GROUP EXHIBITION

Singapore, May 2015 - ShanghART Gallery is pleased to present Paper, a group exhibition from 23 May to 19 July 2015 by eleven established and upcoming artists – Ding Yi, Chen Xiaoyun, Geng Jianyi, Li Shan, Liu Weijian, Pu Jie, Shen Fan, Sun Xun, Tang Maohong, Xue Song and Zhang Enli. Using paper as the main medium, the artists represent a variety of styles, from applying pastels and watercolour to collages and installation. An educative talk will be organized in collaboration with a local recognized conservator on The Art of Paper Preservation on 27 June 2015, 3 – 5pm.

Though the paper is undoubtedly the most primitive and traditional medium for artistic creation, it has been gradually less regarded and used as a material by artists. This exhibition hopes to showcase the versatility of paper as a medium. As one of the most influential and first few collage artists in China, Xue Song uses not only printed images and texts but also soot and ashes to create his work. Each fragment expresses the complex aspects of the Chinese history and culture. It was through a fire that burned down his studio in 1990 that led Xue Song to invent the new artistic technique and style. His work ironically presents the fragility of paper and the powerful message it can deliver.

Paper, is one of the Chinese notable inventions, various traditional objects were made of it, such as the lantern, fan and umbrella. In Pu Jie’s A Pile of Good Luck series, he collected the remains of the firecrackers, meticulously handpicked, glued and shaped them. As firecrackers are often used on auspicious occasions and it symbolises good blessings and prosperity. While Geng Jianyi’s ‘Scanning a Fissure’, presents his close observation on the resemblance of a patient’s faint heartbeat and the fissures of the concrete by scratching the pencil continuously onto the paper over the gravel.

Since the late 1980s, Shen Fan has adopted the stone rubbing method to create paper oil paintings. Shen Fan's work can be regarded as incomplete and fragmented records of daily meditation: he repeats the same patterns and forms in order to remove individualism or eliminate any desire for self-expression,aiming for the distillation of pure spirituality. In contrast, Li Shan’s Untitled is based on his life experience, his childhood memory and nostalgia, presenting traditional North-eastern Chinese playing cards and rural agriculture life. It investigates cultural heritage with a contemporary composition.

There are myriad possibilities paper can be used as a medium in creating art. The carefully curated show is part of ShanghART’s dedicated effort to conserve, research, educate and widen awareness of contemporary art, encourages and enriching aesthetic dialogues.