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City artists and designers shine at overseas shows
By Xu Wenwen and Wu Huixin |
April 24, 2013, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
HANGZHOU artists and designers are finding international acclaim with stunning modern work on show at a famous museum and events abroad.
Husband and wife artists, Xu Jiang, director of China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, and Shi Hui, professor of sculpture there, are the subjects of a joint exhibition at the Ludwig Museum, in Koblenz, Germany.
And a show "deconstructing bamboo" by a Hangzhou design team - bringing together creatives from various practices - has just closed at design week at the prestigious La Triennale di Milano, in Milan, Italy.
Shanghai Daily met both parties and heard about their works and trips.
Flourishing Spirit
Some 200 pieces by Xu and Shi feature in joint exhibition "Flourishing Spirit," through June 13 at the Ludwig Museum. The museum boasts a large collection of modern art, including works by Picasso, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.
The area around the museum is rich in German historic and cultural relics, leading to it being named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Though the couple's works are displayed together, their styles differ considerably.
Xu's works takes the theme "Born of Fire" which is comprised of three parts - the Far East series, the Far Autumn series and the Wasteland series. Works include sculptures, ink works, oil paintings and colored glaze art works known as liuli, a type of multi-hued crystal glass.
A highlight of Xu's contribution is "Commensalisms." Colored glaze "lotuses" float on water, illuminated by LED lights, the color varying due to the different materials and production methods.
Xu attempts to create a dialogue with German artists through the virtue of Oriental symbol - the lotus, praising China and Germany as two countries reborn from the ruins of war.
In contrast to Xu's rich style, Shi's works are pure and simple. She takes "Still Water Runs Deep" as her theme, expressing a low-key feminine elegance.
Shi uses slips of rice paper to weave a huge fan, imbued with traditional Chinese culture.
Another highlight is the 3-meter high "Ben Cao Gang Mu" ("Compendium of Materia Medica") - a noted Chinese medical work dating from the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) - and 15 books made from herbarium and pulp.
Together, these showcase Shi's respect for plants and evocation of the past pastoral life.
"No matter whether it's my work lotus or Shi's Ben Cao Gang Mu, they all express the spirit flourishing through the images of plants," explains Xu.
"My bold rebirth works and her restrained plant works alternate tension with relaxation, composing a symphony of passion and silence," adds the artist.
Xu is familiar with Germany, having studied there in the 1980s - an experience he says left a deep impression on him.
Meanwhile, Shi was once apprenticed to renowned Bulgarian painter and modern tapestry maker Marin Varbanov. Her works are mainly composed of pulp and plant fiber, embodying an Oriental spirit in contemporary art.
This couple say their exhibition aims at deliberating on how to construct the concept of Chinese cultural spirit in a cross-cultural environment.
Rong - Handmade in Hangzhou
In "Rong - Handmade in Hangzhou," a group of 13 designers have taken bamboo as their inspiration, making it into a dozen forms, featuring completely different types, textures and functions.
Their work was recently shown at La Triennale di Milano, and is exhibiting at Il Ciani, a historical building in Lugano, Switzerland, until Saturday.
In a four-month stay in Hangzhou, the team of 13 designers have sought to "deconstruct" bamboo - the traditional and representative material of Hangzhou, and apply it to contemporary designs.
Bamboo is used as a veneer, a grip, a fiber, a skin, paper and tubing, creating everything from books and furniture to fashion and jewelry.
"Rong means melt or fuse in Chinese. This notion is at the core of the philosophy of 'Handmade in Hangzhou'," says the preface to the exhibition.
Renowned Chinese graphic designer Chen Feibo ground bamboo fiber into paper pulp to make exhibition manuals and albums. Some paper is rough, still with its bamboo texture, while some is smooth and natural colored.
Product designer Chen Min has layered several pieces of curved long bamboo veneer into a stool, named the Hangzhou Stool.
Each piece is separate at the top but bound at the feet. As each veneer is different in length, they are bent into different sized arc shapes.
Bamboo is a great material for chairs because it is strong, flexible and breathes, explains the designer.
Meanwhile, ceramicist Ma Liangxu has used bamboo fibers to create a very special texture in pottery.
Also combining bamboo and ceramics, jewelry designer Zhang Xiaochuan has created a collection of accessories - under the title "Chaos" - weaving tiny bamboo filaments over smooth white porcelain.
In another innovation, fashion designers have used the thinnest bamboo fiber in making robes, pillows and carpets.
The show features installations as well. Architect Chen Haoru has constructed raw large green bamboo tubes into an installation that plays notes when wind passes - like a giant flute.
And product designer Zhang Junjie has weaved bamboo grips into "Cloud," a 1-meter-tall structure.
"I made an experimental weaving work to show bamboo's features and local people's weaving skills," says Zhang.
Pinwu Design Studio in Hangzhou, consisting of three designers, came up with the idea of deconstructing bamboo and found support from Hangzhou's government.
Pinwu has contributed three chairs to the show. One features a bamboo paper back, with a wooden seat and legs; one has a seat that is simply a grid of bamboo strips; while the other consists of bamboo paper and bamboo splits.
