“Hidden Within Matter” foregrounds the latent agency of matter—an agency often obscured in everyday life. Objects do not gain significance solely through interpretation in human language: the glazes of shipwrecked porcelain hold memories of distant voyages, while signal towers silently transmit electromagnetic waves. Through their very material presence, objects subtly shape our perceptions, discourses, and daily lives. They are not empty vessels awaiting meaning, but active agents whose densities, vibrations, and forms are constantly in action, even capable of redrawing the boundaries between the natural and the artificial.

This two-person exhibition, curated by Yao Mengxi, presents recent works by Zhou Xiaohu and Zhang Yibei. In his section, “Anchor of Asia | Shipwrecked Porcelain and Ballast Stones,” Zhou draws on fragments of porcelain from the Nanhai One shipwreck and ballast stones from Macao, letting these materials serve as narrators of history. The circulation of porcelain is intertwined with histories of sea bans, tributary systems, and the silver trade. Within the cycle of “ceramics–trade–finance–culture,” matter itself draws out the textures of institutions and civilizations, writing out history through its traces.

Meanwhile, in “Murmurs of Water and Warblings of Birds,” Zhang Yibei approaches sound as a poetic metaphor. Signal towers camouflaged as trees embed technology within the natural landscape; seeds drift with the wind, and organs collaborate in secrecy. These invisible flows embody a contemporary phenology, weaving together the neural network of contemporary society. As perceptual “sensors,” viewers are invited to experience how the artificial and the natural intermix, and how material processes themselves continuously inscribe the entanglement of humans and environments. 

Matter acts; information emerges.

About the Artists

Zhou Xiaohu (b. 1960, Changzhou; lives and works in Beijing) graduated from the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute and is regarded as a pioneering figure in Chinese contemporary art. Since 1998, Zhou has incorporated computer-assisted techniques into his practice, experimenting with stop-motion animation and video installation. His work moves freely across disciplines, encompassing animation, video installation, sculpture, painting, and performance-based projects. Zhou’s practice is informed by anthropological inquiry and observations of possible ways of living. He focuses on hybrid forms of theatre and mixed-media art, employing generalized readymades and “automatic writing” as methodological strategies to expand the boundaries of artistic expression.

Zhang Yibei

Zhang Yibei (b.1992, Heilongjiang; lives and works in Beijing) graduated with a Master’s degree in Sculpture from the Royal College of Art (RCA) in London and a Bachelor's degree in Sculpture form University of the Arts London (UAL). Her practice starts with a proposition rethinking the relationship between artist, material, and ideation.

Select recent exhibitions include: “Yibei Zhang: Please No Helmet” (Longlati, Shanghai, 2024); “A Vase In Everything” (BANK/MABSOCIETY, Shanghai, 2021). She has presented in group exhibitions including: “Echoes Among Us: Jing’an International Sculpture Project 2024” (Jingan District, Shanghai, 2024); “BODILY REACTION: VITALIZING THE BARE LIFE” (Taikang Space, Beijing, 2023); “The Disconnect Generation” (Song Art Museum, Beijing, 2022). Zhang has been honored with the UCCA Young Associates’ Choice Award 2024 and the 2019 Tomorrow Sculpture Awards, in addition to being shortlisted at the 2021 Huayu Youth Award 2021. She is also the recipient of Longlati Foundation's Artist-in-Residence Program from 2022–23.