In addition to the exhibiting the works of Huang Rui, Shi Guorui, Wang Keping, Simon Birch and anothermountainman Stanley Wong on stand C11, three exceptional artists represented by 10 Chancery Lane Gallery have been hand picked by 12 curators for the Best of Discovery section of this year’s shContemporary Art Fair. They are Arlo Mountford, Sopheap Pich and Nguyen Thai Tuan.
BEST OF DISCOVERY
Nguyen Thai Tuan – Vietnamese painter Nguyen Thai Tuan’s series of ‘Black Paintings’ are portraits marked by the absence of the face. The body clothed, and the face painted in black and shrouded, emphasizes the dependency of how the viewer identifies a person through a portrait. These ‘lost’ faces question how much one assumes and identifies humanity on the basis of cultural stereotypes and other external references. The artist confronts our assumptions and as the paintings remain true to the human form and spirit.
Arlo Mountford – Australian artist Arlo Mountford will be exhibiting a video installation. His recent work has included animated characters re-interpreting moments from art history. His humorous approach explores the relationship between contemporary art practice and the past as it is generally perceived. This year he was guest lecturer and artist in residence at the Frank Mohr Institute, Groningen, the Netherlands.
Sopheap Pich – is Cambodia’s most prominent artist, returned to Cambodia after several years in the United States. Working with bamboo, rattan and wire, the simple materials of his childhood, Sopheap Pich’s sculptures transgress the ancient and the modern, the natural and the artificial to find their place in the environment. Revisiting memories of his early life in Cambodia and coming to terms with returning to his homeland the artist speaks in his own words of “trying to negotiate my place within this ancient culture. A culture that is in itself struggling to negotiate its own place in the modern world.” His work finds that place.
BEST OF GALLERIES
Booth C-11
FROM CHINA
Huang Rui - a Beijing artist who has been both famous and active in the Chinese Contemporary art scene for the last three decades. He is one of the leaders of the famous “STARS MOVEMENT” (XING XING 星星) where in 1979, protestors demanding artistic freedom opened the doors for the entire contemporary art emergence that is exploding in China today. He is also the backbone of Beijing’s FACTORY 798 art’s district where galleries, studios and performances vibrate into a rich cultural exchange that is being talked about worldwide. His body of work results from a rigorous intellectual focus as befits one of the most challenging artists of China, who has never stopped claiming his independence from any kind of system, be it artistic or political.
OUTDOOR PROJECTS – O16
shContemporary is building on its reputation for having important Outdoor Projects and to this end, Huang Rui will show a large work based on the Sichuan Earthquake survivors that the public needs to pass through and interact with.
Shi Guorui - a Beijing based artist who takes large-scale iconic photographs with a technique called camera obscura, using a pinhole camera. His photographs of cities or landscapes are void of distraction and having a unique identity, the image invites the viewer to appreciate the distinctive differences of each location and the mindset from which they were built. Shi Guorui’s works are collected by the Centre Georges Pompidou Museum, the Denver Museum, the MOCA Los Angeles, and the De Young Museum amongst others.
Wang Keping – one of the founders of the Chinese contemporary art movement of 1979/1980, “STARS EXHIBITION” (XING XING 星星) He is known for his sensual female figures that attract touch. His dark wood sculptures follow figurative forms with such simplicity that the grain of wood often traces the line of each curve. China’s most internationally famed wood sculptor, Wang Keping bears his own recognizable style of shape and form. The launch of the book, WANG KEPING, a 300-page monograph including the memoirs of the STARS EXHIBITION will be launched at the ShContemporary art fair.
FROM HONG KONG
Simon Birch – dynamic paintings by winner of the 2007 Louis Vuitton Asian Art prize. Simon Birch, is known for his portraits that play on the idea of identity and use bold techniques and strong imagery to reveal the raw humanity of his subjects.
anothermountainman (Stanley Wong Ping-Pui) is better known to the art world as anothermountainman to separate his artist endeavours from his distinguished career in commercial art and as an advertising director. His photographs from the acclaimed LanWei series, (Lanwei meaning ‘abortive buildings’) explore what remains after negative economic impacts have wrecked havoc on people and their surroundings.
