「Breaking the Scene: Observation and Thought」Group Exhibition:

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Breaking the Scene·Observation and Thought

Text/Han Jiacheng

In 1917, Marcel Duchamp anonymously submitted a controversial work titled 'Fountain' to the Association of Independent Artists. A ready-made urinal purchased by Duchamp was placed upside down on the exhibition stand, with the signature "R. Mutt" at the bottom.

In this work, the identity of the artist, the process of artistic creation, and the craftsmanship are all hidden from the work, only the artist's concept - the contemplation and satire of "what is art" - stands out. Although the council ultimately refused to exhibit the work due to its non artistic nature.

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The emergence of 'Spring' as an important turning point had a huge impact on the rise of conceptual art. If the artistic style before conceptual art was theatrical, with narrative, emotion, and scenery as the main expressions, then conceptual art can be seen as a kind of "breaking the boundaries".

Art does not necessarily have a necessary connection with form, technique, and artist identity, but rather regards artistic concepts as the core of the work. However, this "breaking ground" that places ideas above everything has also been criticized by theorists as having certain characteristics of dematerialization and contextualization. It has been a century since the creation of 'Spring', and when we observe today's artists again, it is not difficult to find that another 'breakthrough' with contemporary thinking has arrived.

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From the overlapping space of power, Tutu's art metacommunity, Pacoway's graphic novels, and Jia Wei's flower like universe, we see that the "breaking of the field" of art is approaching in a new form of materialization, contextualization, and embodiment. From their works, we can see the fusion of artists' self experimentation and contemporary consciousness. The combination of works, artists, IP, commodities, and social activities becomes a more complex and fluid artistic experience, becoming a new form of art itself. It can be said that in this "breakthrough", the artist's works reflect the shift of conceptual art from theoretical "observation" to a more emphasis on life experience "thinking".

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「Breaking the Scene· Observation and Thought」Group Exhibition

2024.6.27-8.15

Academic Chair：Feng Peng

Curator：Hale

On the afternoon of June 29, 2024, at 4:00 pm, the Common Art Center presented a group exhibition of artists titled "Breaking Through: Observations and Thoughts". The exhibition was coordinated by academic host Peng Feng and curator Han Jiacheng. It gathers the works of seven artists with different styles, including Du Qiurui, Jia Wei, Quan Quan, Pacowy, TUTU, Yang Fangwei, and Zhang Yong. In the exhibition, we can glimpse how artists perfectly integrate personal exploration with insights into the times.

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This exhibition also attracted the attention of renowned architect, designer, and sculptor Mr. Lu Zhirong, who personally attended and had in-depth and productive exchanges with numerous artists. They had in-depth discussions on their respective artistic concepts, creative processes, and future development directions, and the atmosphere on site was very sharp and lively. Further enhancing the influence of the exhibition. The exhibition will continue until August 15th.

Lu Zhirong

Famous architect, designer, artist

2015 Winner of the "World Outstanding Chinese Designer" award

Curator

Hale

Contemporary art collectors

Master's degree from the University of Westminster, UK
PhD in Literature from Beijing Normal University

Breaking the Scene｜The opening ceremony

The pond is not a magic mirror 50x50cm Acrylic on Canvas 2024

Artist Du Qiurui and Architect, Designer, and Sculptor Lu Zhirong (first from the right)

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Jia Wei

Artist

Has won five international design award gold medals worldwide

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The creation of the "Like Flowers" series began in 2018. His artistic creation is a process of seeking the liberation of the "heart" and the self-healing of "beauty", using brushes and colors to replace emotions and consciousness, transforming the id and superego, and forming one "like flower" story after another. The artistic image of "flower like" created by Jia Wei inspires a fundamental inspiration: "Imagination" is the core logic of future art, and every individual can create their own world. In the creator value of "everyone is like a flower", every individual immersed in it will truly feel that the world is more beautiful because of themselves, and all things are like flowers blooming freely.

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For artists, creating is like having a dialogue with oneself, finishing a work but continuing to contemplate art. Artworks are like the tip of an iceberg, and the most exciting part is actually underwater, where artists have a special understanding of the world, a pursuit of beauty, and a deep understanding of themselves. I hope my work can be like a key, helping the audience open the door to a new world, and allowing everyone to discover different beauty and miracles in their ordinary lives. I hope my paintings can help everyone look at problems from a different perspective, discover more possibilities, feel the pure and profound beauty, and then create their own new stories.

