Exhibition Opening Dates: 9 – 14 September 2015 | 11AM – 6PM (12PM – 4PM Sunday)
Private View: 10 September 2015 | 6PM – 9PM
Curator: Huijun Guan
Exhibition Address: Embassy Tea Gallery (195 – 205 Union Street, London, SE1 0PB)
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Artist Satement:
One particular phenomenon never ceases to perplex me – in the world of nature, there is a complete absence of unswerving, unbent, undeviating straight lines; from the curvature of the human body, to our pets, to the apples from the backyard, where are the straight lines, the demanding linear structures? And yet, within our society we are confronted with such on a daily basis, the space we inhabit, the objects we use, the surrounding architectures, furniture, artworks, sculptures, etc. Anything synthetic seems to be defined by boundaries and uncompromising straight lines. The current field of physics explains this by perceiving quarks as the fundamental constituent of matter, that although quarks may not be directly observable, they can be found within hadrons. The stable elements of hadrons are the protons and neutrons as they are the most essential unit of the atomic nuclei, and together with orbiting electrons, they form atoms. All of this sources from the vibrations, summations, and orders of energy itself. Such concepts of “encirclement,” “vibration,” “entanglement,” etc, declare the impossibility of “straight” particles and energy, not to mention life forms exhibiting linearity. So here I propose, if we perceive and experience life through these concepts, would we transition to a more harmonious state? If we shift our focus to the growth of plants, the everchanging forms of clouds, the variable shapes of water…we will realise that the infinity of curves is certainly worthwhile to explore.
The origin of my interest stemmed from a windy day when I was drawing in a park and a blank piece of stark white paper was blown to a nearby patch of grass. Each edge of the paper was so sharp that it appeared as if a rectangular piece of grass has been physically cut and removed. In that instant, a once natural scenery has immediately become an unnatural sight. Ever since then, my fascination grew and I began to compare all that are straight with all that are curved; I started noticing all areas of space, observing all variations of life forms from humans, to animals, to plants. Never had I thought this train of thought would take me to the world of physics, specifically, the subject of quantum mechanics. Upon learning the basics, I realized this was a bottomless pit. Although my understanding of quantum mechanics was shallow, it was sufficient to waver my 20 years outlook on life. Hence, gradually I incorporated them into my artwork; I became intrigued with all shapes that may be associated with “encirclement,” “vibration,” and “entanglement,” such as any net-like, circular, and intertwining shapes as well as any rhythmic/patterned modes of vibrations; all of which became the main materials of my created artworks, with a focus on the contrast between natural curvatures and manmade linearity. I prefer to use female legs to represent and carry out the theme of my artworks, mainly because the beauty of female legs ultimately rests in their natural curves; the direct contact between the foot and the ground is ever the more significant as the ground represents the “stillness” and “stagnancy” of the surface while the legs/feet, with all their individual curves and bends, represent “dynamics” and “motion.”
What I’d like to emphasize is that although we see straight lines and borders, they do not exist naturally in the world, or in any physical matter, but that all of our senses have mystified and filtered the reality of this world. Ultimately, the question is, could we believe that everything we see is in fact, imaginary? We can, yet we choose not to, because all of us prefer to choose the comfortable, the safe, the known, and reject those that are not.
