September 13 - October 9, 2011 Opening Reception: September 22, 6 - 8pm VIP Reception/Press Conference: September 15, 2011 Panel discussion - "Democracy or Economy? China-ism in the Contemporary World": September 29, 2011, panelists TBA
At the turn of the 21st century, China has galvanized a powerhouse economy, and its contemporary art has had a resounding effect on the contemporary art world at large. When Andy Warhol transformed Mao into a pop art icon through his larger than life portrait, Mao entered the international art scene and became a timeless symbol of what New York-based artist Anton S. Kandinsky calls "China-ism."
"China-ism" is an ironic artistic interpretation of contemporary China - its culture, politics and economy, as coined by Kandinsky. It also serves as a way for the international art community to reflect on contemporary China through the lens of art. The first China-ism exhibition was curated by David Rong and Alex Demko in October of 2009.
While China's economy has changed and grown dramatically over the last twenty years, the state of democracy in the country has not changed at all. Merely an artist seeking and defending his freedom of speech, Ai Weiwei was detained on April 3, 2011 and was held in an unknown location by the Chinese government for 80 days. Just over a month into the artist's arrest, Alexandra Munroe, Senior Curator of Asian art at the Guggenheim Museum, spoke at the opening of Ai Weiwei's Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads in New York City (an opening the artist was formerly scheduled to attend) stating that if there is no freedom of speech, there is no modern art and that the world is not challenging the Chinese government but that the Chinese government is in fact challenging the world.
The exhibition, China-ism II: Democracy or Economy? asks the question: "If China is already changing the world, will the world change China?" The exhibition presents 13 oil paintings by Kandinsky as well as one original photograph, Guard, Seven Frames (2009), and video work I'm walking on the road to the Dead Land (2010) by Ai Weiwei.
If Wassily Kandinsky's works are representative of revolutionary change in the early twentieth century, Anton S. Kandinsky has upheld the tradition begun by his forefather. Well known for his "Gemism" paintings, begun in 2004, these works are composed of naturalistic images of gemstones intermingling with flags, ideograms, political figures and celebrities as well as historical and social iconography from China, the former Soviet Union as well as American pop culture.
Anton S. Kandinsky was born in Ukraine in 1960. He studied at the Crimean Art College (1975-1979), privately with Y. Moiseyenko at St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts (1979-1980) and earned M.F.A. from the Ukrainian Academy of Fine Arts in Kyiv in 1986. Anton S. Kandinsky lived and worked in Germany for several years before moving to the United States of America in 1998. In 2004 in New York, Anton S. Kandinsky founded a movement called "Gemism". Gemism refers to artist's application of realistic images of luminescent gemstones on his canvases. The gemstones are intermingled with flags, ideograms, political figures and celebrities along with symbolism from China, the former Soviet Union and American pop culture. The artist works and lives in New York where he maintains a studio in Chelsea. Most recent projects by Anton S. Kandinsky are Meditation of Weapons, curated by Marc Ecko (2007), China-ism, curated by David Rong and Alex Demko (2009). Other art projects by Anton S. Kandinsky include Geopolitical Gemism, I don't want to be a Russian artist..., To be, or not to be...More information about the artist at www.antonkandinsky.com
Ai Weiwei was born in Beijing in 1957. He is a conceptual artist, curator, cultural advisor, and architect. In 1979 the artist was a founder of "The Stars" (Xing Xing), one of the first avant-garde art groups in modern China. During the 1980s and early 1990s Ai Weiwei lived in New York, where he studied at the Art Students League and the Parsons School of Design. Returning to China in 1993, he co-founded the China Art Archive & Warehouse (CAAW), a nonprofit loft-gallery in Beijing where he serves as artistic director. Ai's work has been shown in museums and galleries internationally, as well as in the 48th Venice Biennale (1999), Documenta XII (2007), and other international art events. As a curator, he is known for cutting-edge exhibitions, such as Fuck Off, which he co-curated in 1999 as a provocative counterpoint to the Shanghai Biennale. In the early 2000s, Ai collaborated with the acclaimed Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron on the winning design for the National Stadium project for the Beijing Olympics. In 2008 he received the Chinese Contemporary Art Award, established in 1998 by Swiss Ambassador and collector Uli Sigg, for Lifetime Contribution. Ai Weiwei's most recent exhibitions are: "According to What?" at Mori Museum, Tokyo and "So Sorry" at Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany. The artist lives and works in Beijing. www.artnextgallery.com/90.html
David Rong was born in 1955 and graduated with a masters degree in Chinese literature from Peking University in 1988, he was visiting professor at Harvard University for Cultural Studies in 1996-1998, and he was the founder and the director of Art Next Gallery at Chelsea in New York City. The recent shows that he has curated or co-curated include China-ism I (2009), Over the Wall (2009 and 2010), Make Love Not War (2010), Connection: Nature (Hillwood Art Museum at LIU, 2010) and Demolition: Second History (Connecticut College, 2011). David Rong is currently working as an independent curator for contemporary art based in New York City. www.asiancha.com/content/view/876/300/
Alex Demko is a New York based independent art curator specializing in Ukrainian and Russian modern and contemporary art. In 1998 he graduated from Rutgers College, where he studied Philosophy and Art History. Alex Demko worked at the Central European University in Budapest, Rambusch Decorating Company in New York and at the Ukrainian Institute of America prior to starting artifra.com - an online art auction results database that tracks and publishes sales of Russian works of art.