"We use methods of deconstruction to merge traditional Chinese culture into contemporary design. That's the core meaning of Rong," explains Zhang Lei, a Pinwu designer.
Husband and wife artists, Xu Jiang, director of China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, and Shi Hui, professor of sculpture there, are the subjects of a joint exhibition at the Ludwig Museum, in Koblenz, Germany.
And a show "deconstructing bamboo" by a Hangzhou design team - bringing together creatives from various practices - has just closed at design week at the prestigious La Triennale di Milano, in Milan, Italy.
Shanghai Daily met both parties and heard about their works and trips.
Flourishing Spirit
Some 200 pieces by Xu and Shi feature in joint exhibition "Flourishing Spirit," through June 13 at the Ludwig Museum. The museum boasts a large collection of modern art, including works by Picasso, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.
The area around the museum is rich in German historic and cultural relics, leading to it being named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Though the couple's works are displayed together, their styles differ considerably.
Xu's works takes the theme "Born of Fire" which is comprised of three parts - the Far East series, the Far Autumn series and the Wasteland series. Works include sculptures, ink works, oil paintings and colored glaze art works known as liuli, a type of multi-hued crystal glass.
A highlight of Xu's contribution is "Commensalisms." Colored glaze "lotuses" float on water, illuminated by LED lights, the color varying due to the different materials and production methods.
Xu attempts to create a dialogue with German artists through the virtue of Oriental symbol - the lotus, praising China and Germany as two countries reborn from the ruins of war.
In contrast to Xu's rich style, Shi's works are pure and simple. She takes "Still Water Runs Deep" as her theme, expressing a low-key feminine elegance.
Shi uses slips of rice paper to weave a huge fan, imbued with traditional Chinese culture.
Another highlight is the 3-meter high "Ben Cao Gang Mu" ("Compendium of Materia Medica") - a noted Chinese medical work dating from the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) - and 15 books made from herbarium and pulp.
Together, these showcase Shi's respect for plants and evocation of the past pastoral life.
"No matter whether it's my work lotus or Shi's Ben Cao Gang Mu, they all express the spirit flourishing through the images of plants," explains Xu.
"My bold rebirth works and her restrained plant works alternate tension with relaxation, composing a symphony of passion and silence," adds the artist.
Xu is familiar with Germany, having studied there in the 1980s - an experience he says left a deep impression on him.
Meanwhile, Shi was once apprenticed to renowned Bulgarian painter and modern tapestry maker Marin Varbanov. Her works are mainly composed of pulp and plant fiber, embodying an Oriental spirit in contemporary art.
This couple say their exhibition aims at deliberating on how to construct the concept of Chinese cultural spirit in a cross-cultural environment.
Rong - Handmade in Hangzhou
In "Rong - Handmade in Hangzhou," a group of 13 designers have taken bamboo as their inspiration, making it into a dozen forms, featuring completely different types, textures and functions.
Their work was recently shown at La Triennale di Milano, and is exhibiting at Il Ciani, a historical building in Lugano, Switzerland, until Saturday.
In a four-month stay in Hangzhou, the team of 13 designers have sought to "deconstruct" bamboo - the traditional and representative material of Hangzhou, and apply it to contemporary designs.
Bamboo is used as a veneer, a grip, a fiber, a skin, paper and tubing, creating everything from books and furniture to fashion and jewelry.
"Rong means melt or fuse in Chinese. This notion is at the core of the philosophy of 'Handmade in Hangzhou'," says the preface to the exhibition.
Renowned Chinese graphic designer Chen Feibo ground bamboo fiber into paper pulp to make exhibition manuals and albums. Some paper is rough, still with its bamboo texture, while some is smooth and natural colored.
Product designer Chen Min has layered several pieces of curved long bamboo veneer into a stool, named the Hangzhou Stool.
Each piece is separate at the top but bound at the feet. As each veneer is different in length, they are bent into different sized arc shapes.
Bamboo is a great material for chairs because it is strong, flexible and breathes, explains the designer.
Meanwhile, ceramicist Ma Liangxu has used bamboo fibers to create a very special texture in pottery.
Also combining bamboo and ceramics, jewelry designer Zhang Xiaochuan has created a collection of accessories - under the title "Chaos" - weaving tiny bamboo filaments over smooth white porcelain.
In another innovation, fashion designers have used the thinnest bamboo fiber in making robes, pillows and carpets.
The show features installations as well. Architect Chen Haoru has constructed raw large green bamboo tubes into an installation that plays notes when wind passes - like a giant flute.
And product designer Zhang Junjie has weaved bamboo grips into "Cloud," a 1-meter-tall structure.
"I made an experimental weaving work to show bamboo's features and local people's weaving skills," says Zhang.
Pinwu Design Studio in Hangzhou, consisting of three designers, came up with the idea of deconstructing bamboo and found support from Hangzhou's government.
Pinwu has contributed three chairs to the show. One features a bamboo paper back, with a wooden seat and legs; one has a seat that is simply a grid of bamboo strips; while the other consists of bamboo paper and bamboo splits.
"We use methods of deconstruction to merge traditional Chinese culture into contemporary design. That's the core meaning of Rong," explains Zhang Lei, a Pinwu designer.
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