Art and Sports

Jun 14, 2024
Art and Sports

Movable, Replicable, Replaceable, Multi-functional.

Date
Friday Jun 14, 2024 10:00 - Wednesday Jul 31, 2024 18:00
Location
TC101 SPACE

 

 

Movable, Replicable, Replaceable, Multi-functional.

 

Artist | HU Qingyan

Curator | GAO Jiangbo

Duration | 2024.06.14-2024.07.31

Venue | TC101 SPACE, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen

 

 

Movable, Replicable, Replaceable, Multi-functional.

 

"The interior is the asylum of art. The collector is the true resident of the interior. He makes his concern the transfiguration of things. To him falls the Sisyphean task of divesting things of their commodity character by taking possession of them. But he bestows on them only connoisseur value, rather than use value. The collector dreams his way not only into a distant or bygone world but also into a better one - one in which, to be sure, human beings are no better provided with what they need than in the everyday world, but in which things are freed from the drudgery of being useful. "

 by Walter Benjamin

 

In The Arcades Project, Walter Benjamin depicted a utopian collection scene where art is not confined to any specific form of expression; art includes paintings, sculptures, and even furniture and clothing. Based on indoor space, the boundary of 'possession' and 'privatization', seems to nullify the innate connection between 'consumption' and 'capitalism', making consumption an act of human generosity towards objects. Similarly, the semi-outdoor space in The Arcades Project are "glass-roofed, marble-paneled corridors extending through whole blocks of buildings", which manifests an evident consumer trap, while the glass' isolation brings a dreamlike distance akin to a shop window.

 

The boundary of the outdoor space in this exhibition, the glass enclosure (CUHK-SZ Glass Space), and the marble contents representing the interior, an important medium in Hu Qingyan's work, together form the shop window imagery of the arcade. The overlapping destiny in time and space between Walter Benjamin and Hu Qingyan coincidentally serves as a prelude to the spatial narrative of this exhibition. I have simulated a sanctuary awaiting visits and pilgrimages with the artist's creations, to draw the dialectical indoor-outdoor imagery of the glass arcade into the discussions inspired by the exhibition. Look back on the exhibition theme, "Movable, Replicable, Replaceable, Multi-functional". Though it crudely summarizes typical product descriptions offered by many interior furniture brands, including IKEA, but when applied to describe Hu Qingyan's works and stripping away the original subject, 'furniture', these descriptions vaguely reveal a transcendent myth. An artistic, non-private and non-indoor, instead omnipotent and mysterious surplus - aura - faintly emerges. Behind this dialectic is not simply the contradictory unity, but rather an affirmation of both objects beyond contradiction and opposition. In the context of a 'post-consumer' society, sculptures originally outdoor (public spaces) often appear indoors through market demand modifications. Under such a reality, discussing any matter cannot detach from the adhesion of commodity and value. Anything perceptible can be consumed. Perhaps art and commerce, just like indoor and outdoor, sculpture and furniture, do not inherently oppose each other, and can even be two sides of the same coin.

 

As a sculptor, Hu Qingyan has long incorporated 'self-mockery' such as anti-sculpture and anti-eternity into his works. We cannot help but chuckle at the 'nonsense literature' or 'fèihuà-wénxué' (which is self-referential) commonly seen in contemporary art such as "the eternity of sculpture is often non-eternal". But, from a technical perspective, achieving such counter-intuitive expression in works requires hyper-realistic integration and reproduction of the real prototype. The volume, texture, colour, and material of the prototype must become carriers of 'hyperreality'. For instance, a highly convincing 'plastic bucket' made of stone, transformed by the artists, possesses the original characteristics of both stone and plastic. Behind this lies not only a transcendence of technology but also a Sisyphean sacred persistence.

 

Contrary to this mythic structure, the self-eliminating methods found in 'nonsense literature' are as ubiquitous as jargon in contemporary art. This often makes us, the public, reject with suspicion rather than revere this seemingly ingenious phrasing. This skepticism also provides contemporary art with the process of being repeatedly visited and discussed. In Hu Qingyan's case, doubt makes 'anti-sculpture' a more eternal symbol structure than 'sculpture' itself. Right now, in this room (exhibition space), Hu Qingyan is consciously using 'uselessness' to crown the credibility of his creations. Because although this dialectics of nonsense is useless, it is undoubtedly poetic and creates a sense of distance. In the system or worldview Hu Qingyan constructs regarding objects, a dreamy, intoxicating filter or glass barrier is at play. When you set aside the filter of doubt and touch upon the singular function or prototype (the original reference) within the work, the object once again becomes governed by the toil of being used.

 

Myth and nonsense are homologous in Hu Qingyan's attempt to transcend reality through his works. 'Hyperreality' is like 'currency', the credential that links all values. Or rather, it is a 'sinthome', topologically connecting the imaginary, the symbolic and the real.

