Cecilia Vicu a Chilean artist and poet who lives and works in New York was recently selected as the artist of Tate Modern's 2022 Turbine Hall appointed project, and the Helsinki Biennale officially announced the appointment of Joasia Krysa as the curator of the second biennale, and the initiator of the "Qing Play Collection" in Taiwan and the well-known antique dealer Xu Zhengfu passed away due to illness. The Paper, Art Review, "Art Figures of the Week", reports on and analyzes the art topic figures and hot events at home and abroad in the past week.
London | Chilean artist Cecilia Vicuña
Invited to create an annual commission for Tate Modern's Turbine Hall
Chilean artist Cecilia Vicu a
Cecilia Vicua, a Chilean artist and poet who lives and works in New York, has been selected as the artist of Tate Modern's 2022 Turbine Hall of the Year project to present a large-scale new work at the museum's main entrance, a resident work that will be on display from October this year until April next year. Not long ago, Vicuña received the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Biennale.
Born in 1948, Vicuña wrote a great deal of poetry, and her artistic work extends to painting, sculpture and performance, and deals with the turmoil of life, human fragility, ecology and environmentalism, and social justice, which intertwine in her work. Her best-known sculptures are the Quipu series, large, colorful hanging installations named after and closely related to the ancient Andean method of communication, which communicates by weaving colored fabrics. Not long ago, Tate collected Vicuña's Quipu Womb in 2017, which debuted at documenta in Kassel that year.
Works by Chilean artist Cecilia Vicuña
More recently, Vicuña began re-creating a series of paintings from the beginning of her career while she was in Chile and, by the early 1970s, forced into exile by the country's violent military coup and subsequent dictatorship. Another of Vicuña's most important works is the "Precarios", which began in the mid-1960s, which are small sculptures of readymades such as shells, feathers, stones, cloth, garbage, etc., which are presented on the shore and are therefore eventually swept away by the rising tide.
In a career spanning more than 50 years, Vicuña has only become a high-profile artist in the last 10 years, having participated in 14 editions of Documenta in Kassel, the 2021 Gwangju Biennale and the 2021 Shanghai Biennale. Most recently, she received the Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement Award from the Venice Biennale, where she will participate in this year's Venice Biennale and this year host a solo exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.
Frances Morris, director of Tate Modern, said in a statement: "Cecilia Vicuña has been an inspiring figure for decades, and the Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement Award justly underscores the relevance and urgency of her work. As an indefatigable defender of ecological consciousness and social justice, as well as a creator of stunning and powerful works of art, I am delighted that Tate Modern will collaborate with Cecilia Vicuña on the next 'modern commission' work." (Finishing/Qian Xue'er)
| Of Helsinki, Joasia Kresa
Curator of the Second Biennale
Joasia Krysa
Last week, the Helsinki Biennale officially announced the appointment of Joasia Krysa as curator of the second biennale, which will take place from June 12 to September 18, 2023, according to art forums. Born in Poland and now based in the UK, Chrysa was co-curator at the 2016 Liverpool Biennale. From 2012 to 2015, she was Artistic Director of Kunsthal Aarhus in Denmark, during which time she was also a member of the curatorial team at Documenta 13. She is currently Professor of Exhibition Studies and Head of the Department of Art and Design at Liverpool John Moores University, and part-time at the Liverpool Biennale. Krissa was a member of the Advisory Board of the Helsinki Biennale 2021.
