zhang huan studio--shanghai

i couldn't take pics inside the studio, but i got some shots of the surrounding industrial park.

zhang huan studio--shanghai

i generally don't go for the celebrity pic, but this guy is an art star and a swell fella, to boot.  

zhang huan studio--shanghai

he is also executing large scale "paintings", which are also made of incense ash.  apparently, he collects ash from temples across china.  he then has his assistants sort the ash by tone, texture and colour.  then the ash is dropped onto the surface of the canvas to produce surprisingly precise images.  again, the stability of the surface is a mystery.  there must be some sort of binder, but the surface still looks delicate and light.

zhang huan studio--shanghai

zhang huan was also working on several buddha sculptures.  the large hand is mad of copper and/or bronze.  the figures are made of compressed incense ash collected from the buddhist temples.  clearly, this is a very tricky material to utilize.  one might assume that he would use some sort of binder, like resin, to hold the ash together.  however, the surface seems to be much too delicate and soft for that to be the case.  the end result is quite impressive.

zhang huan studio--shanghai

i saw a version of these sculptures at a pace wildenstein show in chelsea about 2 years ago.  they are called "giants" and are large-scale bio-morphic figures that are covered in full cow pelts (hooves and all) that are attached to the forms via large, visible staples.  if memory serves, the images that show the high, trussed ceilings must have been shot in his studio at some point.  there were two more of these "giants" completed in his studio space.

zhang huan studio--shanghai

we were fortunate enough to be invited to visit the main production studio of zhang huan, one of the most famous artists in china.  he came to international prominence as a performance artist in the 90's (including the performance of him walking through new york in a suit made of cuts of meat pictured here).  more recently he has been working in large scale sculpture and painting.  while zhang huan was very friendly and accommodating, he requested that we not take photographs in his studio.  however, i did find several images online that depict the projects (or at least the types of projects) that we was executing in his studio with a society of assistants.  

shanghai

this image was on a sign in the m50 art district.  not sure if it was related to an art exhibition or gallery, but it caught my eye.  check out the nuggets on that dead donkey.  damn!  now that's good eatin'!

shanghai

while the government is very strict about topics of sexuality and pornography, i was happy to see that not all of the sex toys produced in china are for export only...  if you zoom in, you can clearly see pink phalluses and nipple clips from the street--neat!

island 6 arts center--shanghai

i was diggin' on this sofa at island 6.

island 6 arts center--shanghai

this may have been my favourite piece of art that i saw in all of china.  the expression on the dogs face is priceless.

shine art space--shanghai

there is an art district in shanghai called the m50.  our first stop was the shine art space where we saw a series of large scale paintings and installations by zhong biao.  andrew wong was a good sport and  mirrored the seemingly ubiquitous outstretched arm pose of the camera phone generation--what a card.

massage time--shanghai

we got into shanghai late night but andrew wong and i decided to head out to a massage parlour anyway.  while i'm sure there are plenty of happy ending spots in shanghai, we went to one of the nicer, legit, spas in the city.  it was a different from any massage experience i have ever had.  the attendants lead us down a candle lit hallway to a private room.  they proceed to give us a change of clothes consisting of lightweight, pyjama type pants and buttoned shirt.  then they take our food and drink order.  i think i had some soup and tea.  after a relaxed snack, two men came in to inflict rigorous, dry massage on us.  i'm pretty sure it was the most intense massage i have ever received.  final bill...less than $20 US. 

cao chang di--beijing

i was nearly as impressed by the roof structure as i was by the art work at boers li gallery.

cao chang di--beijing

this is the boers li gallery.  the space was immense and seemed like it could have been an airplane hangar at one point.  the artist is song kun, from inner mongolia.  her work consisted of very simple graphite drawings, cut-outs and small objects on paper.  the frames reminded me of mathew barney's self-lubricating plastic frames.  overall, a mixed bag.  some pieces were impressive and others disappointing.  

cao chang di--beijing

another of the hologram sculptures.  obviously, this is a chinese honky rooster.

cao chang di--beijing

 

at pekin fine arts.  these hologram boxes were done by a japanese artist named kohei nawa.  the effect doesn't translate incredibly well to video, but in person these images seemed to pop open out of their lucite boxes with a hyperreal dimensionality.  this is a hologram sculpture of a spotted panther

cao chang di--beijing

not sure of the gallery or artist, but i enjoyed looking at this piece.  so simple, yet so intriguing.  just cascading plumes of smoke mirrored along a central axis, no sound.  the piece was projected on a 12 foot tall wall.  i watched it for a while...until i felt the vertigo.

cao chang di--beiing

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another great gallery in cao chang di was pekin fine arts.  they had several large halls dedicated to large scale video projections and installations.  while 798 had the soul of the old front and present, cao chang di had more of a slicked out chelsea vibe.  impressive spaces not trying to hide their white box aspirations.  this video installation was interesting.  the calm music juxtaposed with the classroom propaganda atmosphere.  i don't know what the text said, but the irony still registered

cao chang di--beijing

another video installation an han ji yun.  gotta love the dog spouting/spitting truisms on the nature of humanity and god.  this installation had several (about 8) projections on the walls in one room.  each projector showed the dog "writing" the same text in different languages and alphabets.  not only is the pup eloquent, but also multi-lingual

cao chang di--beijing

this video was on display at han ji yun gallery, which is a south korean based gallery.  don't recall the artists name unfortunately.