- Venue
- The Saatchi Gallery
- Location
- London
The new Saatchi Gallery is in itself a memorable experience of a space, re-jigged ingeniously as a core ‘backdrop’ to accommodate its changing exhibitions. Set back from the Kings road in the old Duke of York’s HQ, it is in an area synonymous with the counter culture hippie and punk eras of the nineteen sixties, seventies and eighties; therefore becoming a perfect home away from home for the exhibition titled ‘The Revolution Continues’. The fact that a ‘revolution’ takes place within the rigid structure of an old army barrack is perhaps an unintended coincidence, but the irony is not lost.
When I walked in the door immediately I am hit with an olfactory sensation, there is a smell, something familiar, something very distinctive, but definitely not pleasant, like a pet shop. Walk to the left and into Galley 1, a miniature city of the Western world sprawled out on the floor, lit from above by an almost complete ceiling of light. The smell is more pungent in here and the source becomes apparent, In Liu Wei’s work – “Love it! Bite it!” he has sewn together pieces of rawhide (dog chews!) to create this edible metropolis of doggy heaven. Described on the wall as “A gnarled parody of consumption…a carnivorous spectacle”. It seems to be a comment on Western Society and its history judging by the selected buildings, the Coliseum in Rome; St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, The Guggenheim in New York. Like the collision of continents thousands of years ago this is a confrontation between architectural heritages. This city will self consume in five, four, three, two….. Why not have the dogs eating at it to drive the point home?
At the end of the room a more familiar sight, a painting by Li Songsong – ‘The Decameron’. Li only paints from found images from newspapers, books and from the internet. He does not use the images he finds in the context that he finds them; rather he distances himself from the original scene and places his work in a new framework “Misfit within the collective consciousness.” (The Revolution continues: New art from China. Picture by picture guide 2008: Exhibition catalogue) His painting has a photorealistic quality thus “re-claiming authenticity.” (The Revolution continues: New art from China. Picture by picture guide 2008: Exhibition catalogue) Although there is a distancing with the subject I feel that there is a sense of wanting to be in the know, he is removed but there is an intimacy as though you are there, witnessing something historic. There are two of his paintings in this room, consecutively both are of China’s government in session, they are painted in several different sections and then pieced together afterwards, each piece has a slightly different perspective and is slightly out of line from the next. This to me sets up a sense of scale to the work not spatial scale but timescale. It brings about the idea of the fluidity of systems and that no matter how many laws are conscripted or resolutions passed they are never resolute but ever changing to suit the current necessity or illusion of it, for me this is affirmed in the subject matter of the work ‘Cuban Sugar 2006’ “Songsong painted Cuban Sugar in 2006 when China underwent a crisis in domestic sugar production, forcing it to engage in trade with Cuba to cut inflation.” (The Revolution continues: New art from China. Picture by picture guide 2008: Exhibition catalogue).
Li’s paintings demonstrate traces reminiscent of the work of Gerhard Richter in his photorealism grey paintings from newspapers; Richter paints what he sees, without concern for his individual view on the subject. Li also appears to paint what he sees from the original image, without commenting on the ‘system’ at play in ‘Cuban Sugar.’ The exhibition is fraught with political themes Shi Xinning is no exception. He painted a series of portraits of Chairman Mao in obscure settings that are not true images, that is to say that the events portrayed did not actually occur, (‘A Holiday in Venice – At the Balcony of Ms.guggenheim 2006’, ‘Mao and McCarthy’2005, ‘Royal Coach’ 2006 and ‘Yalta No.2’2006.) but are on the face of it very plausible ‘As if blown up from the pages of Life magazine’ (The Revolution continues: New art from China. Picture by picture guide 2008: Exhibition catalogue).
The images in black, white and sepia tones create an air of authenticity due to the association made with newspapers. But then again is everything in the newsprint authentic. Can humorous lies be redeemed by truths?
The works as a whole suggest the all seeing all hearing Mao, Mao is everywhere he sees everything, eternally wise to all. “Humorously illustrating the Chairman’s import and omnipresence.” (The Revolution continues: New art from China. Picture by picture guide 2008Exhibition guide)
What struck me in these paintings was Mao’s face I had to look twice to reaffirm Shi’s portrayal of a fine-looking ever smiling face, sitting comfortably alongside who Shi’s has chosen as a friend, colleague, political counterpart for Mao. Unlikely juxtapositions, which should be difficult, but look totally natural in his depiction. Mao and his counterparts look at ease and content. Although it would suit to reason that these two forces Communism and Democracy are totally separate, opposed to one another, in these paintings they appear to go harmoniously hand in hand. In gallery 1, Li Wei collectively juxtaposes historic buildings of the world made from fodder for dogs as though they have all collided in some unlikely way in this final resting place. In gallery 13 Sun Yuang and Peng Yu have crafted models of aged people almost colliding into each other in motorised wheelchairs, their faces familiar in that they strike a resemblance to world leaders in their twilight years, dribbling dirty clothes all coming together in a room full of unlikely ‘room mates.’ The search for truth is quite evident to me, freedom for country that comes with change and the awareness of the certain falsities that came before.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Revolution continues: New art from China.
Picture by Picture Guide
2008
The Saatchi Gallery
In partnership with Philips de Pury & Company.