直線不直線——陳曉玉個展
展覽時間: 2015年9月9日至14日 ｜11:00 – 18:00 (12:00 – 16:00 周日）
開幕酒會: 2015年9月10日 | 18:00 – 21:00
策展人: 管蕙珺
展覽地址: Embassy Tea Gallery
195 – 205 Union Street, London, SE1 0PB
展覽概況：
“直線不直線（there is no straight line)”是藝術家陳曉玉在倫敦的首次個展。展覽作品當中除了繪畫、雕塑、裝置還有影像。這次展覽大部分作品是從未露面的作品，其中兩件作品是藝術家本人與另外兩名藝術家的合作作品。藝術家試圖從多個藝術形態中去尋找一個一直困惑她已久的問題——“這個世界到底有沒有直線的存在”看似很簡單的問題，但卻包含了對人類哲學的探究，對大自然的崇敬，更直闖到量子力學中去。直線非直線，三維世界的假象，這是藝術家現階段對其的解讀。從最開始的從大自然中尋找答案，發展到哲學的思考，最終這個困惑她已久的問題把她領進了微觀世界。她在微觀世界-量子力學中得到靈感，其中“環繞”、“振動”、“糾纏”三個物理現象是她目前作品創作的所有來源。她強調她並不是懂了量子力學，只是量子世界中最表面易懂的知識已經足夠讓她沈迷，“量子世界比藝術有趣多了，它顛覆了你對世界理解，我想平庸的我能做的只是把我對其粗糙的感受到的融入到作品中去而已”藝術家如是說。
藝術家解說：
有一個問題一直纏繞著我，為什麽在自然中你找不到一根直線，全是曲折不平的。而人類社會處處都是直線，你居住的空間，你用的物件，建築、家具、繪畫，雕塑等一切人造物件大部分是直線條。但你卻不能在你的身體上，在你養的寵物身上，在你的花園裏的蘋果樹上找到任何一根直線，或是直線形式？現代物理學對此的解釋是，物質的基本單元是誇克，它雖然不能被直接觀測到，卻可以在強子中找到它。強子中最穩定的是質子和中子，它們是構成原子核的單元。原子核再由電子高速繞其運轉形成原子。這一切都是能量的振動、聚合與排列。“環繞”、“振動”、“糾纏”等物理反應就註定了不會產生任何直線條的粒子與能量，便不用說直線條的生物了。很簡單的一個例子，你把物體狠狠的往地上摔，破碎的物體最能表現常態，你不可能找到直線。如果我們遵循“環繞”、“振動”、“糾纏”去感受生活，是否會發展出更和諧的狀態？如果我們多多向外看，看看植物的生長，雲團的變化，水的形狀……曲線的無限性更值得探索。
我對於這個問題的執著最初是來源於我某一天坐在花園裏畫畫，一張A1純白的紙飄到了草地上，紙上的每一條邊都是如此的鋒利，像是把草割開了一個純白的長方形。本來那麽自然的草地，變得不那麽自然。此後我思想再也沒法守住，我開始對一切直線與曲線進行對比，我開始比劃各種空間，觀察能看到的各種生物，動物和植物包括人體。在簡單粗暴地探索了一番自然後，最終沒想到對這個問題的探索把我引入了物理世界-量子力學，在我淺嘗量子世界的奇妙後，我發現這是個無底洞，雖然我只是了解了極其表面的知識，確足以動搖我20多年的人生觀。隨後潛移默化的把它們融入到我的藝術創作中去，我對一切“環繞”、“振動”、“糾纏”的形態十分感興趣，像網狀，環繞狀，纏繞狀，有規律的節奏振動，模式內的重復性等等。這一切都成為了我創作的素材，我的動機更傾向於它們之間的對比。我喜歡用女性的腿作為我的作品媒介，主要是因為女性腿的美本身就是曲線美的代表，而腿和腳直接與地面接觸，而地面的暗示就是“平面”“靜止”，而腿腳卻是各種曲線和動態的暗示集合。
我想，我們雖然看到直線，但其實世間並不存在直線，也不存在任何直線的物質，來自人體身上的五感六覺迷惑和過濾了世間本來的實相。你會選擇相信你眼前的一切都是虛構的嗎，其實你可以但你不願意而已，因為我們都願意選擇舒適不願打破固有的狀態。
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Artist Information
Xiaoyu Chen, Female, Guangdong China, born in 1986.
