THIS LEFT ME PERPLEX


After the Bosch visit, we all returned to Paris and after the pouring rain were happy to discover something like sun was on the agenda. Unfortunately, the day we chose to visit the Louis Vuitton centre in Boulogne, the sun had disappeared. A shame as the building is so dramatic that sun helps us to admire the extraordinary view of Paris. With the exception of one visit, I have always been treated to grey and angry clouds.




The exhibition was

  • « Chinese artists in a time of turbulence and transformation »
This is the first exhibition of Chinese contemporary art in France in ten years.

The basement galleries were a very curious affair. Young Chinese artists. l only recognized one name Hao Liang. When I visited the art centre in Beijing it is quite probable that l saw the work of many of these artists but it was only and is only, even today, those who have been exposed to a European culture that seem to attract my attention. Perhaps that is a derogative remark but after all the exposure that l have had to Asian art, l still find it difficult to assimilate it in mass. This exhibition was well set out and in most of the galleries there was space. However, the work is so big that often l felt crushed.

  • We started off in the Galleries 1, 2 and 3 – Basement

It was called Bentu: The native soil. In contemporary Chinese art, the term "bentu" does not connote nationalism. Rather, it represents a dialectical concept that aims to reconcile the “local” and the “global” in a universalist and critical rediscovery of identity. The notion of Bentu is  central to the research of artists, critics and academics in China today.

This section brings together 12 artists of different generations
The artists establish links and contrasts between a wide variety of techniques and media, drawn from both local tradition and culture and cutting-edge technologies, to reveal the complexities of a society in a permanent state of change. There seemed to be many recurring themes but the size of the work was overwhelming. Take this for instance…..

XU ZHEN - "New", 2014
 The contrast of colour to the usual pious white, is somehat kitsch for me but maybe for the artist it's his way of showing something pure? I really don't know.


Going upstairs, I recognized the Tree by Ai Weiwei,

AI WEI WEI, "Trees" - 2010




ZHANG HUAN - "Long Island Buddha" 2010-2011


and  works by Huang Yong Ping and Zhang Huan's Buddha's head. But that is about all. These artists though l knew a little of their work but even so - it’s so big.



A dazzling Bodhisattva and The Winged Victory of Samothrace.  Xu Zhen transforms Guanyin, one of the most venerated goddesses of the Chinese Buddhist pantheon, into a very large and strikingly colourful pop figure. It needed a gallery to itself….not to be crushed by other huge installations….




XU ZHEN "Winged Victory of Samothrace" 2013


In the same setting, another tree. This time by Huang Yong Ping. "The 50 arms of Bouddha" 1997-2013. I would think that a little of Marcel Duchamp's "Porte-Bouteilles" had inspired this...
Huang Yong Ping - 1997-2013

Huang Yong Ping - 1997-2013
I first discovered Huang Yong Ping's work in the exhibition "Magiciens de la Terre" in Paris. I looked up in some catalogue and discovered again that he often used stuffed animals in his work. "L'Arc de Saint Gilles" I read is based on the legend of Saint Gilles, a 7th century hermit living among wild animals in the south of France who saved a doe from an arrow.....

Huang Yong Ping, 2015

Huang Yong Ping, 2015


There were videos to see and undoubtedly they were not uninteresting. I find that more and more young artists are experimenting with video techniques today. Maybe l’m not with it but with the exception of « The Fishpond » and a few artists such as Viola, l am a little at a loss with this artistic technique.

This piece though, I did like very much. It was startling to come into but it had the gallery to itself so could be admired alone. Yes, this l did like and even more so when l saw it on the computer at home.

XU ZHEN - "Eternity - The Soldier of Marathon Announcing Victory, A wounded Galatian 2014
Zhang Huan, 2006





"Sudden Awakeing" 2006 by Zhang Huan looks very peaceful don't you think..?


This huge painting was strange to see a little way off but when you were close it was easy to understand the statements. It is Qui Zhijie's work.




From HUAXIA to China, 2015

From HUAXIA to China, 2015









 In actual fact when the painting is looked at closely I can understand that the texts in English and of course Chinese reflect cultural changes that have occured in China.





Coming back down stairs, it was a relief to rediscover the mirrors and the effect they have.



Sharing mirors

 I’m still ruminating about the exhibition. I know that Laurent and Jerome were not impressed. Neither perhaps was l but then discovering Chinese art for me is discovering an artist alone as l have done with  Ai Weiwei- Huang Yong Ping - Zhang Huan- Yan Pei-Ming- Xu Zhen. Would I recognize their work? A couple of them yes but this overwhelming presentation left me perplex















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