The Whitworth announced today that Four Decades of Chinese Art will be the next major exhibition in their newly renovated exhibition spaces. The exhibition will be the first UK show curated from the renowned M+ Sigg Collection. It brings together 80 significant works by leading contemporary Chinese artists including Ai Weiwei, Cao Fei and Zhang Peili, to examine how art can question, challenge and stimulate.
Spanning forty years, it will explore questions concerning the conditions for artistic practice, freedom of expression and the freedom of art by taking visitors on a journey through the subversive practice of artists including the ‘No Name Group’, via events on Tiananmen Square in 1989 and ending with the incredibly vibrant art scene of today. Highlights include Family Tree (2000) by Zhang Huan, one of the most influential and provocative contemporary artists working today. This photographic work is the result of a single day’s performance where nine calligraphy painters took turns to write lyrics about the artist’s family history on his face. Weng Fen’s On the Wall series (2002) captures China in the throes of rapid urbanization in the early 2000s. Often featuring adolescents sat on a wall, these extraordinary photographs present the personal transition that mirrors China’s own economic, political and social change. The Whitworth will also exhibit Ai Weiwei’s installation, Still Life (1995-2000). This mass-display of thousands of Stone Age axe heads is an iconoclastic gesture made to offset the value and importance of the ancient object.
Other exhibition artists include: Cao Fei, Chi Xiaoning, Feng Guodong, Geng Jianyi, Hai Bo, Huang Rui, Huang Yong Ping, Kan Xuan, Liang Yuanwei, Lin Yilin, Liu Heung-Shing Liu Wei, Song Dong, Wang Guangyi, Wang Jin, Wang Keping, Weng Fen, Xing Danwen, Yang Fudong, Yangjiang Group, Yin Xiuzhen, Zhang Peili, Zhan Wang, Zhang Wei, Zhang Xiaogang and Zheng Guogu.
Dr. Maria Balshaw, Director of the Whitworth commented: The M+ Sigg Collection is drawn from Swiss collector Uli Sigg’s unique collection that arose out of his realisation that the experimental contemporary art practices emerging across China were going undocumented. It is now universally recognised as the largest, most comprehensive and important historical ‘document’ of the culturally dynamic period of Chinese history between the 1970s to present day. We are honored and delighted to be the only UK gallery to show these works.
不久前重新開幕的惠特沃斯美術館將於今年七月舉行一個意義重大的展覽《中國藝術四十年》，這是一次難能可貴的機會能夠縱觀中國當代藝術近40年的發展。香港著名M+博物館將從希克藏品中借出80件藏品來與惠特沃斯美術館協手合作，當下重量級的中國當代藝術家艾未未、曹斐和張培力等人的作品將一併呈現觀眾眼前，探討藝術如何提出質疑，如何進行挑戰，如何激發思考。
展覽將過去四十年定格於同一空間，參觀者將親身體驗那段特定時期的藝術實踐、言論自由和藝術自由，包括極具顛覆意義的藝術實踐群體“無名畫會”；由於1989年天安門廣場事件而形成的當今藝術景象。展出作品中包括了張洹的作品《家譜（2000）》，他是中國最具影響力的當代藝術家之一，該攝影作品是在一天之內由九位書法家與張洹表演的成品，這九位書法畫家依次在張洹臉上書寫他整個家族族譜。《墻頭》系列是藝術家翁奮於2002年的創作，捕捉了21世紀初中國高速城市化背後的隱痛。他時常以坐在墻頭的青少年為對象，出色的圖像語言描繪了個人的轉變，同時這也是中國經濟、政治和社會變革的真實寫照。《靜物（1995-2000年）》是艾未未的裝置作品，他大規模展示了上千件石器時代的斧頭，以反傳統的姿態抵消古物的價值和重要性。
其他藝術家有：曹斐、池小寧、馮國棟、耿建翌、海波、黃銳、黃永砯、闞萱、梁遠葦、林壹林、劉香盛、劉韡、宋冬、王廣義、王進、王克平、翁奮、邢丹文、楊福東、陽江組、尹秀珍、張培力、展望、張偉、張曉剛和鄭國谷。
館長瑪麗亞·巴爾沙博士評價：“M+希克藏品是來自瑞士收藏家烏利·希克的私人收藏，中國實驗性當代藝術實踐無人記載，他的舉措正好填補了文獻的空白。希克館被公認為是迄今為止規模最大、最全面、最重要的“文件”，記錄了1970年至今中國歷史上文化的動向。能和M+博物館聯袂打造這次英國首展，我們深感榮幸。”
Tips 小貼士
展覽場地：Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
展覽時間：01.07.2015 – 20.09.2015
更多信息：www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk
Edited & Translated by Qiwen Ke
編輯 x 翻譯：柯淇雯
