The 59th Venice International Art Biennale China Pavilion "Yuanjing" scene Photo: Yan Jing Do not use without authorization
In any sense, it is not easy for this year's Venice Biennale to be successfully held.
Li Zhenhua, the curator who will go to the Venice Biennale every time, participated in the Biennale with more excitement. In his opinion: "This year's Venice Biennale as a whole is under a dynamic relationship. Whether it is the dual threat of epidemic and war, or the withdrawal of Russia and Ukraine, to the re-participation of the exhibition. All indicate the turbulent state in which the world is now in. ”
It is in this turmoil that the "Yuanjing" theme exhibition of the Chinese Pavilion, with Zhang Zikang as curator and Sun Dongdong as assistant curator, responds to today's era in the way of Chinese culture - this is a posture from a distant civilization that is more open and tolerant of the world, and what flows out of it is a kind of slow "ancient meaning".
The 59th Venice International Art Biennale China Pavilion "Yuanjing" scene Photo: Yan Jing Do not use without authorization
The Chinese Pavilion of the Venice Biennale Traditional Chinese Artistic Conception under the fusion of ecology and technology
The Venice Biennale China Pavilion has always brought a unique experience to the audience with its unique aesthetic and exhibition presentation. This year, the theme exhibition "Yuanjing" of the Chinese Pavilion presented in the exhibition area of the armory and garden reflects more traditional artistic conceptions of Chinese culture and the integration of ecology and technology.
"Although the whole space construction of this exhibition looks very simple, we have done a very complicated job behind it. Since the preview of the exhibition for two days, there are many people taking pictures on the spot, and they can feel the attraction of the exhibition to the audience. Sun Dongdong, assistant curator of the Chinese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, shared his on-site feelings with Artron Art Network and Art Headlines.
Wang Yuyang, an artist participating in this year's China Pavilion, also talked about the feedback he received: "This exhibition is more fully done and more artistic at the visual level. ”
Wang Yuyang's sculpture "Snowman" is exhibited in the green garden exhibition area Photo: Wang Jingyun Do not use without authorization
Sun Dongdong said that due to the impact of the epidemic, the Chinese pavilion has increased many difficulties in setting up the exhibition than originally planned. For example, Wang Yuyang's outdoor work "Snowman", the material of its steel frame structure was originally planned to be made in China and then shipped to Italy, but in the end it could only be made in Italy, which also brought a lot of production troubles, but this work became one of the highlights of this year's Chinese Pavilion.
The 59th Venice International Art Biennale China Pavilion "Yuanjing" scene Photo: Yan Jing Do not use without authorization
In any case, the scene of the China Pavilion of this year's Biennale fully reflects the vision of Zhang Zikang and Sun Dongdong in the planning of the exhibition: it not only shows the traditional artistic conception of China, but also shows the relationship between China's modernization process and today's era.
Zhang Zikang told Artron Art Network and Art Headlines: "The China Pavilion has its own cultural tradition in the theme of planning. In the changes in today's world, China has its own development, especially the development of art has its own characteristics, for example, China has been in the process of modernization in recent years. When we talk about the modernity of Chinese art, starting from Xu Beihong, the reference to 'modernity' is completely different from international modernism, and it has its own system, because China has its own cultural context, and it is necessary to consider the problem from the perspective of Chinese culture. ”
In this regard, Sun Dongdong has the same view. He said: "When planning the exhibition, I and Zhang Zikang jointly felt that there may be a different narrative line, which is that the beginning of Modern Chinese Art is actually related to the process of China's modernization. The starting point of China's modernization process is related to the historical state of poverty and weakness in China at that time, in fact, every intellectual or artist who devotes himself to modern art has a psychological and spiritual motivation to hope that the country will move from poor to rich. This is the peculiarity of China's modernization process. That's why we're so focused on modern technology. Especially under the tension of the current era, the attention to modern science and technology will be more obvious and more prominent. Therefore, based on China's experience of modernity and the tension of the current times, we feel that we may be more inclined to show some works that reflect the cross-border between contemporary Chinese technology and art. ”
Xu Lei's "Correspondances") exhibition site Photo: Yan Jing Unauthorized, please do not use
Artistic practice of the four participating artists The poetic scene created by technology and art
Under the theme of "Yuanjing", the four participating artists of the China Pavilion created cross-border works of science and technology and art in different ways based on their respective artistic practices.
In selecting the participating artists of the China Pavilion, the curators hoped to select the four artists/groups participating in the exhibition from the perspective of "the most representative of Chinese art in the past two years". From the artists of the 90s to the artists of the 60s, the span is very large, and they have different imaginations and their own unique understandings of the present. It is also a highlight of the value of Chinese contemporary art.
Artists participating in the China Pavilion: Xu Lei
Xu Lei is the most Chinese cultural and artistic background among the participating artists, and his creation can be seen as a docking of the origin narrative of Chinese modern art. His work 'Correspondances', consists of an interactive installation and three paintings. The exhibition site is highly recognizable, in line with the ancient literati temperament, and closely integrated with the latest technology. There are both images from the Renaissance and elements from traditional Persian, Japanese and Chinese paintings. It is the crystallization of different civilizations. Through interactive and immersive viewing, the audience is led into the aesthetic world of China.
