Liu Dahong… ‘Childhood’ at Rossi & Rossi

A few weeks ago, I attended a talk at the Courtauld hosted Liu Dahong and Chinese art expert Dr. Katie Hill titled ‘Memorabilia from an Age of Troublemaking’, which coincided with Liu’s first solo show outside of Asia, ‘Childhood’ at Rossi & Rossi in Mayfair. The talk was incredibly insightful, and it was really great to hear what Liu had to say about his own personal influences.

At the start of the talk Liu Dahong stated that he had lived through three dynasties: firstly, under Chairman Mao’s leadership, secondly, at the aftermath of his death, and thirdly, the past 10 years heralding a new dynasty. One can certainly sense that Mao has certainly influenced Liu’s art, with his altarpiece Church depicting Chairman Mao at the centre as ‘God’, and Mao’s last wife Jiang Qing taking position to his right. Furthermore, Liu’s inclusion of militant workers instead of family members is representative of the concept of the whole world as a family – exemplified by the common use of the word ‘comrade’ during those times.

Of his ‘Childhood’ series, Liu said that his main interest was in the Cultural Revolution, and his specific memories of his very unique and special childhood. He recounted how his childhood memories are mostly of playing, with school back then only taking up half the day. He also remembers the presence of Big Character posters (大字报) with everyone taking a keen interest in politics, though for the young Liu his interest was more in the spectacle and excitement of the party.

Certainly, the jovial and light-heartedness of his paintings evoke a sense of playfulness. For Liu, he says that children of the Cultural Revolution led extremely happy lives. He views his childhood as being superior to the lives of one-child-policy children in China now, whose lives are a mundane routine or being solely cared for by adults with little contact with other children. Calling them “pathetic” and “unfortunate”, it is clear that Liu holds a nostalgic longing for his wild childhood where he roamed around getting burnt in the sun. Most of all, Liu longs for fearlessness – he says his fearlessness born out of swimming in the sea led to his bravery in adult-life that allowed him to go against the law and have two children of his own.

‘Childhood’ on until 30^th May

Rossi & Rossi, 16 Clifford Street, Mayfair, London W1S 3RG

ART13

A couple weeks ago I went to the inaugural Art13 at Kensington Olympia for a talk about Chinese collectors and their views on Contemporary Art. The talk, titled ‘The China Moment’ itself was quite interesting with the panel including three of China's most prominent collectors: Dai Zhikang (founder and owner of the Himalayas Art Museum), Li Bing (a Beijing-based collector), and Wang Wei (the co-founder and co-owner of the Long Museum in Shanghai).

After the talk we set about exploring what the fair had to offer. The three-day event showed galleries from 29 countries, fulfilling the fair’s aim to be ‘global’. Furthering the ‘global’ aspect of Art13, 60% of the galleries invited were outside of the U.S. and the U.K. As a student of Chinese contemporary art, it was exciting to see so many galleries from Asia exhibiting works by artists not usually seen at art fairs like Frieze or Art Basel.

Jeong Hwa CHOI, Breathing Flower, 2012, ed. 1/7, Fabric, electric air pump, height 15.76 inches

My magpie-like tendencies really came out in full force at Art13 when I spotted Korean artist Choi Jeong Hwa's Breathing Flower. In total I spotted three galleries exhibiting this work (must really be a hit in the gallery world!). Its just so fun and a total show-stopper, combining my three loves: shininess, largeness, and in floral motif. And it that bright fuchsia, it was game over. 

Kerri EVANS, Duality I 324, Oil on aluminium, 69x125cm

YUNIZAR, Kisah (Story), 2013, Acrylic on canvas, 200x250cm

YANG Yongliang, Moonlight (Waxing Crescent Moon), 2012, LED Light box, 140x140cm

YANG Yongliang, Moonlight (Waning Crescent Moon), 2012, LED Light box, 140x140cm

Yang Yongliang is an artist whose work has intrigued me ever since my first encounter several years ago. My father is a keen collector of Chinese rock carvings, and traditional Chinese paintings of mountain-scapes, and well anything that has to do with rocks, mountains - I mean, he even collected a holiday home in the Yellow Mountains - the man is obsessed. What I love about Yang's work is his innovative approach to a medium that is so engrained in traditional Chinese discourse, renewing this ancient tradition with a fresh take incorporating modern technologies. The results are absolutely stellar!

LIU Bolin, Hiding in the City (Family Photo), 2012, 95x120cm

And this series by Liu Boling. Wow, it really blew my mind. In my somewhat frantic, shallow observation of the work I somewhat too quickly proclaimed the works to really resemble Gursky. I was then shocked (and surprised) to find that the works, when examined closely, reveal families. That totally blew my mind! Maybe I was going a bit crazy, but the work seriously excited me!

In Sook KIM, Saturday Night, 2007, LED Light box, 160x260cm

SONG, Guiyu, Entwined Soul I, 2007, Acrylic on canvas, 280x150cm

Keaton HENSON, ‘Plate for throwing in arguments’, 2012, Hand painted ceramic plate, 23.5x23.5cm, edition of 100 (£75)

The Connor Brothers, ‘A load of fuss about fuck all’, 2013, 4 colour screenprint on canvas, 54.5x43cm, edition of 10 (£1,250)

Žilvinas Kempinas (Lithuania), Fountain, 2011, fan, magnetic tape, metal ring, 330cm diameter

The fair was dotted with random, surprise, sculpture/installation pieces, Fountain being one of them. These large scale sculptures really broke up the monotony of the conventional booth-booth-booth rhythm of 'normal' fairs. The loud whirring of the fan, and the shininess of the magnetic tape really drew me in. However, my favourite of these large sculptures was one exhibited by Pearl Lam titled Boat.

Zhu Jinshi, Boat, 12 meter-long cylinder made of rice paper and bamboo

Pearl Lam, a gallerist with spaces in Shanghai and Hong Kong, pretty much took centre stage at Art13 with this giant installation that was placed right in the middle of the exhibition hall. The work was assembled over three days by a group of workers imported from Hong Kong. Comprising of 8,000 sheets of delicate rice paper supported by 800 shafts of bamboo, the work was an overwhelming tunnel that seemed to emanate light and conveyed a sense of lightness that countered its enormous scale. It seems with a title like Boat, the work seemed to act as a metaphor for the arrival (and subsequent docking) of Chinese art in this international arena of art – reminiscent of Cai Guo Qiang’s Bringing to Venice what Marco Polo Forgot.

ZHU Jinshi, Door to the Form of the Matter, 2012, Oil on canvas, 63x55.1in. x 3

Plastique Fantastique, Welcome Neuropatherne Feedback Loops

Another aspect that differentiated Art13 from the other London art fairs was its focus on performance art. The fair supposedly had 17 different performances that were scheduled on the hour, every hour for the duration of the fair. When I was there, I happened to stumble upon a performance by the group Plastique Fantastique, titled Welcome Neuropatherne Feedback Loops. The work was somewhat interesting to say the least. It was sold to me with promises of “glitter explosions”… unfortunately such promises were unfulfilled. It kind of freaked me out with honey being poured on people in quite an aggressive manner, and incense being burned, and the chanting. Did I love it? Not really. But the performative aspect of the fair was quite exciting and the gathering of the crowds into one specific spot is something that created an atmosphere of enthusiasm and interest.