Construction Time Again by Emma Fordham

 

In Utopia Nowhere: Views of Progress and Nostalgia, an art exhibition at Art + Shanghai, 12 Chinese and foreign artists present their views on China, its current state, its past and its future direction. If this sounds ambitious, it is. Still, this wide remit frees the artists, giving them the opportunity to express themselves around a number of topics. "The exhibition aims to illustrate how such concepts relate to one another in the context of culture and society, at both global and local levels," said Ana Gonzalez, co-owner of the gallery.

 

Dark matter

Darkness is pervasive throughout the exhibition. Li Wenfeng's Cultural Imprint and Orchid Pavilion, for example, put forward a dark, sorrowful world in which symbolism is lost and modern complexity causes deep melancholy. Maya Kramer's Toxic is the New Romantic features a skull and crossbones and the words "Love Canal," a one-time utopian society near Niagara Falls, New York that grew into a deadly environmental nightmare.

 

Other works are almost entirely black, such as Luca Forcucci's A Serendipitous Summer, an image of the soundwaves emitted by an audio guide available for listening at the exhibition, and Shi Zhiying's book covers. And even works where light makes up much of the work - as in a painting by the They Group and work by Tony Ng - the light is nearly blinding and thus makes dark figures even starker by contrast.

 

The They Group is the artistic team of Lai Shengyu and Yang Xiaogang, also in Chinese known as "Tamen," who worked together on the exhibition's Snow. This painting is of two distant fishermen, one on a tiny island and the other on the shore. It gives the viewer a feeling of isolation and loneliness, although the painting is flush with bright colors.

 

The painting, a view of fishermen with their bent poles hovering over still waters, mild snow falling around them, seems instantly traditional. It isn't until one looks closer, however, and sees modern touches, including a parked car, that the viewer realizes the painting takes place in the present, and the fishermen are returning to a "post-traumatic scenario" in the face of modern isolation.

 

"Are we not ephemeral individuals, each struggling to find our own direction," added Gonzalez. "Whether positive or negative, we are compelled to create meaning through a narrative, one that encompasses all of humanity."

 

But even in art neither dominated by light nor dark, there is some feeling of loss and regret, as in Kramer's Model City, a cynical honoring of the man behind the aforementioned failed "Love Canal" utopian community. This feeling also exists in Wang Chuan's Refocus: Dragon. The photos show cheaply-made items that bear the images of dragons, a traditionally revered mythical beast. Throughout history, dragons have been important cultural symbols in China, but they have lost their worth in recent times due to mass production. Dragon imagery has become too common to be meaningful. By showing rows and rows of dragons, or a dragon-adorned bench discarded on a beach, Wang makes clear his opinion: the dragon, as with many Chinese icons, has diminished.

 

Mora Wang and Emma Fordham's Bright Light, Big City continues this pessimistic view of Shanghai's development, with their collaborative sculpture depicting Shanghai as a mess of buildings, thoughtlessly assembled. The city has grown with only development in mind, ignoring culture and the environment.

 

Comic pieces

These interesting and provocative works are heavy and thoughtfully considered, if largely negative. But they are redeemed by the exhibition's greatest comic pieces, Zhang Lehua's Tiger Dissemination series.

Here, the artist mocks posters that taught young people how to relate to foreign visitors. Messages contain wisdom such as "Don't be persuaded by the other side of the wall, our side will always be more pure and prosperous."

 

Another topic explored at the exhibition is one that is extremely personal to the people at  

Art + Shanghai: the eventual relocation of their gallery. Italian Francesca Galeazzi, a Shanghai-based artist and architectural engineer, presented a collection of models and pictures of possible new homes for Art + Shanghai. Galeazzi's collection show the gallery as it could be, in each case a luxurious structure with more floors and wall space.

 

Date: Until November 20, 10 am to 6 pm (closed on Mondays)

Venue: Art + Shanghai

Address: House No.2, 22 Fumin road  富民路22号2幢楼

Admission: Free

Call 6248-4388 for details