Xu Lei's "Correspondances") exhibition site Photo: Yan Jing Unauthorized, please do not use
But this work is not simply to present China's "ancient meaning", Xu Lei told Artron Art Network and art headlines: "In the process of building human culture, there are many commonalities, and I try to find the commonalities between them. My work is a synthesis of different cultural and artistic elements from around the world that are common in today's global context. Although today's world is full of wars, plagues, superstitions, and mutual suspicions, we can still find many commonalities when we return to the cultural context. ”
Zhang Zikang believes that Xu Lei's works have brought us many enlightenments under today's world pattern: let us see that today's world needs to be integrated, find a path for the common development of mankind, and the relationship between the community of human destiny.
Participating artists at the China Pavilion: Wang Yuyang
"Wang Yuyang #: One Quarter (Solar Terms)" and Liu Jiayu's work "Virtual Pole Jing Du" Exhibition Scene Photo Shooting: Yan Jing Unauthorized, please do not use
Wang Yuyang, a representative of post-70s artists, began to engage in the cross-border practice between science and technology and art very early in his artistic creation. The two installations brought this time: "Wang Yuyang #: Quarter (Solar Terms)" in the venue and "Snowman" outdoors, are more about his thinking on digital technology and artificial intelligence. And thus to develop the "what is human art?" " discussion.
Participating artists in the China Pavilion: Liu Jiayu
The 59th Venice International Art Biennale China Pavilion "Yuanjing" scene Photo: Yan Jing Do not use without authorization
Liu Jiayu, a post-90s artist, represents the new generation of young Chinese artists today. She studied and lived abroad for a long time, and after returning to China, because of her special love for Chinese culture, she began to look for the connection between Chinese tradition and the present. The work in this exhibition, "Virtual Pole Jing Du", digitally scans a large amount of Chinese ink to generate a work that is related to the present. At the same time, at the exhibition site, wang Yuyang's installation "Wang Yuyang #: Quarter (Solar Terms)" interacts with each other, like a whole. It seems that they are all static sculptures and installations, one is discussing the artistic conception of algorithms and ancient landscape paintings, and the other is discussing the synthesis and transformation of materials brought about by technical algorithms. The ingenious combination of these two cross-border works of science and technology and art at the scene appropriately reflects the theme of "Yuanjing" proposed by Zhang Zikang and creates a poetic scene.
Artists participating in the China Pavilion: The artists of the AT group are: Li Yan, Chen Zhi, Guan Yiming, Chen Houwen, Lu Fei, Peng Jiayuan, Lei Jianhao, Liu Yichen, Yan Liangliang
The participation of the AT Art Group on the one hand points to the experience of China's socialist collective creation; at the same time, from the perspective of the current global art scene, artistic practice may be shifting from individual practice to collective practice. Either way, in today's contradictory, torn society, this collective creation has a positive meaning.
AT Art Group "Jungle" Exhibition Scene Photo: Yan Jing Do not use without authorization
The work they brought this time, "Jungle", in which the plant image comes from the artificial intelligence's cognition of plants on the earth, and then re-produced some new digital plant images. They look very similar to plants on Earth, but if you look closely, you will find that this is a kind of artificial virtual illusion. At the scene, the plants are attached to stainless steel plates, and through the reflection of the mirror surface, they establish a mutual connection with the audience: people in the real world overlap with virtual plants, thus producing a kind of transcendence, and virtual and reality are juxtaposed together at this moment.
The 59th Venice International Art Biennale China Pavilion "Yuanjing" scene Photo: Yan Jing Do not use without authorization
Twenty years of the Chinese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale Open mind and restrained ancient meaning
It has been 20 years since the China Pavilion began to participate in the Venice Biennale in 2003. Compared with 20 years ago, today's China is becoming more and more influential in terms of international comprehensive strength and cultural and artistic level. As the most important platform for the face of Chinese contemporary art, the China Pavilion of the Venice Biennale shows the posture and appearance of Chinese contemporary art with the joint efforts of several generations of curators and artists.
In Sun Dongdong's view, in the face of the international art world, Chinese contemporary art has always maintained an open, inclusive and communicative attitude. "Whether it was 20 years ago or today, the National Pavilion of China has always tried to communicate the enthusiasm of Chinese contemporary art with a global audience, and this original intention has not changed. Although our choice is only a drop in the ocean, each project presentation will be unsatisfactory, not enough to represent the inherent richness of Chinese contemporary art. He said.
In particular, will the "ancient meaning" presented in this year's exhibition create obstacles to such international exchanges? Sun Dongdong, who was at the scene in Venice, gave an optimistic reply: "Although the gap between people has intensified in the post-epidemic era, in the exchange, we will find that the differences in our views on some things between us and others can be bridged." ”
The 59th Venice International Art Biennale China Pavilion "Yuanjing" scene Photo: Yan Jing Do not use without authorization
In Li Zhenhua's view, this year's Venice may have lost the inattentive and inexplicable diversity of the past, replaced by a convergence of clear, identity, and clear problem pointing. It shows the politically correct trends and cultural realities that characterize our society as a whole today.
This also makes the Asian national pavilions represented by the Chinese pavilion more special. The exhibition brought by the Chinese Pavilion is more of a fusion of ecological science and technology, and the technology and poetry of the works are hidden in space and nature. It is a more restrained and stoic Asian posture, showing a kind of "ancient meaning".