DreamWorlds: Australian Art Exhibition

Witness the Official Opening of DreamWorlds, an exhibition of Australian moving image in public space on Saturday, September 4th at 6:30PM in Sanlitun Village. RSVP required (details below).

“Dream Worlds” is a public exhibition of eight leading Australian video artists. The exhibition celebrates the diversity of Australian art. “Dream Worlds” is part of the 2010
 Australia China Cultural Year

 exhibition curated
 by
 former director of the Australian Network for Art and Technology Melinda Rackham.

Event Details: DreamWorlds: Australian Moving Image 2010

• Date: 4 September 2010
• Time: 6.30-9.00pm
• Location: Sanlitun Village, Floor 4, Building 8, Courtyard 19, Sanlitun Road. (Access next to Element Fresh. Call 1581 1173 284 for directions.)
• RSVP: rsvp@dreamworlds.com.au
• Info: www.dreamworlds.com.au
• Curator: Melinda Rackham

Introducting: Wang Du’s Art Exhibition Opening Party

Hosted by Hadrien de Montferrand Gallery, check out the opening party for Wang Du’s “Top Secret – Flying Carpet III“ Art Exhibition on Saturday, August 21 from 3:00PM to 6:00pm.

Wang Du, a Chinese artist living in Paris, has been exhibited widely, including at the Paris National Museum of Modern Art, at the Venice Biennale and at the Hayward Gallery in London. His works are now part of important collections such as the Centre Pompidou.

Opposite House: Feng Shu’s Art Exhibition

Last Thursday was the cocktail reception for Feng Shu’s solo exhibition in the lobby gallery of the Opposite House boutique hotel.

Hosted by F2 Gallery, the exhibition showcased an assortment of Feng Shu’s incredibly beautiful, over-sized ornate porcelain insects featuring a blinged out scorpion to a variety of colorful dragonfly-type insects with long-stretching silver wings and even a gigantic floral skull.

A very unique exhibition, I was most impressed by the mutant winged insect creations and I was curious to learn more about this artist’s fascination with insects and his motivation to create such imaginative creatures.

In an article posted by Ling-Yun Tang about Feng Shu’s artistic background and insect creations, he explains:

The fantastic scale and ergonomic forms of the creatures transports them out of the world of everyday human nuisance and shifts the conceptual reference point from the entomological (?) to historical and philosophical concerns. Giant mosquitoes suck blood from their victims through piercing syringe proboscises; muscular spiders perch atop threatening needle sharp legs; scorpions armed with hefty pincers raise their venomous tails ready to subdue their prey; and beady-eyed flies at rest, at once beautiful and instinctively repulsive, await their next meal. The finely painted surfaces of the insect and arachnid bodies-some in Ming-Qing blue and white and pastel floral patterns, and others in abstract geometric triangles and irregular blobs-paired with contrasting metal limbs give the overall impression that these ancient creatures are science-fictional mutants, part animal, part robot. Do they represent the inevitable intrusion of outside change in Feng Shu’s imagined historic past? Or are they the odd by-product of a Chinese modernity that is looking to move forward in the 21st century by openly embracing the agents of technological progress? The answers can go either way. It is this interplay between tradition and transformation that typifies Feng Shu’s interpretation of contemporary society, where the mutual struggle between predator and prey can never be disaggregated from the larger question of evolutionary survival.

If you are interested in checking out these unique creations in person, you can visit Feng Shu’s art exhibition until September 30, 2010.

LumDimSum Photo Gallery of Feng Shu’s Exhibition at the Opposite House’s lobby gallery:

Featured Masterpieces:

I thought this exhibition was meant to be a solo exhibition for Feng Shu, but four paintings by Jin Yu were also displayed on the side of the lobby. All four paintings display the same two women in motion, with their bodies pressed against a glass surface. Interesting paintings, but I did not get the relationship with Feng Shu’s exhibition of large, porcelain insects.  Photos displayed below:

Beijing’s First Ethical Trade Fair by brandnü

What you can expect to see at Beijing’s first ethical trade fair: Local Goodies on sale along with live music, Greek snacks and iced drinks on the rooftop patio of Argo Greek Restaurant overlooking Wudaoying Hutong.

