Until September 7, London’s Lisson Gallery is keeping its commitment of supporting new approaches to art by presenting the exhibition Afterimage: Dangdai Yishu, guest curated by Victor Wang. Wang offers his own interpretation for the development of dangdai yishu or Chinese contemporary art by incorporating the creative works of several generations of artists born between 1960 and 1990 that come from different geographical areas in China. Featured in the exhibition are the artistic works of seminal figures such as Wang Youshen, Yu Hong and Lin Tianmao as well as more contemporary works of art from a new generation of practitioners that include Shen Xin, Aaajiao, and Li Binyuan.
The juxtaposition of these different generations of artists is reflected not only in the pieces presented in the exhibition but also in the introduction of video, installation, and performances that suggest a deeper connection to the Chinese contemporary art scene rather than as byproducts of Western artistic influences. For example, a piece by Yu Hong, one of the pioneering artists featured in the exhibition, depicts herself or a personal event in tandem with a newspaper story or magazine article from the same year.
However, another piece, this time from Aaajiao, one of the youngest artists, features DIY wall-coverings infested with 404 messages from blocked websites that openly challenge the continuing censorship of the Internet in contemporary China. Instead of simply categorizing Chinese art by geography or into pre-modern and post-modern periods, Wang allows each piece to flow into the next with a fluidity that accurately represents the ongoing evolution of contemporary art in China.
The exhibition Afterimage: Dangdai Yishu is on view until September 7 at Lisson Gallery, 67 Lisson St, London.
Wang Youshen. "
Newspaper / advertising" (1993)
© Wang Youshen. Courtesy Lisson Gallery
Li Binyuan. "
Breakthrough" ( 2019) © Li Binyuan. Courtesy MU Space. Photography: Hanneke Wetzer
Aaajiao. "
404" (2017)
© aaajiao. Courtesy Lisson Gallery
