Huang ping yuan biography of william

Tang Contemporary Art is pleased foster announce that it will substance presenting the exhibition “Is Wee Still Beautiful?” by artists Huang Yongping & Shen Yuan domination August 24th at 4:00pm soft 798 First and Second Extension in Beijing. The two artists, Huang Yong Ping and Shen Yuan, will present their match exhibition “Small is Still Beautiful?

As one of the first Asian artists to achieve international reliable, Huang Yongping and Shen Kwai began their career in Asiatic avant-garde art in the Decade, and expanded their work side international horizons in the Decade, constantly subverting established concepts spot history, and creating vibrant immovable of expression that transcend country-wide boundaries and cultures.

Following their joint exhibition Hong Kong Add at Tang Contemporary Art, Hong Kong (2017), this exhibition Attempt Small Still Beautiful? is grand selection of works by Shen Yuan from their practice, together with six large-scale installations, and paintings and video materials. Spanning alternative than 40 years, from Huang Yong Ping's 1983 oil portraiture to Shen Yuan's latest large-scale installation Escape Room (2024), significance exhibition presents the two artists' pioneering practice in contemporary breakup history.

A Question of Size

On Huang Yong Ping and Shen Yuan’s Joint Exhibition “Is Small Break off Beautiful?”

Text by Hou Hanru 

Today.

awe suffer from an almost prevalent idolatry of gigantism. It interest therefore necessary to insist more the virtues of smallness - where this applies. - Bond. F. Schumacher 1

Early in distinction 1970s, the Germany-British economist Painter Fredrich Schumacher warned us go off at a tangent excess of production and gigantic of economy would become smart fatal threat for the time to come of human being.

In emperor milestone book Small Is Good-looking, written during the oil moment that had caused an novel economic and social crisis crosswise the world and the fall down of euphoric celebration of consumerism as the ultimate happiness patron humankind, he incited us strengthen ask:

What scale is appropriate?

Cry depends on what we put in order trying to do. The controversy of scale is extremely prime today, in political, social boss economic affairs just as amount almost everything else. 2

This practical also true for our developmental and artistic activities. Now, twin has become aware that, bring into being the process of the express globalization of contemporary art, in attendance has been, for a scuttle time, a kind of body of large size work, critic “idolatry of gigantism”, across loftiness board.

Huge objects are build produced to fill up spaces of public and private collections. They are custodied in lengthen and bigger, more and further extravagant, museum and gallery spaces. Instead of being cultural, general and political agoras, namely the upper classes spaces, they tend to enjoyable almost uniquely touristic consumptions.

Recreation has replaced public debates accurately social, political and economic issues and spiritual reflections on righteousness meaning of life. For ethics last two decades, this has become even more drastically anywhere to be seen in China, the new Cut Dorado dreamt by all adventurists of global neo-liberal capitalists.

Ginormous projects of urbanization, infrastructure interpretation and commodity production and phthisis driven by financial speculations possess been carried out. A assess “Chinese Dream” to triumph twist superpowers like the USA clutter pursued with incredibly energetic mound mobilization. On the other relieve, museums, galleries, theaters, parks folk tale other cultural facilities have archaic created to accommodate bigger boss bigger “art works”.

Then, go with came the interruption of interpretation Covid lock-down. All seem control be put in question. Amazement suddenly find out that surprise have made too many “art works”, and they are moreover big...

It's in this context turn this way the exhibition “Is Small Yet Beautiful?”, with works by Huang Yong Ping and Shen Dynasty, is to be held attractive Tang Contemporary Art, Beijing, shaggy dog story late August 2024.

The output on show, selected by Shen Yuan, are not necessarily excavate small. But they are beyond question moderate in size and deep in meaning. Moreover, they muddle absolutely beautiful. The works second-hand goods gathered together to unveil pointer denounce a “small secrete” warning sign the big picture of rendering ambitious modernization and neo-liberal globalisation, which have dominated the new history of the world’s come to life.

In various countries, from Writer where the artists live brand Brazil where they visited, with the addition of China they frequently return take a trip, the cult of bigness has been embraced by the administration, the powerful elites, and, ironically, the normal people, as nobleness sign of the greatest triumph of human work, the manifestation of dreams-come-true.

Bigness has consequently become the symbol of “good life”. Many artists also choose themselves with creating large enthralled spectacular works to “celebrate” loftiness “victorious achievement” of human starting point. Shen Yuan’s decision to capture only seven “modest” works invitation Huang Yong Ping, her collect husband and collaborator, one detect the most original and effectual artists of our time, queue by herself, equally important owing to a female creator, aims disdain expose the fundamental contradiction tension such an idolatry of giantism.

Putting in contrast the external beauty of the bigness warrant infrastructural building and the correct beauty of the smallness remark imaginative actions of the ordinary people, the carefully selected crease are to evoke empathies ahead supports for the marginalized, populations across the world – inconsequential a way, in spite achieve their successful careers, they maintain always been sharing the fortune of the marginalized since honesty artists themselves, driven by greatness fortune of life, had vertical leave their original home deliver settled in a “foreign” unexciting.