 

By/GAO Jiangbo

 

 

 

 

How Much is it?

pencil on paper

78 x 109 cm

2024

 

200

oil on canvas

130 x 200 cm

2023

 

 

 

About the Artist 

 

HU Qingyan

 

Hu Qingyan (b.1982, Weifang, Shandong Province), was trained in sculpture, receiving a BFA from the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts and an MFA from the Central Academy of Fine Arts. He currently lives and works in Beijing. As a conceptual sculptor, Hu Qingyan has long maintained his faith in the unique value and significance of sculpture in an era of images and virtual reality. He intervenes in the reality around him using such materials and mediums as metal, wood, stone, painting, readymade objects, sculptural performance, photography, and video, exploring concepts of truth and illusion, lightness and heaviness, as well as eternity and ephemerality in a highly personal way, presenting these explorations in the form of objects or performances, casting them before our eyes directly or as humorous "test objects", thereby providing viewers with junctures for reflection on the everyday. His works can be found in the collection of many museums and institutions including National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, M+ Sigg Collection, Guangdong Museum of Art, Rubell Family Collection, Today Art Museum, K11 Art Foundation, Song Art Museum, He Art Museum (HEM) and White Rabbit Gallery. 

 

His recent solo exhibitions : 

Movable, Replicable, Replaceable, Multi-functional. TC101 SPACE, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China (2024); 

Keep Silent, Galerie Urs Meile, Zurich, Switzerland (2024);

2023, Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing, China (2022); 

Necessary Redundancy: Hu Qingyan Solo Exhibition, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China (2020);

Absent & Superfluous, Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing, China (2018); 

Hollow Husk, Galerie Urs Meile, Lucerne, Switzerland (2016); 

Eternal Glory, Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing, China (2015). 

 

Selected group exhibitions: 

A Blueprint for Ruins, White Rabbit Gallery, Chippendale NSW, Australia (2023); 

THE EXHIBITION OF ANNUAL OF CONTEMPORARY ART OF CHINA SHANGHAI 2022, Shanghai Doland Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China (2023); 

SWIRL · The 8th stars plan young Artists Research Exhibition, Wuhan Art Museum (Qintai), Wuhan, China (2023); 

The 7th Guangzhou Triennial, Symphony of All the Changes,  Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Guangzhou, China (2022);

 M+ Sigg Collection: From Revolution to Globalisation, M+ Museum, Hong Kong, China (2021); 

The Memory Palace, OCT Art & Design Gallery, Shenzhen, China (2021); 

Golden Flow, Beijing Contemporary Art Expo 2020, CHAO Art Center, Beijing, China (2020); 

Jing'an International Sculpture Project, Jing'an sculpture Park, Shanghai, China (2020);

Roots of Clouds Adrift, OCAT Nanjing Public Art Project 2019, OCAT Nanjing Qixia Exhibition Site, Nanjing, China (2019); 

Progress Every Day, Annual Nomination Exhibition 2019, ZhuZhong Art Museum, Beijing, China (2019); 

Encounter Asia – Multi-vision of Youth, Museum of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Tank Loft, Chongqing Contemporary Art Center, Chongqing, China (2018); 

The 3rd Today's Documents – BRIC-á-brac: The Jumble of Growth, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China (2016); 

Shut up and paint, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia (2016);

The Exhibition of Annual of Contemporary Art of China 2015, Beijing Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing, China (2016); 

M + Sigg Collection: Four Decades of Chinese Contemporary Art, ArtisTree, Hong Kong, China (2016); 

28 Chinese, Rubell Family Collection/ Contemporary Arts Foundation, Miami, USA (2013); 

Building Bridges – Zeitgenössische Kunst aus China, Wolfsberg, Ermatingen, Switzerland (2013).

 

 

 

 

About the Curator

 

 

GAO Jiangbo

 

Gao Jiangbo is a curator and an art writer. He graduated from Musashino Art University. He currently lives and works in Tokyo and Shenzhen and has been active in various art scenes including biennale in China and Japan. His curatorial project was awarded 8th place in Takashi Murakami's "GEISAI 19", the first Chinese recipient of this award in history. In addition, he has written and  provided  art criticism and documentary support for many media in the contemporary art scene for ten years. His writing and academic collaborations have been published in Art Alpha, Art World, Bijutsutecho, and Japanese Foundation for International Exchange. He also runs the project gallery DEHAIRI PROJECTS in Tokyo's artist community "Tsukasa 3331" , and currently moves internationally, participating in curatorial practices in different settings such as galleries and museums.

 

 

TC101 SPACE endeavors to promote excellent artists and art projects. Based inside the campus, it provides staff and students with a platform to appreciate, discuss and get engaged in contemporary art. It is an essential part of general education in the University and has become a significant window to introduce the diversity of campus culture and art forms. Through various exhibition projects, the operation team works with creative artists to explore the potential of the space continuously, breaking through the boundary, and creating a public art space on campus with more possibilities and flexibility.

 

 

 

University Arts Centre

 

 

To bring students closer to culture and art

To make the "DREAM" come true