Press Preview: June 2, noon Collectors Preview: June 2, 2pm-5pm Vernissage: June 2, 5pm-10pm Show Times: June 3-5, 11am-7pm Nocturne: June 4, 7pm-9pm
BASEL, SWITZERLAND – Shanghai-based Contrasts Gallery will present three individual exhibitions in its booth at Design Miami/ Basel 2008. Gallery Director Pearl Lam has chosen to highlight work by Studio Makkink & Bey (the joint venture of Rianne Makkink and Jurgen Bey), Shao Fan and Maarten Baas. Design Miami/ Basel takes place at the Markthalle, Viaduktstrasse 10, Basel, Switzerland and will be open to the public June 3-5, 2008 from 11:00am – 7:00pm.
Contrasts Gallery is committed to cross-cultural exchange and hosts a residency program, under the auspices of which international artists and designers are invited to China to investigate traditional Chinese craftsmanship, materials, or imagery. By combining these time-honored methods with contemporary ideas and forms, these artists and designers can create new works that reflect contemporary China.
The Gallery is currently collaborating with Dutch designer Jurgen Bey and architect Rianne Makkink’s Studio Makkink & Bey. The Studio is re-inventing traditional Chinese art and craft techniques with its highly conceptual "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" series. Inspired by the beauty and optimism of Chinese propaganda posters, the Studio has re-imagined propaganda for the overlooked world of cleaning by using precious Chinese porcelain, silk fabrics, woodwork, and reverse inside painting. Cleaning cabinets are made luxurious, composed of Chinese silk fabric boxes, which can be self-assembled on top of a wooden base. They are filled with gloves and aprons embroidered with cleaning ladies and other helpers, a delicate porcelain mop, broom, and dustpan with hand-sculpted details, and other surprises.
Shao Fan illustrates how Chinese contemporary art is constantly revising and reinventing traditions by synthesizing Western aesthetics with traditional Chinese artistic philosophy. He is known for his de/reconstructed functional and non-functional combinations of traditional Ming style furniture and modern materials. In "Work No. 2 of Year 2006", for example, traditional methods, such as mortise and tenon joinery, produce modern sculptural forms that seek to balance past and present, reflecting contemporary Chinese culture. By mixing elements of Ming chairs and tables with plexiglass and other modern elements, Shao creates 21st-century objects that capture the rapid transformation of the society around him and question whether expediency should replace the grace and beauty of tradition.
Dutch designer Maarten Baas’ first collaboration with Contrasts Gallery was in 2006. During his “Chinese residency,” Baas was impressed with the local woodcarving traditions and created a new series of works combining this traditional form of craftsmanship with his own playful imagination. With "Plastic Chair In Wood" (2007), wood gives a luxurious twist to the common plastic garden chair. According to Baas, the chair “could be something you’d see in an antique shop. It’s only when you look at it twice that you realize you’ve seen it before.” The piece is inspired by China’s paradoxes. “In China there’s so much craft,” says Baas. “They can do things that you just couldn’t find in Holland. But they can also copy very well.” The form also references the vogue in Shanghai for kitsch and plastic, contrasting disposable, mass-produced goods with treasured, handcrafted objects.
About Contrasts Gallery
Contrasts Gallery is aptly named because its philosophy is to celebrate and exaggerate differences. Founded in Hong Kong in 1992, the Gallery from inception set itself the task of exploring the relationships between art, architecture, and design by fusing individual creative talents without prejudice. As the first art gallery in Asia (outside Japan and Korea) to exhibit the international avant-garde, the Gallery shows artworks from cutting-edge artists and commissions pieces from designers worldwide. Its mission is to show artists who explore Western and Eastern influences on art by creating a new aesthetic that defines the dynamic changes of today.
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For further information, images, and invitations, please contact:
International PR: Michelle DiLello +1 212 947 4557 michelle@susangrantlewin.com
