Show detailing | Collection Of Trio Exhibition Of Zhang Yanzi, Wang Xiao and Yu Yu

2022.8.13-2022.10.13 合肥
PRESS RELEASE

RESTART UNLIMITED /
Zhang Yanzi, Wang Xiao and Yu Yu Trio Exhibition

The sudden outbreak of the new pandemic forced everyone to connect to the world in a new way. Being locked in a lonely and isolated space made us realize the preciousness of artistic and emotional value. The healing function of art has its origin. It can bring new hope to our inner anxiety and give viewers the power to overcome difficulties. Lin Fengmian once said, "Art is the adjuster of all the sufferings in life; art is the giver of peace in the world." The disorder and uncertainty caused by the epidemic have added new anxiety to contemporary people: thinking of self-identity, redefinition of social boundaries, the discussion of life and death...... Perhaps after the pandemic, these issues will continue to be discussed. Thus, in a post-covid era, it is essential to consider how to rebuild connections with the world. The various changes brought about by the epidemic have allowed us to calm down and think about the new path of considering the future of art development, re-examining the balance between art skills and modern technology, and evaluating the direction and way to form art exhibitions.

The exhibition is titled "Restart · Unlimited". Based on a time point that carries the shared memories of countless people, this exhibition starts a simple inquiry, empties all presuppositions and expectations for creation, and returns to the most basic state of life. It will make viewers perceive the subtlety and breadth of the human spiritual world. This exhibition presents three relatively independent chapters, composed of recent masterpieces by three contemporary artists, Zhang Yanzi, Wang Xiao, and Yu Yu. Their artistic language forms are rich and diverse, involv￾ing various media such as ink painting, installation, printmaking, mixed media, etc. Their extraordinary ways of thinking reflect their profound reflections of traditional culture, contemporary contexts, and inner self. It just so happens that they are all "women".

Simone de Beauvoir famously said in her "Second Sex": "Women are not born, but rather gradually formed." Both in China and Western countries, the "female artists" were judged with bias. They were the "others" who were
neglected for a long time in society. Until the 1985 New Wave of the 20th century, the individual consciousness of Chinese female artists gradually separated from the concept of collectivism. From 1990s,-
and the awakening of gender consciousness set off a wave of Chinese feminist art. Since the 21st century, in the cultural context of globaliza￾tion and cosmopolitanism, Chinese female artists have increasingly tended
to “transcend” their inner spirit: not simply imitation and reproduction of everyday experience, nor towards a specific person or identity. Instead, the creation is based on the commonality of individuals and humanity. The purpose of their works is not to seek social belonging or identity, but focusing more on free expression.At this time, what is more important than the gender label of female artists is whether there are new values injected into the work, whether it provides a different perspective and new way of viewing the world.

In this exhibition, Zhang Yanzi directly depicts the Buddha's shadow on plasters, elevating medical metaphors to the level of religious salvation. Under the call of the oracle, by using "art" as "medicine", a balance between the mind and the world is achieved in a spiritual way. Wang Xiao builds metaphorical scenes of blurred time and space and hazy desires, intensifying new visual representations in the misplaced time and space, extending the thinking of physical properties with imprints, and highlighting the hesitation and speculation of individuals in complex relationships. Yu Yu draws out the weft threads on the canvas on which moths, raw silk, and other images are drawn, destroying the completed images. This post-spinning behavior is a metaphor for the dissolution of human creative behavior, just like the realization of a cocoon-breaking action that moths have never experienced, so that the imprisoned life can be "released" again. Undoubtedly, these three outstanding artists are in a period of a concentrated explosion of artistic energy. As important contemporary art cases, they deserve to be continuously recorded and studied.

The pandemic has divided the world to a certain extent, separating people from each other, but mankind has never stopped thinking about the community of life, our pursuits, and desires to “reborn”. Having the courage to restart is solemn and powerful, carrying the memories that time has passed, and preserving the memories of love and growth. I hope everyone can break the shackles from the inner self and the world, consis￾tently reborn from "restarts".

EXHIBITION