Robert Zhao: The Divine in the Trash Stratum
Solo Exhibition ShanghART Singapore, Singapore

Artists: Robert ZHAO Renhui 赵仁辉

Opening: 11 Jan 2025, 4pm
11 Jan - 23 Feb 2025

Wednesday to Sunday, 12pm – 6pm,
other hours by appointment only
9 Lock Road, #02-22, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108937
+65 6734 9537 | infosg@shanghartgallery.com
shanghartgallery.com | FB & IG: @shanghart.singapore

The symbols of the divine show up in our world initially at the trash stratum.
– Philip K Dick

ShanghART Singapore is pleased to present The Divine in the Trash Stratum, a solo exhibition by Robert Zhao Renhui featuring his latest photographic works. The exhibition highlights the profound transformations that emerge from layers of waste and decay, as the artist invites us to reimagine the relationship between humanity and nature.

A series of photographs of various creatures on a fallen Albizia tree trunk welcome visitors into the space. These strange scenes depict how a site of destruction has transformed into one of regeneration and life. Mysterious images of precious gems are in fact created with remnants of human activity such as glass shards and discarded fragments, manifesting them as symbols of how forest processes and human histories intertwine.
      
Opening 11 January 2025 ahead of Singapore Art Week, the exhibition coincides with the Singapore Art Museum’s presentation of Seeing Forest, first shown at the Singapore Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, extending Zhao’s ongoing explorations of ecological resilience.

About the Artist
Singaporean visual artist Robert Zhao Renhui (b. 1983) works chiefly with photography but often adopts a multi-disciplinary approach, presenting images together with documents and objects. His artistic practice investigates man’s relationship with nature, utilizing convincing narratives to invoke doubts in its audience towards the concept of truth and its portrayal.

He represented Singapore in their national pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale (2024), and has exhibited globally, including solo exhibitions in Singapore, China, Japan, Australia, Italy, and U.S.A. He also participated in various photo festivals and biennales such as the First Ennova Art Biennale, Langfang (2024); 14th Gwangju Biennale (2023); Busan Biennale 2020; Singapore Biennale 2019; The 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane (2018); Taipei Biennial 2018; 7th Moscow Biennale (2017); and the 20th Biennale of Sydney (2016).

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