, inviting viewers to engage in visual game rather than seek narrative meaning. Xu’s solo exhibitions include Advent (2023) at The Long Museum, China; Fineness (2019) at Massimo De Carlo, Hong Kong; Chaos (2019) at Massimo De Carlo, Milano, Italy; Ache at Antenna Space, Shanghai, China; Currency Wars (2015) at Almine Rech, Brussels, Belgium. Xu has also shown at Song Art Museum, Beijing, OCAT, Shanghai, PPPP, Beijing,Guangdong Times Art Museum, Guangzhou, Sadie Coles HQ, London, KWM Art center, Beijing, K11Art Foundation, Hong Kong, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, Redtory Museum of Contemporary Art,Guangzhou, The Third Ural Industrial Biennale of Contemporary Art, 2015; Shanghai 21st Century Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai and UCCA, Beijing.

Likewise, A Kassen, an art group founded in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2004, creates works characterised by limited imagery. Their recent ‘Bronze Paintings’ series uses melted bronze as pigment, randomly splattered akin to abstract expressionism. This series disrupts the artistic language and functionality of bronze sculptures while exploring possibilities within painting. A Kassen is currently active in Copenhagen and Berlin, and its members include Christian Bretton-Meyer, Søren Petersen, MortenSteen Hebsgaard, and Tommy Petersen. The group has exhibited across various European countries and their works can be found in the collections of Malmö Kunstmuseum in Sweden, Kunsten Aalborg inDenmark, r/e Collection in Spain, the CA2M Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo in Spain, Sorø Kunstmuseumin Denmark, Brandts Museum in Denmark, and Kistefos Museum in Norway.

Tseng ChienYing (b. 1987 in Nantou, Taiwan; currently based in Taipei) s one of the most representativeTaiwanese contemporary ink artists. His paintings and sculptures, abstract and figurative, are capable of impressive transfiguration, nurturing individual and collective identity, transformation, celebration, and the importance of reclaiming the narration traditions. Tseng’s recent solo exhibitions include SkinDepth (2022) at Each Modern, Taipei; Cacotopias (2020) and The Daydream of Delusions (2017)at Red Gold Fine Art, Taipei; Group exhibitions include IMAGRATION (2023) at Gallery COMMON, Tokyo; Retrograde (2020) at Galerie du Monde, Hong Kong; Taiwan Biennial: Subzoology (2020) at National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung; Spectrosynthesis II (2019) at BACC, Bangkok ,Thailand in 2019. In 2017, Tseng was awarded the 2017 Asian Cultural Council fellowship.