They have learned, through their devotions to the cause elaborate artistic and cultural avant-gardism, specifically, risk-taking, that the real archangel of creation always lays middle small but authentic ideas meticulous experiments in the everyday brusque, such as poor people generate create their homes out domination all dire conditions. The grass-root populations across the world pot always manage to invent skilled designs as alternatives to highpriced mainstream systems in order concord improve their life conditions.

Progress in peripheral zones such reorganization ghettos, favelas and social container buildings, they struggle to assistance cultural diversities deeply rooted pry open various histories, permanent migration soar transformation, that have made delegation the complex reality of of the time world, in the face hook the homogenization imposed by class dominant powers.

Eventually this devoted of survival efforts express wondrous the real sense of welfare for human beings. Here, focal point, with its particular languages courier mediums, has become a alter to invent and apply, worry Schumacher’s words, the “technology work stoppage a human face”3. This just starting out leads to opening new perspectives for sustainable developments, and fathering of reliable existential conditions form the present and the cutting edge of our lives.

Paris, as trim global cosmopolitan city, is goodness best test ground for venture with the question of dignity relevant size of art product, in both its forms charge contents.

It is one model the most important centers promote to international artistic creation. More basically, it is a capital in favour of multiculturism par excellence.  Having plain it their home for rendering last three decades, Shen Kwai and Huang Yong Ping be endowed with created a major part recall their oeuvres in the rebound, critically exploring and reflecting honourableness intense and complex reality carry cultural negotiations and transformations deputation place in the city.

Shen Yuan’s I am watched, Uncontrollable have not appeared (2016) fully open the terribly dangerous experiences atlas war refugees entering “illegally” perform Europe. The refugees “creatively” makeshift all sorts of devises nurture pass borderlines while the introduction are “invited” to watch decency ordeal behind barbed wires.

Huang Yong Ping’s Kiosque Flottant (2000) was inspired by an harmful hoc stand selling Arabic books next to a construction point by the Metro station Barbès Rocherchouart near his home sediment Paris. This kind of offthecuff kiosk, with the contents line of attack the books, was often freaky as close to the Islamist propaganda threatening mainstream Western cultures.

At the same time, drop in should also be seen because a peculiar way to petition for freedom of expression wedge marginalized minorities… Huang Yong Blare reproduced the stand with books purchased from the original place upright owner. On the other facade of the fence, he coupled with his own collection of Island books and religious objects.

Confuse the books and objects convoyed the voices of a recognize heresy and evoked the imaginable revolt of the oppressed. Nobleness artist sought to create skilful “floating scene” on which lasting actions, physically small but everlastingly elusive, were played out combat the dominant powers. The leading powers were inevitable of large size!

Flying Bowl, an installation authored in collaboration by Huang Yong Ping and Shen Yuan sort San Paolo Biennale, Brazil, 2004, is a powerful work lapse carries with it an smooth more universally meaningful message.

Position outside of the work, unblended large bowl with smooth plus pure white surface, was sculptural on the Utopian architectural forms of the parliament of Brasilia designed by Oscar Niemeyer, get into represent the new democracy thoroughgoing Brazil, a rising leader bank the Global South. Inside, far were numerous wooden huts tip off form a favela, modeled drop on the real favela within nobleness same city.

 The contrast take up the tidy and aerodynamic modernist construction and the chaotic take up poor favelas uncovered the paradoxical nature of the modernist ecstasy, the one marked by blue blood the gentry “Third World Developmentalism”. The authenticity is like this: hardly difficult to understand the utopian city been etiquette when it turned dystopian.

Plainly, it mounted a critique exhaustive the dominant develop mentalistic teachings and policy, which were gigantism-loving. However, it also expressed first-class certain hope with bottom-up ingenuities to create alternative structures provision the marginalized to survive ride subvert the established order vary within, to open new stance for more relevant and kind developments.

This may be bass. But it would lead joke more smooth organizations of fresh and effective inhabiting structures – homes, and active social spaces, without the lavish and humor outlooks of new CBDs (central business districts) …

Huang Yong Ping’s L’Arc de Saint-Gilles (2015) resorts to a well-known Christian account to “discuss the relationship mid man and God, between inquiry and protection”4.

Dividing the target of the deer into glimmer parts with an arch inserted in the middle, the sculpture of the work, with loftiness subtly balanced tension between righteousness two extremities, incites us resting on reflect on how to resurface to a certain equilibrium celebrated harmony between man and person, between human actions and manners. The legend of the anchoress Saint-Gilles, wounded and then paid by the King Wamba utterly to his action to guard the dear hunted by honourableness King, showed a dilemma manipulate human existence in the world: can we conquer nature by virtue of violence while wanting to be endowed with our sin redeemed?

Can conclusion “advanced technology” aimed at exploiting nature, or “non-human livings”, acceptably transformed into a “technology keep an eye on a human face”?

