Tang Contemporary Art is proud to present “White”, an exhibition of artists Chen Yufan and Chen Yujun, curated by Cui Cancan, at its Hong Kong gallery. The four works presented in this exhibition, Temporary Home No. 14150522, Daily Behavior Nos. 1-15, Derivative - White and Borrowed Land 9.72 Square Meters, use a wide array of materials including acrylic, wood, wool carpets and light boxes, to create a varied sensory experience, while also utilizing negative space and simplified forms to produce a tranquil, contemplative space.
Shanghai-based brothers Chen Yufan and Chen Yujun create both as individuals and as a team. Their work explores individual life, geography, space and time - often marked by a particular set of characteristics.
In this exhibition, the two artists continue in their minimalist approach, employing white and the constrained use of other colors to reserved, temperate effect. The minimal appearance of these images draw the viewer’s focus toward the spiritual expression of the artworks, while their refined form evokes profound visual imagination regarding “themes of identity and nostalgia, blankness and memory” (Cui Cancan).
CURATOR
Cui Cancan is an active Chinese independent curator. He was the winner of the CCAA (Chinese Contemporary Art Award) Critics’ Award, Critics’ Award in Chinese contemporary art by YISHU (Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art), the annual award by L’OFFICIEL Art and so on. He was also appointed special observer for the 13th Kassel Documenta. As a curator, Cui contributed to the success of major exhibitions including Heiqiao Night Away (2013), FUCKOFF II (2013), Unlived by What is Seen (2014), Ai Weiwei solo exhibition (2015), etc.
The gallery looks forward to presenting these works in their Hong Kong space, and to engaging the city with new forms of dialogue.
Cui Cancan | White
Over a decade later, as people looked back on July 1, 1997, perhaps they remembered the heavy rains, or some other small detail, but they would have had trouble describing exactly how they felt. It was all so empty. There was no sense of that great shifting tide you would imagine, nor that solemn feel of bearing witness to a great moment in history.
Memories can be submerged, but they never disappear entirely. They sink deep in our nostalgia, flowing in our veins until they become our gazes, our actions, nameless, shapeless, inseparable parts of ourselves. Then, at a particular point in time, an utterance, a line of poetry or a fragmented image emerges from memory and gradually takes form...
Chen Yujun & Chen Yufan
Born 1976
Putian, Fujian, China
Chen Yufan’s work revolves around the optical structure and the force of intent; his unique artistic expression is grounded in both the assembly and scatter of objects and space. Through surfaces composed of dots and lines, and spaces constructed by surfaces and objects, a trace for time is unleashed when these elements overlay upon one another. The dialogue between the artist and his mediums becomes a significant subject, resembling that of an internal meditation; when seen in the perspective of contemporary art, it is a form of performance art rooted in concepts.
For over a decade Chen Yujun has created works that explore the clashes between the inner self and external influences. Best known for his Temporary Family series, started in 2010, Chen seeks to examine the fragmented and shifting identities of individuals in contemporary Asia as a result of globalization and its increasing cultural position. Chen’s childhood left an impressionable mark on him, resulting in a body of work fraught with introspective self-reflection and domesticity. His collage pieces, which he views as powerful contemporary visual language, often reveal the landscapes of his home province.
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