Activism and the Intervention of the Media

The New Coordinate of the Chinese Youth


This name comes from the phenomena since year 2000 in China, one of its origin is to inherit the exploration of the experiments in the art phenomena from the 1980s, another is the matureness of the web media and the exploration of public in the art phenomena in the 1970s. Both of the clues build a coordinate of a new dimension in the time and phenomena, and the facts in coincidence also prove the orbital node in the reality.

This is a short essay for the publication of the Qingying Gallery (清影画廊). I hope my and choice is right. All of these phenomena emerged in the clues of two main characters. One is Zhang Peili (张培力), the other is Yang Fudong (杨福东). Zhang's series of new media gave birth to the Double Wings Group (双飞小组). Yang introduced Cheng Ran (程然) and Ye Linghan (叶凌瀚) to me. And it was two years ago. These people and their clues have emerged and shown some dynamics and inclinations in the culture. I am pretty puzzled, but I have tried my best to support this kind of actions in this status of Present Progressive Tense at the same time.

The oeuvres of Chen Dongfan (陈栋帆) makes me discover the possibilities of publicity in the art, how to deal the relationships of perspective in the images and the status between the commercial decorations and the Self in the art. It is same condition of Takashi Murakami (村上 隆), which has been transforming inside of Chen. It also predisposes the matureness of a system and mechanism, reflecting in the political, citizens and media in the public environment, the maturing social background and their aesthetic requirement, which will satisfy and complete the possibilities of Chen. The huge oeuvres stand in the exterior walls of buildings in streets of Hangzhou City (杭州), unlike the statement of "Stalking in the Mist and Fog" (在迷雾中潜行) in the circle of artists, they represent the wills and wishes of the artist, definitely and naturally. It is crystal clear that they express and show the pursuit of "Beauty", which may be a little different from the exploration of ideology in the contemporary art sceneries at the same moment. They try to explore the possibilities in the public space and the reformation of urbanization but not in the possibilities in the trace of the art.

The oeuvre of Cheng Ran is difficult to understand. With a kind of personal spleen and melancholy, the introspection of the conflicts and reality, or even some kind of Punk-like sensibility, they tell the stories beyond the boundaries in the naughty and naive style. In his "Midnight Art Gallery" (午夜美术馆), the smoke and the little cottage, the blurred figures, the characters, the music and the revolving lights, the dog beneath and its shimmering eyes, all of them make the definiteness of the composition disappear. It's a scene with something happening, a predisposed story and metaphor.

All of their compositions should be a commence of cultural reform in a lager scope, the artists start to think about the public intervention and expression of the intuition via the mural paintings in the public space or the system and mechanism of the art galleries and museums.

Certainly, I will support and help the emergence of these changes. This is the job of curators to have the ability to discover the new trends, to support the new trends and make them merge into the international context and platform. I believe that we do not exist solely in the unique and special area and we as human being are bound together in the globe. Besides all of the Chinese clues in the 1970s and 1980s, I deeply hope that their oeuvres will synchronize with the development of the world and bring a new life to themselves naturally.

Thank Lady Xu Yiying (徐益英) and artists for their contribution to the project.




Li Zhenhua (李振华)

2011, May 21th
Amsterdam, Netherlands


Vocation
Qingying Gallery is an ideal space for the Dreams. With the gallery, the excellent young
artists will explore and practise to realise their imagination of the Art in the action. Under
current conditions of progressing development, they will let the Art itself grows up
naturally as it wishes.
The Exploration in the Past Three Years
Since it was founded in 2008, the Gallery has been focusing on the creation of the
young artists and supporting them to build the platform for presentation, helping them to
realise their pure composition. In the effort of the past three years, the creation of the
young artists had the great interaction with the public, making their compositions get
together with the daily life in the city naturally.
The Future
The Qingying Gallery will listen the voice of the souls and follow the direction of the
hearts. It will explore and practise on the route of the Art endlessly, realising the
imagination of Art and Life with the young artists.

————————Inna（徐益英女士）

Qingying Gallery focus on the young artists. It starts its route from the status and
development of the artists themselves, helping and supporting the artistic
creation of the them. It covers the areas of paintings, installation, video and
music. The gallery wants to select the artists facing the chinese society and their
own problems sincerely. In this exhibition, Qingying Impression Gallery has
brought three artists. Their compositions use different methods to narrate the
stories. And this exhibition is the début of their art-works in Switzerland.
Chen Dongfen's (陳棟帆) composition are full of splendid colours and rich
emotions. As a young creator, he is inspired by the life, using his brushes to
create the stories. After finishing the exterior wall paintings of two six-floor
buildings, he gave great shock to the city, earning praises from the inhabitants
and the media.
Fang Wei (方偉) utilizes the digital images and painting as his way for creation.
He is a teacher of an art university, too. He has been thinking about the
relationship between the city life and the inner self. In his oeuvres, we can
discover the influence of the traditional æsthetics, that the literate and poetic
symbols are used in the composition, with his own reflection and introspection of
the modernization of the cities in China.
Cheng Rang's (程然) compositions refer to the video, photography and
installation. The passionate love of film influences his creation. The elements of
the film are used in the forms of the experimental art. He wants to represent the
thinking of inner self, the spiritual world, the liberty and fantasies of the young
men from the point of view of the experimental art,