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When he met Cao Feng, the 20C GALLERY he founded in Shanghai Zhongcheng Zhigu had just opened. Recently, we learned that 20C GALLERY will participate in the 2022 Design Miami/Basel exhibition in Switzerland in June.
The 20C GALLERY will collaborate on a series of new works by Chinese artist Li Naihan. Through this exhibition, Cao Feng hopes that 20C GALLERY can truly exert the power of the platform, promote the exchange of design art at home and abroad, and also help Chinese artists go global.
In the circle, everyone called Cao Feng "Boss Cao". Throughout the past, the former creative director of the international 4A advertising agency, the leading figure in the medieval furniture collection industry, and the head of the Object Design Gallery in Beijing's return to the twentieth century, every big move will attract everyone's attention and never lose his hand.
When it comes to the brand-new 20C GALLERY, his response is surprising – "start a business again". Compared with "business", he is more concerned about the invisible words of "style" and "aesthetic division".
What is Cao Feng busy with now? What more could you want?
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We launched a great torture against Cao Feng
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Do not fight against torrents
Compete for the direction of the next wave of water
Entrance to Shanghai 20C GALLERY
Shanghai's 20C GALLERY has two floors, more than 700 square meters, and industrial style. Cao Feng made a differentiated design for it.
A change in Beijing's thick and calm college atmosphere, here replaced by Shanghai's fashionable and pragmatic style, the selection of practical products, the price sinking, ordinary families are more receptive.
The space still displays the classic masterpieces of the 20th century masters, but the medieval furniture that helped Cao Feng start is no longer the protagonist, and he spends a lot of effort on discovering new works, especially by avant-garde designers and artists.
Curated by Cao Feng at 20C GALLERY
Italian printmaker Paolo Fraternali and
A double group exhibition by Chinese ceramicist Wang Qi
"Strangers who have never met"
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They must have excellent narrative skills, clearly understand what they have found, what they have created, and what they want to bring to the public, and Cao Feng will also join hands with them to create.
He hopes to provide young people with real opportunities, not only to recommend works, but also to help them sort out their ideas, find their positioning, and push them to a broader stage.
"Nature Forms" exhibition featuring German photographers
Karl Blossfeldt's botanical photography was inspired
The picture shows the work jointly designed by Cao Feng and artist Xue Zhaoxin
The exhibition method is also comprehensively updated, and storytelling is the core idea of curation, strengthening people's memory of works with immersive exhibitions.
Selling furniture, recruiting talents, collaborating on works, curating exhibitions... 20C GALLERY becomes a real platform that connects all aspects. The result is a more three-dimensional and complete "Back to the Twentieth Century" brand.
Such a comprehensive upgrade is not an exaggeration to say that it is a "new venture".
20C GALLERY proxy
Artist Sun Yue's work "Report on the Vault"
Designer Elissa Lacoste's "Coloured Stool"
Artist Zhang Ruoyu's work "Fire"
Brazilian modernist design from the 20C GALLERY collection
Designer Jorge Zalszupin's work "Onda"
20C GALLERY collection
Designer Angelo Mangiarotti's "Eros Table"
As an entrepreneur, the task of survival cannot be avoided. Last year, Cao Feng turned an old house in Huairou into a home in the countryside, and the days of relaxation and tranquility were the envy of many people. But before a year, the yard had a new owner. He makes quick trade-offs when necessary, he has to put his strength together and give it a go.
Under great pressure, he still set himself a lot of "no". Don't do a buyer's shop, don't let the products be disorderly and independent, and don't do a gallery with sales as the core, "if it is blindly simple and rude for the sake of profit, the world should be boring." He boiled those choices down to a personal sentiment.
Furniture on display in the 20C GALLERY
At 20C GALLERY, Cao Feng combines different substances to form a definite temperament and message – he calls this "style", and he is a bystander of style. Exporting style to the masses is what he has to do at risk.
"Style" becomes the big hand that controls everything, which is derived from the aesthetic system of the self and distinguishes it from others. In the era of information explosion, people quickly converged, and Cao Feng defined his style through "aesthetic segmentation":
It is both a pluralistic view, different from the aesthetic of the large population base, to discover the next style earlier, and to interpret it better; at the same time, with a sufficiently open mind, invite people with unique ideas to come in, collide and cooperate, and create a new aesthetic style. He hopes that every year or two, the style of 20C GALLERY will take on a new look. He was still exploring.
It is located at No. 155 Caochangdi, Chaoyang District, Beijing
Travel back to a medieval furniture store of the twentieth century
At this point, his withdrawal from the medieval market is also reasonable.
He perceived that medieval furniture had already gained recognition in the minds of the public, followed by profit-seeking merchants and blind followers, and the demand and purchase behavior of some people were not out of respect and appreciation for designers and works.
Seeing that the waves of the market were becoming increasingly turbid, he had no intention of confronting this torrent, but remained awake in the chaos, turned decisively, and jumped into the next torrent, competing for the direction of the next wave.
He refused to be overwhelmed by the torrent.
Mastery
Flowing out of the inner river
Inspirational figures collected by Cao Feng on the Internet
In addition to the exploration of style, the academic study of aesthetics is another focus of Cao Feng's current work. His curiosity is heavy, and he is constantly driven forward by this powerful curiosity.
