Arthub Favorite: Week 93
Xu Bing at BANK in Art Basel HK 2018
Duration: 2018.March 28-31
Venue: Booth No. 3D25, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Center, 1 Harbour Road Wan Chai, Hong Kong, China
About the Exhibition
BANK will present Xu Bing’s project Shattered Jade for Insights at Art Basel Hong Kong. Xu Bing is one of the most internationally recognized artists working in China today. His Shattered Jade series consists of 124 pocketsize wood engraving prints made between 1978-1983, a time when China’s Cultural Revolution transitioned to a period of reform and opening up. This series, with its focus on rural life, marks the beginning of Xu’s remarkable career as well as the start of his artistic influence in China and abroad. He notes “These small wood prints were the starting point of my whole practice… when I tried to represent the world devotedly for the very first time.”
The works embody Xu’s early style, marked by a Socialist art education and the general atmosphere of the day, where artists were encouraged to immerse themselves in the local conditions of the provinces and lives of its people. It is an experience reminiscent of Xu’s high school days when he was “sent down” to the countryside for “re-education”. The style employed in these works set the foundation for Xu Bing’s future development including his iconic Book of the Sky work. In Shattered Jade we see the artist’s interest in printmaking as political vehicle – an artwork to be multiplied and distributed like a newspaper. We also see the artist working a series in concert, where multiple individual panels, when combined, tells an entire story. In Xu’s careful lines he articulates a profound admiration and reverence for his rural subjects. This unpretentious and anti-elitist quality continues through to Xu’s work of today.
BANK’s presentation at Art Basel HK commemorates the Shattered Jade series, exhibiting it as a comprehensive whole alongside the original plates, preliminary sketches, photographs, and artifacts related to the project for the very first time.
About Xu Bing
Xu Bing’s work has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions including at the LACMA, LA; Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, DC; the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and at UCCA, Beijing this coming July. Xu was the recipient of the US Department of State-Medal of Arts honor, MacArthur Genius fellowship and many other prestigious awards. His work is in the collections of major museums worldwide including MoMA, Guggenheim, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and many others.