Cast: Huang Yongping & Shen Yuan, Wang Gongxin & Lin Tianmiao, Song Dong & Yin Xiuzhen, Wu Shanzhuan & Inga S. Thorsdottir, Michael Lin & Heidi Voet, Wang Wei & Rania Ho, Qiu Xiaofei & Hu Xiaoyuan, Quyang Chun & Yang Fan, Colin Chinnery & Liang Wei, Zhuang Hui & Dan Er

The Couple Show! Is a group show of the Chinese contemporary art world's "Royal Couples". The aim of the exhibition is to probe the many levels of man/woman relationships through artworks by artists whose significant other is also an artist. Sometimes these artist couples are collaborating teams while other times the artists maintain independent practices. Through collaborative works or the pairing of two artworks themes such as love, domesticity, sex, parenting, co-habitation, partnering, and power will all be reflected upon. While some of the work may not talk directly about these issues, the juxtaposition of artworks and the ensuing dialog will expose the dynamics of the personal relationship at hand as well as illuminate the intricacies of being a couple in general.


The best part of me is you

From the beginning of time men and women have loved, fought, worked and died together. Among these men and women were artists. When it comes to relationships however artists have a certain handicap, namely their inherently egotistical artistic pursuit. Art is generally thought to be an expression of one's own individuality. Note one is the imperative word here, not two. Furthermore an artist isn't like any other profession that has holidays and weekends off. In the words of Jean Claude, "artists don't retire, they die". Art follows artists home for dinner and gets into bed with them. In any relationship there's an intricate game of role-playing between partners- sometimes you lead, sometimes you support. In relationships with artists these roles are often further confounded by a third wheel- the artis's work. So how does an artist deal with a relationship with another artist? Is there room for two artists (and both of their work) in a relationship?

In the West, modern art history is peppered with artists whose relationships to other artists have helped keepthe art history books lively. The late Hanna Wilke would often ruminate about the 1960's scandals of minimalists like Carl Andre and her ex-husband Claus Oldenberg. Other star art couples include Anne and Josef Albers, Nam June Paik and Shegko Kabota and Brice and Helen Marden. Then there are the great same-sex couples of John Cage and Merce Cunningham, Pierre et Gilles, and Gilbert and George whose exhibition at the National Gallery of Fine Arts in the late 80s was inspiration to a score of young Chinese performance artists. Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner's legacy has been memorialized in Hollywood films, magazines, books, and even in a foundation for emerging artists. And then of course there's Jean Claude and Christo who managed to not only to raise a son together but also wrap New York City's entire Central Park in bright orange fabric to become one of the most vibrant and memorable public art works to date.

Today the Chinese contemporary art world is also full of artist couples. Some of these couples work in collaboration with one another while others maintain independent practices. Each of these couples share the same artworld pressures, challenges, benefits and contacts. At the same time they face the challenges and benefits of living together, raising children together, and loving one another. This exhibition aims to profile some of the Chinese contemporary art world's 'Royal Couples'. These are artists who have reached the pinnacle of contemporary art by being exhibited and collected by the most prestigious intuitions worldwide. While the list of artist couples presented here is certainly not exhaustive, it presents an occasion to reflect upon the tenuous division between business and pleasure in the arts of today.

Through collaborative works or the pairing of two artworks certain clues to the dynamics of the artist couple will emerge. Themes such as love, domesticity, sex, parenting, co-habitation, competition, partnering, and power will all be reflected upon. While some of the work may not talk directly about these issues, the juxtaposition of artworks and the ensuing dialog will help to expose the intricacies of these artists' relationships and relationships in general.

The origin of men and women's vast differences is spelt out in the Old Testament's book of Genesis'. Wu Shanzhuan and Inga S. Thorsdottir reflect upon this Biblical creation myth in "Paradise", their own updated version of "Adam and Eve", which takes place not in the Garden of Eden but in the produce section of a supermarket. While viewing the diametrically opposed painting styles of Ou Yang Chun and his wife Yang Fan we might be reminded of the cliché that 'opposites attract'. Zhuang Hui and Dan'er's collaborative found-photography works reflect upon the contemporary condition of 'love' as a commercially hijacked emotion and sex as a medical issue. In the pairing of Wang Wei's ghostly furniture sculptures with Rania Ho's brazen DIY fountain a surreal domestic fantasy emerges.

This exhibition also features three artist duos that normally pursue their own independent and successful careers, in a rare collaborative occasion. The artist's Yin Xiuzhen and Song Dong explore the idea of collaboration itself by devising their own ideological framework for working together based on China's most famous 'couple' "the chopstick". Huang Yongping and Shen Yuan, the parents to Chinese Dada, and a teenage girl, present a dialogue between a pair of simple wooden chairs, each modified with alchemic and medicinal materials. Another well-known artist couple, Lin Tianmiao and Wang Gongxin present work from "Here? or There?", their only collaborative series which originally debuted at the 2002 Shanghai Biennial.These dramatic photos combine both Lin's unique sculptural garments and Wang's penchant for documentary with their shared concern for the quickly changing urban environment in which they grew up and now live.

Besides Wu Shanzhuan and Inga S. Thorsdottir there are other 'mixed couples' in the exhibition. Taiwan born, Michael Lin and Belgian born, Heidi Voet share two sides of a plaster brick wall. While the plaster blocks are Voet's signature material, the wall becomes a metaphor for the couple's relationship with both artists work relying on it for support. Liang Wei and Colin Chinnery, originate from two different continents, use different mediums in their work, but share similar themes and aesthetic sensibility. Both their works are imbued with tones of black and white, a sense of political wit and razor-sharp logic.

The couple as an independent entity becomes manifest in the work of our youngest couple. A shared private room in the gallery becomes a metaphor for Qiu Xiaofei and Hu Xiaoyuan's own little world, away from the reality of the everyday. Here they meditate on their vastly different sleeping patterns. While Qiu is plagued by obscure dreams Hu is insomniac. No matter how close their relationship is by day, the separate worlds that
they occupy at night testify that they are ultimately independent spirits.

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