Artist Power (left) and Architect, Designer, and Sculptor Lu Zhirong (right)

Lu Zhirong: "If the characters in the picture were replaced from art history celebrities to ordinary people, do you think your work would still have such popularity as it does now?"

Kwon Neung: "In my works, well-known celebrities appear in the context of our daily lives, inspiring the audience's interest and imagination. If ordinary people appear, it is just a painting depicting our daily lives. In fact, the question 'What is the meaning of ordinary people appearing in my paintings instead of celebrities and famous works?' is like asking me and the meaning of our daily lives, similar to asking the meaning of our existence. This is also an interesting aspect.

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In the process of seeking personal identity as an artist Pacowy, the emotions and troubles felt are organized into words and expressed through paintings. The work records the factual stories of living in China as a foreigner for more than 10 years, and leaves an examination of one's constantly changing values as a work. The keywords' time ','past', and 'present' are several topics that we often discuss. Seemingly constantly changing, but only repeating itself, it only brings freshness to short-term memory.

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TUTU

Born in August 1979

Graduated from Liaoning Normal University

Professional artist

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The era of ordinary people: This is an era where ordinary people are most likely to speak out. With the development of self media, everyone can easily express their opinions and present their way of life. The characters in my works are the most authentic ordinary people, ordinary living entities. Regardless of their identity and location, they are equal to each other and enjoy the right to speak out fairly. I tried to take off my mask and reveal the truth hidden in my heart. They were innocent, humorous, free, unrestrained, and disdainful of all constraints. Through the series of works in the exhibition, they laid the foundation and solidified the concept of desire and humanity. I am myself, the most authentic little person.

TUTU：This is the most common form in our lives, recognized and familiar worldwide. I express and reproduce the "classic" in a new, self-centered way, creating a visual and psychological contrast and surprise, and redefining it to create new possibilities.

Lu Zhirong: Why is the creation divided into series, and the form is closer?

TUTU：Finding a more accurate representation of what I want in stages, with a more classic design and higher recognition, makes it easier to deepen my understanding by delving deeper into a single point.

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The main purpose of the work is to explore the sense of distance in space and attempts to break through this traditional boundary. Traditional sculpture often relies on the enlargement or reduction of the sculpture's volume to express a sense of space. As a contemporary creator, I aspire to transcend the language of sculpture itself and explore broader ways of expression for artists. By using sharp spike elements, the work gives viewers a sense of distance and alienation at close range, but when viewed from a distance, this element brings an inexplicable sense of familiarity. This design cleverly resolves a contradictory state of simultaneously displaying distance and closeness. During the creative process, I discovered the unique element of durian as my medium of expression. The work adopts copper casting technology and is hand inlaid with gold foil on the surface. I hope that viewers can feel the subtle pain when lightly touching this artwork, which is exactly the emotional experience I want to convey through this work - a subtle balance of emotional resonance between distance and closeness, pain and closeness.

Artist Zhang Yong and Architect, Designer, and Sculptor Lu Zhirong

Lu Zhirong: "How to determine the size of the sculpture in creation? And how was the size of the sculpture in this exhibition determined?"

Zhang Yong: "Basically, when creating a work, I have a 'feeling' in my heart, which can also be called an expressed 'desire'. When this desire to express is strong enough, a vague "volume" prototype will form in the mind, and this "sense of volume" is to clearly express that feeling. In this state of volume, the concept of artwork size is already included. Of course, if it is in a predetermined "field" or fixed spatial location, the size of the sculpture needs to be determined with reference to the specific space. This is also why when creating public space sculptures, it is necessary to investigate the specific space where the sculpture is placed on site, as well as many factors such as surrounding buildings and natural landscapes. The works in this exhibition are all "original works" created by me in my studio, so the gallery made some designs during the exhibition, hoping to present these works more completely

Yang Fangwei

Teaching at Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts

Doctor of Arts

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In these works, I choose to weaken character images and erase facial features to reflect our increasingly fast-paced life habits. In the fast-paced world, we seem to have no time to slowly experience the rich layers and details of things, but rather tend to obtain a label based understanding in the fastest way possible. This kind of labeled understanding, although fast, lacks depth and authenticity. Especially, the advancement of digital technologies such as gaming, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR) has further exacerbated this state, not only changing the way we interact with the world, but also making our perception of the real world more vague and uncertain. This kind of "distortion" and "smoothness" have a seductive power, and it is also the difference beyond language and form that I want to present in my work. I hope to explore and express the complex relationship between self and environment, reality and virtuality in the context of the digital age through these works.

South Park No.8  60X80cm Acrylic on Can 2022

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