Website
www. xiaoyuc.com/
Education
University of the Arts London September 2013 – July 2015 | MA inVisual Arts
Hunan University September 2010 – June 2013| MA in Environmental Art &Design
Selected Exhibitions
2015, ‘Unique-Artist-Link’,Clerkenwell Gallery-London
2015, MA Degree show, Camberwell College of arts-London
2014, The 4th Now Show+ING Exhibition, Central Saint Martins of Art and Design – London
2014, ‘Pomegranate’ interm Group exhibition, Brixton East Gallery – London
2013, Graduate exhibition, Hunan institute – Hunan (china)
2012, ‘Zou jin Lishui’ Group Exhibition,– Changsha (china)
2012, College students’ art biennale, Tour Exhibition, Guangdong (china)
2012, College students’ art biennale, Tour Exhibition, Hong Kong
2012, ‘Pingjiang watercolor’ Group Exhibition,– Changsha (china)
2011, The 1st female watercolor painters exhibition,Group Exhibition,– Hunan (china)
2011, ‘Wuyuan watercolor’ Group Exhibition, Meilu Gallery– Changsha (china)
藝術家基本資料：
陳曉玉（1986年，廣東，中國）
雙碩士，2013年至2015年研究生就讀於倫敦藝術大學坎伯維爾學院 Visual Arts 專業；
2011年至2013年研究生就讀於湖南大學環境藝術設計專業。
個人網站：
www.xiaoyuc.com
部分展覽
2015年，“Unique-Artist-Link”Clerkenwell Gallery-倫敦
2015年，MA degree Show，坎伯維爾藝術學院-倫敦
2014年，第四屆‘當下’展, 中央聖馬丁藝術學院 – 倫敦
2014年, ‘Pomegranate’期中展, Brixton East Gallery – 倫敦
2013年，“2013研究生畢業展”湖南大學建築學院，湖南長沙
2012年，“走入麗水——湖南省美術家寫生作品展覽”群展，湖南長沙
2012年，“廣東省大學生美術雙年展”群展，廣東廣州
2012年，“廣東省大學生美術雙年展”群展，香港
2012年，“湖南省畫家赴平江寫生作品展”群展，湖南長沙
2011年，“第一屆湖南女水彩畫家作品展”群展，湖南長沙
2010年，“湖南水彩畫家赴婺源寫生畫展”群展，湖南長沙
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Curator Information
Huijun Guan, Female, Shanghai China, Born in 1991
Education:
University of the Arts London September 2013 – July 2015 | MA in Fine Art Digital
Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts September 2010 – June 2013| BA in New Media Art Design
Experience
1. Producer, 2015 Shanghai Lumen Prize Exhibition at Jing Space, Shanghai, China, 11/2015
2. Associate Curator , 2014 3rd Lumen Prize Exhibition at Crypt Gallery, London, 05/2015
3. Curator , ‘Digital Meze’ Exhibition at Gitoon Gallery, Bethnal Green, London , 17/04/2015~23/04/2015
4. Associate Curator, 2013 2nd Lumen Prize Exhibition at Triangle Space in Chelsea College of Arts, London, 2014
Curator, New Media Art Design Graduation Show, 06/2013
策展人基本信息
管蕙珺（1991年，江蘇無錫，中國）
2013年至2015年研究生就讀於倫敦藝術大學坎伯維爾學院｜Fine Art Digital專業
2009年至2013年本科就讀於上海視覺藝術學院｜新媒體專業
相關策展經驗：
2015年第四屆全球數碼展覽Lumen Prize中國地區負責人，展覽地址：上海新晉界畫廊
第三屆數碼展覽Lumen Prize倫敦地區 策展助理， 展覽地址：倫敦Crypt Gallery，05/2015
‘Digital Meze’數碼藝術展覽 策展人，展覽地址：倫敦Gitoon Gallery, Bethnal Green,04/2015
第二屆數碼展覽Lumen Prize倫敦地區 策展助理， 展覽地址：倫敦切爾西藝術學院Triangle Space, 2014
