Vivien Zhang + Matt Hansel, Antwan Horfee, Sarah & Charles, Sergio De Beukelaer, Vaast Colson 'Echo Chamber': PLUS-ONE GALLERY, (NEW SOUTH)
The title of this group show is self-reflexive. An echo chamber is a metaphorical description of a situation in which beliefs are amplified or reinforced by communication and repetition inside a closed system. The exhibition, by bringing together works by Zhang and five other artists, explores this phenomenon and other symptoms of our information age through a network of artworks in different mediums. The exhibition is also accompanied by a manifesto by Zhang which discusses the many paradoxes of our digital age.
Paintings, videos and sculptural works come together in this shared space to examine the notion of contemporary phenomena. They seduce and entertain while teasing the audience with the difficulties of our everyday reality. The works unravel in front of us the flaws, vices, as well as allure of technology. For example, Sergio De Beukelaer uses characteristics of post-modernistic art from the 1960s and 1970s, such as abstraction, geometry , monochrome, and the “hard edge” technique. But he does so with an irony and playfulness that cannot be reconciled with the attitude of minimalists and fundamental painters. Antwan Horfee shows us works with intense dynamics and a color palette that are symptomatic of a time when the flow of (digital) images is extensive and fast. Matt Hansel layers imagery from classical painting with warped cartoons and trompe l'oeil figures, the work plays with visual absurdity and challenges perspective. Vaast Colson casted a potato and a watch in bronze and transformed it into one last revolting act between the artist and an institution. His artworks are essentially ludic models of social spaces. And Sarah & Charles draw inspiration from the world of entertainment and more specifically, its invisible structures.
Having lived across several continents, Zhang’s work is heavily influenced by her experiences and holds ground between different spaces. She repeatedly translates various cultural phenomena into painterly symbols and motifs which aggregate in the space of her paintings, often superimposed like browser windows on a screen. Her paintings are digitally inclined battles of contemporary culture – between mass production and craftmanship, the digital and the gestural, the virtual and the actual. In this sense, the manifesto is an extension of her paintings and declares the position that the artwork today is a site for assemblage, meaning that the artwork is the sum of multiple influences and references (both from history and contemporary culture). Written in an ironic and self-contradictory tone, it pinpoints to the current condition of artistic practices and changes in our belief systems as a result of the accelerating information age. The manifesto is an updated version of its first appearance at Zhang’s solo show last year at Long March Space, Beijing.
Contact us to receive the manifesto by Vivien Zhang by clicking here.