Every day, he has to take 4-5 hours to get rich images. Like an aesthetic hunter, he quickly hunts the most interesting parts of the Internet and books, because the focus is very targeted, and many "prey" will automatically crash into the net.
In the face of mixed information, he listened to intuition and subconsciously connected them, and then traced their connections, and the feeling of final confirmation brought him pleasure.
For a while Cao Feng became interested in white porcelain
Many pictures and materials were collected
In the past two or three years, he has completed aesthetic studies such as "Brazilian Modernist Furniture", "The Evolution of Western Minimalist Aesthetics", "The Pillar of divinity", "Spiritual Residence", "The Legendary French Interior Design Master Jean-Michel Frank" at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Cao Feng is a master of French interior design
Research conducted by Jean-Michel Frank (partial)
Cao Feng to two legendary architects of the 20th century
Le Corbusier与Pierre Jeanneret
The design and utopian ideals are studied in depth
He collaborated with the Chi Art Museum
Back in the Twentieth Century - OBJECT Design Gallery
Joint presentation of the exhibition "One Man's City-State—
From the Chandigarh chair to the legend of 20th-century city-building"
The turning point of all this goes back to the preparation of Beijing's "Back to the Twentieth Century - OBJECT Design Gallery". The preparatory process inspired him to think: How to use material to give spiritual temperament to space?
He studied the spaces of many philosophers, artists, and architects, summarizing commonalities. With the completion of the gallery space layout, the study of "Spirit Residence" was also completed. This kind of opening up makes him feel comfortable with himself, "people will be quiet." ”
Located in No. 104 Caochangchang International Art District, Beijing
Back to the Twentieth Century - OBJECT Design Gallery
Cao Feng showed us a picture of a red artifact and called it "Oriental Fantana". The combing of the aesthetics of oriental simplicity is also on his "to-do list", and he wants to explore how to make the beauty of oriental minimalism extended to more possibilities.
He set a small goal and prepared to write a book around aesthetic research. These studies will also be presented in the form of an exhibition at 20C GALLERY.
A red artifact called "Oriental Fantana" by Cao Feng
It is also in recent years that from time to time, some key words of thinking will pop up in his mind, such as "aesthetic distinction", "material and spirit", and "tong" - the body, spirit, and knowledge system must be opened, let things come and go, and there is no trace of the heart.
"Everyone has their own spiritual magnetic field, once the opportunity is ripe, people will spontaneously look for it, what you need will also flock to you, and the choice will happen naturally." Cao Feng said.
The accumulation that lasted for many years began to melt through, like a turbulent stream converging into an inner river, and the moment of change from quantity to quality finally arrived.
From "Boss Cao"
Back to Cao Feng
Cao Feng once transformed his residence into
Colorful "Cinque Terre"
Whether it is the residence that was transformed into the "Italian Cinque Terre" five years ago, the Huairou courtyard that has become a "past style", or the art gallery exhibition halls in Beijing and Shanghai, Cao Feng's aesthetic skills are fully revealed. It's just that over the years, the identity of the owner of the medieval furniture store has been too shiny, covering all this.
Huairou Courtyard has become a "past tense"
Privately, Cao Feng does not like to socialize, and he laughs at himself with some social fear. This gives him a lot of time alone, who is not easy to be "approached". He keeps his distance from the crowd, but is constantly close to the aesthetics of the East and the West, and his judgment of the self is calm and independent.
Cao Feng and friends together
Cao Feng, who is not in love with war, started a new business. He integrates aesthetic systems and also organizes his own life system. With great curiosity, constantly jumping into new tracks and embracing any possibility. Completing the transformation from a medieval furniture shop owner and gallery owner to an aesthetic communicator, he also returned from "Cao Boss" to Cao Feng.
Collector & Curator
Cao Feng
Collector and communicator of aesthetics
Founder of the Twentieth Century Design Gallery
Before starting the Designer Furniture Collection, Cao Feng was the Creative Director of Ogilvy & Mather Beijing, where he won numerous international awards such as Cannes and ONESHOW. In the past 15 years of creative career, he has honed his super insight, he has a high sensitivity and curiosity about things, and is good at slicing and reorganizing works of different time and space of Eastern and Western aesthetics.
He is also a brand marketing expert, winning asia's most influential design award in the "Memory Back" brand re-engineering case in 2008 and being reported by all media.
In 2014, the furniture collection began to become a part of life, and so far his collection has reached thousands of pieces, focusing on the Western design system of the last century. Recently, he has turned his attention to the study of oriental aesthetics, and the study of the simple aesthetic system of the East and the West is the direction of his attention.
During the epidemic, he has done a series of aesthetic sharing such as "Brazilian Modernist Furniture", "The Evolution of Western Minimalist Aesthetics", "Pillars of Divinity", "Spiritual Residence" and other aesthetic sharing, which have attracted the attention of hundreds of thousands of people.
Producer / Yang Yi
Overall visual /linke
Interviews, texts / jiahe
Video Clip / Yao Belle
Photo / 20C GALLERY