Maija Tanninen-Mattila, Director of the Helsinki Biennale and Director of the Helsinki Art Museum, said, "Joacia's collaborative curatorial model and her interest in technology and digital art respond to the questions of our time. The Biennale is part of Helsinki's cultural vision and we look forward to expanding the perspective of the Helsinki Biennale globally by building on our commitment to co-creation at home and by creating connections between local and international communities." ”
The inaugural Helsinki Biennale was originally scheduled for 2020, but was postponed to last fall due to the global pandemic crisis. The last exhibition, themed "The Same Sea", was curated by Pirkko Siitari and Taru Tappola of the Helsinki Art Museum, and the exhibition was held on the former military island of Vallisaari. The 2023 exhibition will return to the island, while also taking place on a larger city scale. At present, the theme of the exhibition has not been announced. (Finishing/Qian Xueer)
Taipei | antiques dealer Xu Zhengfu
He died of illness at the age of 78
Xu Zhengfu, the initiator of the "Qing Play Collection" in Taiwan and a well-known antique dealer, died of illness at the age of 78. Xu Zhengfu was the former chairman of the Taiwan Gallery Association and the chairman of the Taipei Visualization Art Center. The most well-known is to participate in the initiation of the establishment of Taiwan's famous collection group "Qing Yi Ya Collection".
Xu Zhengfu's old shadow
In 1991, Xu Zhengfu resigned as the general manager from the "Hanshe" and came out to "fight the world" himself, and he established the "Cultural Relics and Art Research Room" next to Jianguo South Road.
Xu Zhengfu had previously said in a dialogue that before the birth of Qing Play Yaji, there was already a collector group in Hong Kong, "Minqiu Jingshe". Through this model, collectors with similar interests can come together to exchange ideas and experiences. We greatly appreciate this format and summarize its advantages as follows: First, listen to lectures, interact with each other, and increase the knowledge of the collection; Second, regular friendship, increase knowledge, and beneficial career development; Third, form groups, participate in activities, and give back to the society.
One of the most classic collections in Xu Zhengfu's own collection is the Ming Dynasty work "Shangyuan Lantern Color Map" that is comparable to the "Qingming Shanghe Tu" by Xu Bangda, a contemporary calligraphy and painting appraiser. The original painter is unknown, there is no painting name and style knowledge, and the history of the circulation is also obscure, after Xu Bangda's identification, the mystery of the painting was unveiled.
Statues of Buddhas collected by Xu Zhengfu
In addition, his personal collection is also very extensive, including Chinese Buddha statues, Thangka, Tang Sancai, modern and contemporary paintings and contemporary art. The collection of Buddha statues is Xu Zhengfu's "favorite". He once taught photography at Shih Hsin University in Taiwan, and admits that three-dimensional sculpture is his "favorite". In his opinion, people who like photography will have a special love for three-dimensional sculpture. (Arranged by Li Mei)
Beijing | artist Zhang Gongyu
Commemorative solo exhibition "Shape or Shadow"
Close-up of Zhang Gongyu (Photo by Zhang Li on July 23, 2019)
On April 1, artist Zhang Gongyu(1924-2020) opened his solo exhibition "Shape or Shadow" at the Guardian Art Center. Born in Shanghai in 1923, Zhang Gongyu graduated from the National Hangzhou Art College in 1948 and is one of the representative painters of the second generation engaged in modern art creation in mainland China. When he was a student, he successively received careful training from Yan Wenliang, Lin Fengmian, Fang Ganmin, Guan Liang, etc., especially Wu Dayu's cultivation and love for him, which influenced his life.
The exhibition features zhang gongyu's oil paintings, covering mr. Zhang Gongyu's various stages from the 1950s to before his death, giving viewers a glimpse of his artistic development and creative achievements.
Flower Skirt Girl, Oil on Canvas, 67×55cm, Zhang Gongyu, 1991
Under the guidance of Wu Dayu, Zhang Gongyu developed a strong interest in modernist art when he was a student, and has always maintained a special love for Western modernist art. Since the end of the 1940s, Zhang Gongyu has lived and worked in Shanghai. In order to be able to create freely, Zhang Gongyu chose to become an art teacher in a local middle school. In the early 1950s, it was Zhang Gongyu's study and exploration of Western modernist painting, after which the painting began to pursue an oriental aesthetic conception that seemed to be non-image. In the early 1990s, Zhang Gongyu returned to Shanghai after visiting the United States for two years, and while continuing to create abstract works, he also created a series of floral works with a figurative expression style. After entering the new century, Zhang Gongyu had more opportunities to travel at home and abroad, which triggered his idea of sketching again, and he often created live oil paintings outdoors, most of which were figurative and freehand.