UCCA Beijing

New Directions Conversations Series He Xiangyu: Everything We Create is not Ourselves

2015.7.26
14:00-16:00

Conversation
Location:  Auditorium
Language:  Chinese only

Best known for sculptural works combining comedy and high concept, in his solo exhibition at UCCA, He Xiangyu reveals an inner topography through a highly sensitive painterly language. During a brief stint in the U.S. where language barriers proved difficult to overcome, He Xiangyu began to translate the ridges, bumps, and grooves of his palate into images according to the perceptions he felt with his tongue.

UCCA invites He Xiangyu, along with sound artist Li Xingyu, poet Zhu Zhu, and independent curator Sun Dongdong, to explore this process of translation and the emotional aspects embedded in He Xiangyu’s latest series. Through his body mapping, He Xiangyu illustrates that, in spite of proximity to subject, art remains the annotation to a lost referent.

Ticketing:Free

Note:

*Collect your ticket from reception 30 minutes before the event begins.

* Please no late entry.

Speakers

He Xiangyu(Artist)

He Xiangyu (b. 1986, Liaoning province) graduated from the Oil Painting Department of Shenyang Normal University and is currently based in Beijing and Berlin. Having first garnered attention for large-scale works like Coca Cola Project and Tank Project, He Xiangyu continues to defy commonplace notions carried toward young Chinese artists through a diverse body of works encompassing sculpture, painting, and performance. His major exhibitions include "Fire and Forget" (KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, 2015); "Dotted Line" (White Space Beijing, Beijing, 2014); "He Xiangyu" (White Cube, London, 2014); "2014 Future Generation Art Prize – Finalists Exhibition" (Pinchuk Art Centre, Kiev, 2014); "28 Chinese" (Rubell Family Collection, Miami, 2013); "Crossed Beliefs" (SCAI The Bathhouse, Tokyo, 2013); and "ON | OFF: China's Young Artists in Concept and Practice" (UCCA, Beijing, 2013). He Xiangyu has also been invited to participate in the 15th Lyon Biennale (2015); "Social Factory" 10th Shanghai Biennale (2014); and Busan Biennale 2014.

Sun Dongdong(Curator)

Sun Dongdong is an independent curator that graduated with a master's degree in art history from Nanjing University of the Arts in 2005. Since 2001, he has been active as an independent curator and art critic, having worked for the Sifang Art Museum, Iberia Center for Contemporary Art, and LEAP magazine.

Zhu Zhu(Poet, Curator)

Li Xingyu(Sound Artist)