The Personal is Public 个人的即公共的
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The Personal is Public
Artists: Chen Zhou, Li Ran, Zheng Huan
Curator: Weng Zhijuan
Opening: May 21, 3:30 pm
Duration: May 21 to June 26, 2011
Venue: AIKE-DELLARCO, Shanghai
AIKE-DELLARCO is pleased to announce the upcoming group show “The Personal is Public” (from May 21 to June 26, 2011), which will feature new multimedia installation works by young artists Chen Zhou, Li Ran, and Zheng Huan.
The rise of microblogs, like Twitter and Weibo, has changed people’s way of life and interactions on the sly. With these kinds of social media, everyone can record information or express their opinions, and in a scattered and fragmentary way spread word on decentralized platforms where everyone is equal. Professionals in the art world have equally joined in this wave; in various discursive forms such as texts, photos, videos, and sound, they have been actively participating in various public events currently taking place, in order to express positions and unleash their own ideas. For independent artists who create on their own, their works constitute the most fundamental reflection and criticism of this society; from a larger perspective, creative works are an artist’s social views.
The title of the exhibition comes from the well-known feminist slogan, The works of the three artists in this exhibition are the artistic products connected to the specific social context of the present day.
Akin to two complementary monumental sculptures, Zheng Huan’s sculptural installation, “Disappeared River” is made up of two wooden structures supported by several legs in two lines; on top of these two structures are triangular models made of industrial wax, one of a bridge with arches of increasing size, the other with traces of an animal’s footprint on its surface. The classically ordered, geometric shapes endow the piece with detachment and a sense of distance, while the bridge that has lost its function and the bewildering footprints resemble depictions of old, bygone systems and power structures: a historically important thoroughfare of a bridge now devoid of purpurse, and a social reality in disguise in the attempt to conceal reality.
Chen Zhou’s two-screen video installation “Wake up, my son, you’re still in dream” comes, to a certain degree, from his own personal memory. In a windowless bedroom with blood-red curtains, a son hides in the wardrobe out of fear of his father, while the seemingly schizophrenic father either sits on the bed or paces around the room. Accompanying the moist and foggy camera lens are close-ups of the father and son’s faces; the stand-off between fear and anxiety transforms into an imaginary image of overcoming the feared father. The actual exhibition will project abstract visuals which create a hallucinatory atmosphere hanging over the main video output of the television screen. This split and chaotic work presents the crisis of family morality and the ardent desire to transform conditions in the present day, while on another level, it sheds light on the resistance to patriarchy and reveals a certain self-awakening.
Li Ran’s painting installation “The Difficulty of Meeting” is composed of a set of armchairs and coffee table on a platform, as well as three oil paintings in the background. On the coffee table are two microphones facing towards the two armchairs; the paintings on the left and right depict figures that gaze at one another with indifference and apathy, while the painting in the center portrays a landscape of a snowy mountain, which appears to symbolize mental fragmentation and the impossibility of communication between people. The entire installation is a metaphor of how all direct forms of resistance in contemporary society are transformed into rational forms of dialogues. The transformation of structure forces all kinds of forces to regroup and to reconnect, making dialogue itself a complex and arduous game of high stakes. Two standalone paintings by Li Ran are also displayed, dealing with the themes of communication and interaction.
个人的即公共的
艺术家：陈轴、李然、郑焕
策展人：翁志娟
开幕：05.21 下午3:30
时间：2011.05.21- 06.26
地点：上海艾可画廊
艾可画廊荣幸的宣布将于2011年5月21日至6月26日举办群展《个人的即公共的》，本次展览将推出年轻艺术家陈轴、李然、郑焕最新创作的多媒体装置作品。
微博时代悄然改变了人们的交流与生活方式，每个人都能通过这种社会化媒体的书写来记录信息或表达意见，在人人平等的去中心化平台上以散漫和裂变的方式加以传播。艺术界的专业人士同样加入了这股洪流，他们使用话语、文本、图片、影音等媒介的形式，积极参与到正在发生的各种公共事件当中，表达出应有的姿态并发挥着自身的力量。作为创作个体的独立艺术家们，他们的作品是对于这个社会最本质反映与批判，从更广义的角度来讲，作品即艺术家的社会观。展览的标题来自于著名的女权主义口号，此次参展的三位艺术家作品即是与当下特定社会语境相关联的艺术产物。
郑焕的雕塑装置《消失的河流》如同两座对称的纪念碑雕塑，两个由数根并列长腿支撑的木制支架上放着用工业蜡制成的三角形模型：一个是有着渐变大小拱的桥，另一个表面留有动物脚印的痕迹。有着古典秩序的几何形式造型赋予作品冷漠与疏离感，失去功能的桥与扑朔迷离的脚印如同对于旧的体制与权力结构的描述：一座曾经作为历史重要通道的已无意义的桥梁，一个为掩盖真实意图而进行伪装的社会现实。
陈轴的双屏录像装置《儿子，快醒醒，你一直在做梦》某种程度上来自于他的个人记忆。在挂着腥红色窗帘的封闭卧室中，儿子因为惧怕父亲而躲在柜子里，如同精神分裂症患者般的父亲坐在床上或在房间走动，伴随着潮湿与雾气的画面是交替出现的父子脸部特写，惊恐与焦虑的相互对峙转化为击败可怕父亲的强烈幻像。现场用投影仪将抽象画面制造出的迷幻气氛覆盖在主屏的电视机之上。这件分裂而错乱的作品呈现了家庭伦理的困境及内心希望改变现状的渴望，从另一种角度揭示了对于父权的反抗与自我觉醒。
李然的绘画装置《会议的难度》由置于展台上的一套沙发茶几和作为背景的三张油画构成，茶几上的两个麦克风的方向朝着座位，左右两张绘画中人物像是在相互漠视且毫无回应，中间的雪山风景似乎是人物之间无法达成沟通和精神断裂的象征。整个装置现场暗喻了当代社会中的一切直接对抗形式都将转化为理性的对话形式，格局的变革迫使各种力量重新组合且相互交织，使得对话本身成为一场复杂而艰巨的博弈。同时展出的还包括李然的两张独立绘画作品，主题也与沟通和交流有关。