The Boundaries of Sculpture: A Panel Discussion on Chinese Contemporary Art

On Wednesday, December 7, join China Institute and the Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation for “The Boundaries of Sculpture,” a panel discussion with acclaimed contemporary artists Liang Shuo, Song Dong, and Yu Fan, moderated by John Rajchman of Columbia University.

 

The discussion will primarily focus on the practice and evolution of sculpture in Chinese contemporary art. The three participating artists represent different artistic generations of Chinese contemporary art who are deeply influenced by the traditional aesthetics and culture, yet are vitally responsive to the world at large. With their use of alternative materials and approaches, they have redefined the understanding of traditional monumental sculpture and pushed the boundaries of three-dimensional object making in order to engage with the public sphere and urban space. In this dynamic panel, the artists will reflect on their own work and discuss how they diversify the interpretation of sculpture as well as its relationship with public art.

 

This program is part of the Chinese Creative Cultural Leaders series developed by the Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation with partners around the world.

 

Liang Shuo 

(b. 1976, Tianjin, China)

 

Liang Shuo graduated from the Department of Sculpture at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, China (CAFA) in 2000. In 2009, he joined the Department of Sculpture at CAFA, where he remains a teacher. Liang currently lives and works in Beijing. Liang’s artistic explorations are diverse in nature; he dabbles in sculpture, installation, video, performance, traditional Chinese ink and wash painting, and resident projects based on special spaces. These pieces, created out of Liang’s so called “dregs” aesthetics, reflect the artist’s conceptual analysis of the rapidly evolving visual elements found throughout modern China’s rural and urban areas and the survival logic and production mechanism that is thus deduced. His aesthetics system represents a primitive, uncontrolled, and self-propagating natural style/anti-style that grows organically from the grassroots level of society. Liang’s work has been presented at major biennales and numerous art museums around the world, such as Singapore Art Museum; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), San Francisco; and Museo Pietro Canonica, Roma, Italy, among others.

 

Song Dong 

(b. 1966, Beijing, China)

 

Beijing-based artist Song Dong emerged from a strong Chinese avant-garde performing arts community and developed into a significant contemporary art figure in the progression of Chinese conceptual art. Song graduated from the fine arts department of Capital Normal University in Beijing in 1989. He started his artistic career in the early 90s. His work reveals the impermanence and the transience of human endeavor, ranging from performance and video to photography, theatre and sculpture. As a pioneer of contemporary Chinese art, Song explores the intricate connection between life and art with the light of an Eastern wisdom and gains international prestige. Song was the focus of many solo and group exhibitions around the world. He presented his solo shows at MoMA, New York, and was included in various prestigious international shows, such as dOCUMENTA 13 in 2012, The 54th Venice Biennale in 2011, and The 26th Sao Paolo Biennale in 2004, among others.

 

Yu Fan

(b. 1966, Qingdao, China)

 

Yu Fan Graduated from Fine Art Department of Shandong Art Institute in 1988. He went on to study for an MA in Sculpture from the China Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and now teaches at its Sculpture Department. In the oeuvre of Beijing-based sculptor Yu Fan—whose recognizable creations are sleek, glossy, and delicate—disparate themes and characters collide. While one body of work is comprised of dainty mythical white horses, another series portrays elongated Chinese everymen. Yu’s work also present dialogues and exchanges within the history of Chinese and foreign sculpture. Yu renders his sculptures in fiberglass, copper, and bronze, making his shiny polished surfaces by covering primary elements with bright car varnishes. Yu’s work has been included in major exhibitions at the Israel National Museum, the Singapore Art Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and Chicago’s Smart Museum, in addition to the Shanghai Biennale.

 

Moderator: John Rajchman

 

John Rajchman works in the areas of art history, architecture, and continental philosophy. Professor Rajchman is an Adjunct Professor on Theory and Criticism, 20th Century Art and Philosophy, Department of Art History, Columbia University. He has previously taught at Princeton University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Collège International de Philosophie in Paris, and The Cooper Union, among others. He is a Contributing Editor for Artforum and is on the board of Critical Space. John Rajchman received a B.A., from Yale University and Ph.D., from Columbia University.

 

This program is sponsored by the Beijing Contemporary Arts Foundation (BCAF) as part of their “China Creative Cultural Leader” series.