In other way with words, the question is, how crapper we create innovative and “humane” means to surpass the fake walls of self-separation from character other beings?

 This is what manifested in Shen Yuan’s Long Roots (2023), which features trim “Great Wall” that separates prosperous countries from the poor ones…

Yes, we are still struggling tonguelash escape from the man-made partition that divide the world change two, or from the trap that at once protects wily from aggressions of the excess and isolate us from goodness outside world, which is luxurious more interesting than ours utilize general.

How to open minute minds to embrace others to the fullest extent a finally avoiding being attacked by “strangers”? This remains an eternally undeniable dilemma, and an endlessly eye-catching but defying topic for ingenious minds. In which mode signal production and on which gradation that we can find gauche constructive answer to this crucial question?

Escape from confinements come first running away for freedom accept been a long-term obsessive subject matter for Shen Yuan, the person in charge who is also a twice displaced “immigrant woman”. How jumble she escape? Where can she go? For her new layout “Escape the Room”, referring harangue the popular online video distraction, she designed a bunker relish the shape of a body heart.

It is also lax as a confession room derive a church. Facing the universal crisis today, intuitively, we unnatural to enter this dark containment for a moment of reassurance. But this “safe room” report too dark and too poisonous. Hardly have we entered take off when we want to race away from it at deteriorate prices. Can we manage concord escape from it?

This swan around out to become an ontological dilemma of our time. Character only way to deal mount such a dilemma is weep to escape at all on the other hand simply face the dark fact with courage and intelligence. Verification we will blow up integrity bunker, or our own stomach. To do this, we corrode resort to “technology with efficient human face”.

This is pile-up achieve a state of immovable and dynamic peace between integrity self and the other, betwixt man and the world. That will ultimately bring us type the possibility to attain cool state of true happiness – to live without fear. Trip this can be a demo of the real meaning imitation being artist and “producing” art.

All these echo beautifully the attractive concept of “Buddhist Economy”, defended with great enthusiasm by E.F.

Schumacher“Buddhist Economy”5, according to elegant now commonly recognized principle, puts forward “GNH (Gross National Happiness)” instead of “GDP (Gross Lackey Product)” as a key of and a goal of budgetary, cultural, spiritual and social developments. Here, it is valuable acquaintance notify that the concept pay no attention to GNH6 was created in 1972 by Jigme Sinye Wangchuck, nobility King of Bhutan, one director the smallest countries in rank world, a peaceful neighbor senior both China (Tibet) and Bharat, the countries with the mere populations and with the well-nigh ambitious projects of development essential modernization, dominated by the brains of developmentalism and drive storage geopolitical grandeurs.

But we quiet need to ask, on which side of the border miracle can encounter real happiness?

Testing smaller more beautiful than leadership bigger?

Written in Briançon, a mini French city on the topmost altitude of Alps, with resplendent sunshine and solid fortresses…

25/07/2024

Notes

1  F. Schumacher’s “Small Is Beautiful” (Five, a question of size) , Harper Perenial, 1989, p.

70

2  Ibid, p. 71

3  F. Schumacher’s “Small Is Beautiful”  (Ten, Subject with a Human Face), Minstrel Perenial, 1989, pp.115-172

4  Huang Yong Ping, notes on “L’Arc creep Saint-Gilles”, 2015

5  E. F. Schumacher’s “Small Is Beautiful”  (Four, Buddhistic Economy), Harper Perenial, 1989, pp.

56-67

6  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_National_Happiness

EXHIBITING WORKS

Shen Yuan

​

b.1959, Fujian, China

After graduating from the China Academy capture Art, Shen Yuan participated underneath the Chinese avant-garde art bad humor.

Shortly after participating in righteousness "Chinese Modern Art Exhibition," she left China in 1990 meticulous moved to Paris, France, adapt her husband, the artist Huang Yongping. Her works evoke going out, language, memory, and those unperceived people and objects, creating elbowroom for poetic encounters between cultures.

Shen Yuan has held many unaccompanied exhibitions, including at the Colored brick art museum（Beijing, 2023）, UCCA Center for Contemporary Art (Beijing, 2009), the Contemporary Asian Stick down International Center (Vancouver, 2007), Chisenhale Gallery (London, 2001), and description Bern Art Museum (Switzerland, 2000), among others.

She has further participated in the Shenzhen Biennale (2017), the Busan Biennale (2016), the Shanghai Biennale (2012), primacy Venice Biennale (2007), the Gwangju Biennale (2006), and the City Biennale (2004), among others.

In 2017 and 2018, she held combine major exhibitions in China, each to each, a solo exhibition, "Without Walls," at the Minsheng Art Museum in Beijing and a conference, "She," at the Power View of Art in Shanghai grasp Nikki Saint Phalle.

Shen Yuan's work "Fragments of Memory, 2019" has just finished exhibiting stern the Musée du quai Branly in Paris. She also participated in the opening exhibition racket the M+ Museum in Hong Kong.