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Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
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Exhibit promises to put ‘Art Within Reach’ for everyone
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Where do the lines between art and everyday objects blur?
The exhibition “Art Within Reach I” at APSMUSEUM will provide some of the answers.
Curated by Xu Zidong, one of China’s top literary experts, the exhibition includes roughly 25 pieces of artwork created by 14 artists from across the world, including big names such as Olafur Eliasson, Daniel Arsham, Liu Jianhua and Miya Ando.
“Frankly speaking, I felt a bit unsure when I was asked to be the curator,” Xu said. “I often find myself perplexed by contemporary art. It is difficult to catch their real meanings.”
According to Xu, classical art strives to be beautiful and magnificent, but modern art is less visually appealing and distorted.
“So I came up with the concept of ‘Art Within Reach,’ because it shows less grotesque, absurd or abstract esthetics,” he added. “They have quietly melted into our everyday lives. We aim to explore the fine line that separates real life from art with this exhibition.”
Visitors will notice a golden hollow door made of stainless steel hung in mid-air, dividing the space into indoor and outdoor areas. “Door” by Chinese artist Gao Weigang delineates the illusory barrier between “within reach” and “outside.”
“Human beings have already developed a language and logic system in order to find some sort of order in this chaotic world.” Gao, on the other hand, prefers to create works that misrepresent reality.
The entire exhibition space is fashioned into our familiar surroundings behind the door, such as the Plexiglas armchair and Bordo coffee table.
Alert viewers will notice the blurred distinction between kitchen, bathroom and living room through the exhibits.
“It is interesting that the story of these contemporary artworks often lies in their materials and creating process,” Xu said. “These artworks on display are not those daunting pieces with big topics; instead, they are small, humorous, pleasant and profound.”
“Art with Reach” is one of the genres of modern art that avoids large themes, dramatic scenes and passionate emotion. The work is more concerned with figurative details, material texture and juxtaposition.
Zhang Yitong’s “Daily Cleansing Ritual and Soapearl Necklace” is based on the “recalibration” of daily objects with their meanings and spiritual significance.
Jewelry is typically used to embellish by “adding” something to the body, but soap implies the metaphor for “cleansing” through its ability to “reduce” something from the skin. When this changing “soapearl necklace” comes into contact with water, it underlines the importance of the reduction process.
Similarly, Arsham’s “Rimowa Eroded Attache” invokes the concept of “fictional archeology.”
In 2019, the artist collaborated with Rimowa on a Future Relic-inspired vintage suitcase sculpture that revealed the artist’s eroded esthetic. The suitcase appears as if it has been unearthed from the debris of an archeological site. Here, the present, the future and the past poetically collide in his haunted yet playful visions between romanticism and pop art.
“The first suitcase appears eroded, and the second one is good, focusing on a juxtaposition. On a deeper level, the suitcases remind us of industrial society and modernity,” Xu remarked.
“Actually, the future of modernity may be very perilous. While postmodernism is defined by changing triteness into originality, transforming what is popular into what is elite, this is ‘Art within Reach.’”
The vivid color and light settings of Icelandic-Danish artist Eliasson’s “Affection” are a standout.
The show saves space for this single work that explores progressions of geometric forms. Through green-toned glass, an LED in the core illuminates and shadows the walls. The artist uses Greenlandic glacial-rock grain in the glass, unwittingly conjuring a remote mystery.
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