He Gong and My Friedns
Organizer: A Thousand Plateaus Art Space
Academic Host: Wu Yongqiang
Artists: He Gong, Guo Wenhao, Li Yin, Li Yongzheng, Meng Jin + Fang Er, Qi Lan, Tang Ke, Xiao Kegang and Xie Zhengli
Opening: 3:00-6:00pm, April 12, 2014 (Saturday)
Duration: April 12, 2014 – May 27, 2014
A Thousand Plateaus Art Space is going to present the new exhibition “He Gong and My Friends”. It consists of two parts: one part is on the first floor, to show the artist He Gong’s recent works during the past two years; the other part is on the second and third floor, to show a group exhibition of several artists including Guo Wenhao, Li Yin, Li Yongzheng, Meng Jin + Fang Er, Qi Lan, Tang Ke, Xiao Kegang and Xie Zhengli, work media include painting, installation, photograph, video, etc..
Under the easy theme of “He Gong and My Friends”, the exhibition tries to present the differences between generations, life backgrounds, life experiences, creative individuals, etc.. The two parts act in cooperation with each other. Choosing He Gong, who was born in 1950s, as a reference point, in the way of sampling, it presents the creation states of artists at all ages, as well as the their relationships with their life backgrounds and experiences.
He Gong was born in 1950s, is the first generation artist in China. The growth and education experience in his youth is totally different from today’s young artists. In the meantime, the years of study experience abroad makes him rethink about the reality he’s facing in China and his existing way with the individual identity of a Chinese contemporary artist through a more detached perspective. He Gong adheres to his creation in deep thinking and uncompromising idealism, which makes him become a unique scenery in China’s contemporary art field, and has maintained an enviable vitality and creativity. Among his recent works, his thoughts on the reality of the times and individual existence turn restrained. Or this kind of thinking is no longer the contents of his expression, but the background of his expression, which allow his paintings gain more freedom more broadly.
The nine artists of the group exhibition part were born between 1960s and 1980s. Compared to He Gong, they bear less burden given by the times. They always connect themselves with contemporary art in a more direct and personal way. They explore on the basis of personal life state, or test the expressive force of a certain kind of material media, or express their personal emotional experience, or just externalize their personal life conditions...This precisely shows the diversity of today's contemporary art.