ZHANG DALI and SHEN SHAOMIN at Eli Klein, West Broadway, NY, until 21st Aug

Exhibition Description:

This is an important exhibition of contemporary Chinese art; Shen Shaomin's New York debut and the first exhibition of Zhang Dali's new series of paintings, Slogans.

Shaomin presents, Bonsai, living installations caged and sculpted in almost medical manipulation, meticulously outlined in text and diagrams in the accompanying book designed and written by the artist.

An extensive study of the art of bonsai has culminated in Shaomin's allegory for his culture's historical practices, for example foot-binding in the pursuit of beauty, which can also be representative of Western society's anatomical manipulations prevalent today.

"The abuse of the human body and plants are phenomena with Chinese characteristics - to twist and reshape nature to suit our personal taste, and to turn nature into our plaything," explains Shen Shaomin. More information to follow...

Description:

Image: Welcome to the Olympic Games, 2008
Acrylic on vinyl
78 3/4 x 70 7/8 inches (200 x 180 cm)

Shen Shaomin has exhibited extensively in Europe, Asia and Australia, including shows at Asian museums and a recent solo exhibition at The Today Art Museum in Beijing (2007).

Zhang Dali has exhibited internationally and has upcoming exhibitions at the new Saatchi Gallery and at the San Francisco MOMA.

Both artists explore the complex situation of contemporary China through innovative projects that offer dynamic perspectives not only about their country, but more broadly, on the human condition. Shen Shaomin and Zhang Dali are two of the most influential Chinese artists of their generation.

Following this subject of the human manipulation of nature, Shen Shaomin's project, Experimental Fields, explores ideas of religion, evolution and genetic engineering through creating fictitious creatures out of small animal bones that become a hybrid of plant and animal.

Shaomin describes how today, "Nature has become something artificial, technical, and sociological. Men are fabricating an artificial world of their own according to their personal interests."

These artists are close friends and although they diverge as artists in many respects, ultimately they are both trying to understand society through art.

Zhang Dali presents a recent series of paintings, Slogans, where he has used Chinese characters that spell out slogans taken from the government and advertisements, such as "Welcome to the Olympics" and "Support the Lead of the Communist Party." Viewed from afar, these letters merge into portraits of migrant workers resulting in images that reveal the union between the slogans inundating Chinese society and its citizens.

Zhang Dali's work is a progression from the graffiti he spray painted throughout Beijing in the nineties of bald, anonymous heads. The artist has created plaster sculptures of nude, vulnerable migrant workers that often hang upside down from the ceiling, and casted bronze sculptures that reflect a shamanistic outlook in their union of humans and animals.

Of significant interest are Zhang Dali's paintings on vinyl of portraits built up by the letters AK47, the Soviet machine gun used in the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Full Contact Details:

Eli Klein Fine Art
462 West Broadway
New York, NY 10012
T: (212) 255-4388
C: (917) 748-8153