Wu Jian'an--RROJECTS

“Continuum - Generation by Generation” Exhibition View©️Wu Jian’an Studio

Continuum - Generation by Generation

Pavilion of China at the 57th Venice Biennale

In May 2017, the 57th Venice Biennale opened in Venice, Italy. Often referred to as the “Olympics of the art world,” this century-old event took “Viva Arte Viva” as its central theme. On May 11, the China Pavilion of this edition was officially inaugurated. Titled “Continuum — Generation by Generation”, the exhibition brought together a selection of representative works by Wu Jian’an, Wang Tianwen, Yao Huifen, and Tang Nannan, curated by Qiu Zhijie. The curatorial concept draws from the classical Chinese text Yijing(The Book of Changes), specifically the phrase “sheng sheng zhi wei yi” (生生之谓易). In this context, the exhibition responds to the Biennale’s theme of “art as eternal life,” offering a distinctively Chinese interpretation of “eternity” as a process of continuous transformation and renewal across generations. For the curator, traditional Chinese craftsmanship embodies a profound reservoir of cultural energy—one that not only sustains itself across time but also retains an active and generative force within the contemporary moment.

“Continuum - Generation by Generation” Exhibition View©️Wu Jian’an Studio

The images of “Mountain/Sea” and “Ancient/New” representing “Yin/Yang” are the framework for the narration of this exhibition. Two Song Dynasty paintings, Li Song’s Skeleton Fantasy Show and Ma Yuan’s Twelve Images of Water Surging have been chosen as the “foreword” for this exhibition. Two well-known Chinese fables, The Foolish Old Man Removes the Mountains and Jingwei Filling the Sea, provide the imagery that correspond to “mountain” and “sea”.

“Continuum - Generation by Generation” Exhibition View©️Wu Jian’an Studio

In Wu Jian’an’s work The Heaven of Nine Levels, the spatial arrangement of nine animals—from the sky down to the water—symbolizes a hierarchical structure of the world. Bird, human-faced bird, bird-headed human, feathered being, human, tiger, frog, giant salamander, and finally fish. The fish at the bottom of the water represent the deepest level of space, while the birds in the sky signify the highest; the animals in between each occupy a corresponding tier within this spatial order. Within the inner layers, the larger devours the smaller; yet when this relationship reverses in the outer layers, the hierarchy shifts accordingly. Through this interlocking, multi-layered structure, Wu Jian’an explores topics of logic and power relations.

“Continuum - Generation by Generation” Exhibition View©️Wu Jian’an Studio

The Daydreams Forest consists of seventeen tree-like brass sculptures. Each is divided into two layers, and each layer forms an independent figure, which Wu Jian’an refers to as a “Daydream.” These figures are dreamlike companions that accompanied the artist through a period of anxiety, and also responses of abstract individual experience to a catastrophic reality. Together, they constitute another kind of reality—unseen, yet vividly alive.

“Continuum - Generation by Generation” Exhibition View©️Wu Jian’an Studio

The Birth of the Galaxyis composed through paper-cut collage, in which interconnected fragments form an unbroken range of mountains. These continuous peaks resemble the landscapes of Guilin, evoking associative, almost pictographic readings. The mountains themselves are made up of headless Xing Tian, along with other deities drawn from The Classic of Mountains and Seas, such as Ju Mang and Dan Zhu. These figures appear to be crying out or dancing wildly among the mountains, as if attempting to reclaim the lost heads.

“Continuum - Generation by Generation” Exhibition View©️Wu Jian’an Studio

In 500 Brushstrokes, Wu Jian’an ventures into a new area of practice—ink on paper. He first uses a brush to texture, shade, and outline on xuan paper, forming a specific portrait. He then cuts out each individual brushstroke from every portrait and recomposes them onto a new blank sheet, creating a new, abstract image.Each brushstroke once belonged to a larger whole; once removed from its original position, it becomes an independent unit, assuming a role within a new configuration that may be entirely different from before.

“Continuum - Generation by Generation” Exhibition View©️Wu Jian’an Studio

Wu Jian’an, a contemporary Chinese artist who draws on the energies of “superstition,” and Tang Nannan, who draws on the energies of the sea, join folk master Wang Tianwen, known for carving shadow imagery, and Yao Huifen, a master of Suzhou embroidery who brings together its lineage of transmission. Together, they articulate the spirit of “collaboration” and “inheritance” embodied in Continuum, infusing the exhibition’s narrative with greater vitality and possibility. Folk craft and the practices of contemporary artists interpenetrate within the ever-renewing and regenerative energy of Chinese art, forming an intertextual network of collective creation—one that includes interactions between two points, as well as one-to-many and many-to-many exchanges:

Wu Jian’an and shadow play master Wang Tianwen have been collaborating for many years. For this exhibition, they will create new works inspired by the imagery of mountain/sea as well as Ma Yuan’s water paintings. Suzhou embroidery master Yao Huifen will recreate the Skeleton Fantasy Show through the use of more than a hundred exquisite and unique techniques, and participate in making Tang Nannan’s work The Forgotten Sea.In addition to each artist’s individual collaborations with the other three, the curator and the four participating artists also jointly created the multimedia shadow-play performance Continuum — Moving Mountains and Filling the Sea, which serves as the central work of the China Pavilion. Within this network of intersecting collaborations, tradition is inherited and interpreted respectively by contemporary artists and folk artists.

“Continuum - Generation by Generation” Exhibition View©️Wu Jian’an Studio

Different from the Chinese Pavilion of past years, this year we especially set up an archival area in the exhibition. We strive to transform the idea and image of "Continuum " into archival evidence and to show the educational lineage of these four artists. Each Chinese artist has his/her own educational lineage, as the same time is also the teacher of other people. This kind of overlaying discourse and echoing of folk art and fine art, new art and traditional art, will create an energy field of "Bu Xi." This is completely different from the Western way of individual creation. This is the secret of Chinese art and Chinese Civilization passing from one generation to the next for thousands of years.

Following its closing, the China Pavilion of the 57th Venice Biennale continued its presentation at the Beijing Times Art Museum. Engaging audiences from across the world, the Chinese Pavilion will not only offer a journey through five thousand years in various art forms, including painting, video, installation, sculpture, performance, photography, Su Embroidery, and shadow play, but will also provide a multi-dimensional experience through different kinds of public interaction, which include multi-media shadow play performance, shadow play workshop, and workshop Global Beach Archaeology Project - Venice and Searching for the Sea. Over the course of its 270-day run, the unfolding “Continuum” allows the essence of Chinese culture to resonate across both the Adriatic Sea and the soil of China.

Continuum - Generation by Generation

Pavilion of China at the 57th Venice Biennale

2017.5.13-11.26

Venice，Italy

2018.3.31-6.17

Beijing, China

Virtual Exhibition：https://www.artexb.com/pano-files/chinesepavilion001/