Song Ta is a contemporary Chinese artist known for his works that parody social boundaries and political bureaucracy.
Read MoreSong Ta's works often have a satirical dimension to them. In his video Kids (2011), the artist sends his friends to report missing children at the information desk at the Guangzhou Zoo. The names announced over the loudspeakers, however, are identical to the names of members of the Standing Committee of the Community Party of Guangdong Province. The figures of authority are likened to children, while their imprisonment for corruption seems to parallel the zoo animals behind the bars.
Several of Song Ta's works involve rating, relying on his subjective standards to reveal the arbitrariness of rational or scientific judgments. In his 2012 solo exhibition My Ten Favorite Doctors at Beijing's Arrow Factory, for example, he ranked a random selection of Beijing-based physicians by his first impressions of them. Similarly, the three-channel video work Who is the Loveliest Guy (2014) captures sailors in the Chinese navy as they ride a roller coaster in Guangzhou. Displaying their souvenir photos, Song allows viewers to determine who is 'the loveliest guy' among them.
In 2021, Song Ta's video Uglier and Uglier (2013) caused controversy over allegations of misogyny. Taking clandestine footage of women on a Chinese university campus, the artist rated the women according to their appearance. Originally featured in the group exhibition On|Off: China's Young Artists in Theory and Practice at UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing in 2013, the work was included in the group show The Circular Impact at OCAT Shanghai, which closed prematurely following the public outcry.
Song Ta also debuted as a fashion designer with his brand SONGTA at New York Fashion Week 2019. Song's designs employ bold images and patterns, while combining elements of traditional Chinese clothing with contemporary street fashion.
Song Ta's solo exhibitions include Song Ta's Drawings: 1999–2020, Beijing Commune (2020); Who Is the Loveliest Guy, Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden, Germany (2019); How Is the Weather? PRACTICE, New York (2016); The Loveliest Guy, Beijing Commune (2014); My Ten Favorite Doctors, Arrow Factory, Beijing (2012); and Gray Area, Observation Society, Guangzhou (2011).
Selected group exhibitions include The Circular Impact, OCAT Shanghai (2021); New Museum Triennial, New York (2018); On|Off: China's Young Artists in Theory and Practice, UCCA Centre for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2013); and Papierarbeiten aus Südchina, Galerie.Z, Hard, Austria (2010).
Sherry Paik | Ocula | 2021
