This week (Part two)
Soon after the meeting with Karen, I went to the ‘ON | OFF Chinas Young Artists’ group show at the UCCA, one of the only non-commercial galleries in the 798 art ‘village’. The show featured the work of 50 artists and in its curatorial statement wishes not to present generational trends but instead to simply showcase “the shared subjectivitiy of young artists while still accounting for their vastly different individual positions”. Nevertheless, a group show themed around a generation naturally puts the viewer in the position of searching for themes or commonalities between the work. I don’t think I found a collective voice across the show but there were some definite themes emerging in the exhibition. Much of it was ‘narrative’ based to some extent, with many works seemingly focusing on labour and the creation of value. The works I found most compelling were the ones that didn’t seem to be obviously about something and required more attention. A large architectural work from brothers Chen Yufan and Yujun inspired by Chinese returning to their hometowns from abroad was a standout in the show.
Something which I’ve found interesting is the attitude from Chinese artists towards their own art history. One of my research interests I am exploring while in Beijing is the ancient Chinese practice of ‘Bei’, rubbings of inscriptions and images on stone monuments which gave rise to printing. I am interested in this as the birth of publishing: the first instance where information becomes mobile. I use an ‘echo’ of this practice in my current work. I haven’t gotten very far with my research at the moment as despite having spoke to a number of people, most seem to have a very hazy knowledge of anything beyond the past 30 years. In general there seems to be a real ‘future focus’. This is hardly surprising given the wider context of China’s transformation but somehow perhaps I was expecting more resistance to this from Chinese artists. In any case, I have a lot of people yet to meet and some specialist print museums to visit so perhaps I will be surprised by what I find!
