Group Exhibition Tai Art Center, Shanghai
Tai Art Center is honored to announce the upcoming opening of "China Expression 2023 – Emerging Contemporary Art Nomination Exhibition," jointly organized by the Chinese Expression Art Research Center, Donghua Think Tank Cultural & Creative Industry Research Institute, Fudan University National Cultural Innovation Research Center, and Tai Art Center. The exhibition is being launched in parallel with the Liu Haisu Art Museum's "China Expression 2023" program.
This marks the second major youth art exhibition hosted by Tai Art Center since its inaugural "China Expression: Contemporary Youth Exhibition" in 2021. Continuing with the theme of "China Expression," this group exhibition presents a new generation of China's most promising young artists: Feng Chuchen, Luo Zheng, Jiang Lining, Jiang Xiaoyu, Kai Jiang, Shen Zhi, Shou Shengnan, Wu Qian, Wang Xiaoshuang, Wang Dazhuo, Yan Jiawei, Zeng Chen, Zhai Xuanhong, Zhao Yu, and Zhao Bing.
The exhibition is curated by Yin Xiwen, Artistic Director of Tai Art Center, with overall coordination led by Zhang Fangbai, Professor at the East China Normal University School of Fine Arts and Professor at the Chinese Expression Art Center, and Wu Shu, Secretary-General of the Art Committee of Donghua Think Tank Cultural & Creative Industry Research Institute and Curator for projects under the China National Arts Fund.
The Liu Haisu Art Museum's "China Expression 2023" program and Tai Art Center's "China Expression 2023 – Emerging Contemporary Art Nomination Exhibition" will open simultaneously on July 2, 2023, showcasing a dynamic and influential dialogue between the "new generation" of artists and "cross-generational" artists. Your anticipation is warmly welcomed.
Tracing back a millennium, in the Southern Song Dynasty, Liang Kai wielded his brush to depict the unrestrained _"Ink Splash Immortal"_ and the ethereal _"Li Bai Chanting a Poem"_. In the Ming Dynasty, Xu Wei, amidst profound sorrow, rendered the timeless masterpiece _"Black Grapes"_ with ink dots and strokes. Similarly, Bada Shanren, having endured the fall of his nation and personal tragedy, channeled his anguish into paintings of solitary eagles, withered lotuses, and lonely rocks. Confronting a desolate world, they stood proud and independent, coexisting with the universe. What they felt, contemplated, and realized from this land perpetuated and amplified the unique spirit and soul of the Chinese nation. Through their brush and ink, they forged a distinctively Chinese mode of spiritual expression.
As time advanced, a century ago, in an era of turmoil and spiritual desolation, artists led by Lin Fengmian and Liu Haisu embraced the world with open arms, yet tenaciously and steadfastly maintained or held fast to the innate soul of national art that flowed in their blood and could not be severed. Lin Fengmian, with his elegant lines imbued with Confucian grace and resplendent colors, perpetually pursued the dream of the Tang and Song dynasties' magnificence, along with the mysterious yet pure Eastern philosophy found on the Dunhuang cave walls. Liu Haisu infused his paintings with the rustic, wild vigor of stone stele through his unadorned and bold brushwork. Guan Liang persistently and doggedly explored the most genuine path for Chinese oil painting as he envisioned it.
Over the past 40 years, the art world has undergone unexpectedly rapid transformations. New concepts, materials, and forms of expression have propelled art into what is termed the post-modern era. Chinese artists have seized this opportunity to rejoin the global art currents. Compared to their predecessors, they face an even more complex array of cultural influences from the world, yet they possess a calmer, more measured grasp of the global landscape than those of the Republican era.
In these recent four decades, through integration with the world, Chinese art has re-examined its own national culture and artistic spirit, rediscovering a seat for itself within global contemporary art. Through remarkable effort, Chinese artists have once again made their voices heard in this world. This voice differs from Munch's scream, Pollock's frenzy, and is not merely the heavy gloom of Kiefer. It carries the unique poetry and restraint inherent in Chinese culture, along with an Eastern philosophical contemplation of life.
"China Expression" also represents one of the most valuable creations in the exploration of Chinese contemporary art over the past forty years. In 2021, Tai Art Center held the inaugural "China Expression: Contemporary Youth Exhibition," launching a group of outstanding young artists and their works, which garnered significant attention within the industry and society. Today, alongside the "China Expression 2023" exhibition at the Liu Haisu Art Museum, Tai Art Center presents the "China Expression 2023 – Emerging Contemporary Art Nomination Exhibition." This marks a highlight moment for Chinese contemporary art, and we await it with great anticipation.
Zhang Fangbai
Dragon Boat Festival, Year of the Rabbit
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