Highlights: The best of China’s artisans and a talk by China’s most prominent women’s rights advocate, Wu Qing.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER: From 1969-2000, Wu Qing was an esteemed professor of English at Beijing Foreign Studies University. She has served since 1984 as a Deputy to the Beijing Haidan District People’s Congress, focusing on the rule of law and transparency in government. Professor Wu Qing is a well-known advocate for women’s rights in China and the 2001 recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service, also known as “Asia’s Nobel Prize.” She was nominated by the Schwab Foundation Network as one of the World’s Outstanding Social Entrepreneurs of 2003.

Local Beijing Goodies: Organic honey and coffee, contemporary clothing designs, and hand-crafted silver jewelry.

Event Host: brandnü, a Beijing-based store and artisan network that connects the energy of young urban designers with the age-old traditions of Chinese craftsmanship.

Event Details:

• Date: Saturday, July 10
• Time: 1:00-5:00PM (3PM talk by Wu Qing)
• Location: Argo Greek Restaurant (Rooftop Terrace) 59 Wudaoying Hutong (down the street from Vineyard Cafe & Saffron)
• Contact: Nathan Zhang，Email brandnuproject@gmail.com，Tel: +86 15011153421

For more information, check out: www.brandnuproject.com

A Preview: UCCA’s Newest Exhibitions

A sneak peak of UCCA’s newest exhibitions for Yu Hong, Erwin Wurm and Zhang Huan on Saturday July 17 from 3-6pm at UCCA.

UCCA: From Beijing to New York

“Navigate the space between these two cities in the halls of UCCA.  The Artists here invent a new kind of gathering, one that transcends borders, countries and cities.  In this Roundtrip we see the exquisite craft of artists, using an ardent curiosity to reach beyond the formal bounds of defined media.  They explore the creativity at the ends of imagination in a survey of youth culture, young art and international climate.” – UCCA

This Sunday, May 30th, UCCA will be hosting an exhibition of 9 artists (5 from Beijing and 4 from New York) and don’t miss a live performance by Cai Fei from 4-5PM and New York artist, Terence Koh from 5-6PM.

The 9 participating artists are: Terence Koh, Matthew Day Jackson, Ryan McGinley, Barnaby Furnas, Li Songsong, Liu Wei, Li Hui, Yang Fudong and CaoFei.

Visions of Modernity & Sound Kapital

A good friend of mine and very talented photographer, Matthew Niederhauser will be speaking at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in 798, showcasing his photo-documentary projects on urban development, consumerism and underground music in Beijing. Spotlighting his new book – Sound Kapital, Matthew reveals its sociological side and its relevance to “modern and cultured” living in Beijing.

“Should be a barrel full of monkeys.” – Matthew Niederhauser

Event Details:

• UCCA “China Stories” Series 8 :Matthew Niederhauser: Visions of Modernity & Sound Kapital
• Location: Ullens Center for Contemporary Art Auditorium
• Date:  Saturday, May 22, 2010
• Time: 16:00 – 17:30
• English with Chinese Translation
• Free Entry

Stock Up on Affordable Art

The major annual art event, Affordable Art Beijing 2010 will be showcased in The Orange in the Sanlitun Village.

For one weekend only, art lovers have an opportunity to stock up on an extensive range of paintings, sculpture, prints and photographs from just a few hundred RMB up to a max of RMB 10,000.

Art pieces will be rotated with new pieces showcased as soon as one sells, so the stock of artwork will be continuously replenished throughout the weekend.

Note: Purchases will be cash only with a 20% deposit to secure a work and the full payment must be received before 6pm on Sunday 25th April 2010.