Wu Jian’an: The Huge Sand Dunes Are the Bed of the Sea, Exhibition view ©Wu Jian‘an
Wu Jian’an: The Huge Sand Dunes Are the Bed of the Sea
The Silk Road International Arts Center will present “Wu Jian’an: The Huge Sand Dunes Are the Bed of the Sea” on September 16th, 2021, a large-scale immersive exhibition that traverses the realms of past, present, and future, blending myths, reality, and science fiction, while exploring contemporary aesthetics, folk culture, and the themes of our present era.
Wu Jian’an: The Huge Sand Dunes Are the Bed of the Sea, Exhibition view ©Wu Jian‘an
This exhibition serves as an important theme exhibition that is integral to “The Belt and Road · The Great Wall International Folk Culture and Arts Festival 2021” cohosted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and The People’s Government of Hebei Province, and aims to rearrange Wu Jian’an’s representative works alongside newly created ones from different series, combining them in an unprecedented hybrid manner to create an impressive multi-dimensional panoramic visual spectacle.
Wu Jian’an: The Huge Sand Dunes Are the Bed of the Sea, Exhibition view ©Wu Jian‘an
Rather than merely exploring the realm of the contemporary Western context or traditional Eastern context, Wu weaves his narrative across different times, spaces, and cultures through his unique structure of thoughts and logical system. By integrating various materials, languages, and mediums, Wu reconstructs many visual connections between contemporary art and ancient culture, providing new perspectives on ancient myths, totems, folk crafts, legendaries and tales, and traditional writing.
Wu Jian’an: The Huge Sand Dunes Are the Bed of the Sea, Exhibition view ©Wu Jian‘an
In this distinctive approach, Wu has introduced his concepts and narratives that integrate geographical features, contemporary aspirations, and personal talents into various events both in China and overseas: the Chinese Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Echigo-Tsumari Art Field, as well as cultural spaces in France, Germany, Singapore, Brazil, Switzerland, etc.
Wu Jian’an: The Huge Sand Dunes Are the Bed of the Sea, Exhibition view ©Wu Jian‘an
Several sets of the artist’s large-scale works are showcased in a space that transcends time, space, and boundaries: The Heaven of Nine Levels, a representative work initially created with pencil on paper and later transitioned to hand-carved ox-hide; Daydream Forest series, a recreation of his paper cut works using laser cut brass; Omens, an installation and cross-border art experiment consisting of 10 pieces of faux specimens; Artificiality and Of Innocence and Its Power that reflects the relationship between mankind and nature; Giant Body that weaves cultural genes using symbolic syntax; Plain Faces that arranges nearly 400 pieces of individual works into a giant matrix to construct the spacial environment. In this way, the artist’s relentless exploration of blending old and new, transitioning images, and the evolvement of materials unfolds gradually in a spatial sequence…
Wu Jian’an: The Huge Sand Dunes Are the Bed of the Sea, Exhibition view ©Wu Jian‘an
“The Huge Sand Dunes Are the Bed of the Sea,” the title is inspired by the concept that the sea is the origin of everything, while the sand dunes symbolize the land at the bottom of the sea. The sea and the sand dunes refer especially to the cycle of nature and the existence inbetween presence and void. The curator Li Zhenhua observes that while Wu’s works exhibit skillful construction of images and narratives, the supernatrual power embedded in, his relentless questioning in an non-imagery, non-supernatural manner is also noteworthy.
Wu Jian’an: The Huge Sand Dunes Are the Bed of the Sea, Exhibition view ©Wu Jian‘an
From two-dimensional to three-dimensional, from figurative to abstract, Wu’s works stimulate and awaken a collective memory, evoking our reverie about the world in a wildly imaginative manner and through reconnecting with the distant past.
Therefore, the exhibition aims to reveal unknown energies through the context of narrative and storytelling. Everything in display are ultimately related to spacial scale and essense of pure material and concepts, creating a space of infinite energy that affects our abstract perception.
Wu Jian’an: The Huge Sand Dunes Are the Bed of the Sea, Exhibition view © Wang Zigeng - Pills Architects
Walking, movement, and perception are fundamental elements of the exhibition experience, transforming the entire process into an exploratory journey through realms reminiscent of ancient times or science fiction worlds. As the curator Li Zhenhua describes, “Voyager I that was set off on September 5th, 1977 flew out of the solar system on September 12th, 2013. The exhibition seeks to focus on the past and the future, a world that is either the ancient wildness or the landscapes depicted in science fiction Dune, or somewhere in the cosmic images captured by NASA. Satellites that have lost contact, no man’s land in a journey, the loneliest planet in science fiction.”
In other words, the thoughts and experiences of the viewer act as another narrative of this exhibition, which is shaped by the movement and pauses of their bodies. One will walk on the specially-made sandy ground in the venue, meditate in the empty dunes, appreciate the tangible objects in the space, feel the passage of time as the sun and the moon shift, and gaze at the huge mirror on which light and shadows, things and images are interplaying, mirroring, reflecting and extending. The reality in the alteration of the finite and the infinite, the virtual and the real is thus presented.
Wu Jian’an: The Huge Sand Dunes Are the Bed of the Sea, Exhibition view ©Wu Jian‘an
At the heart of Wu Jian’an’s artistic speculation and visual creation lies the effort to express the eternal essense of human civilization history in situations that seem to be unconventional in contemporary life, and evoke the subconsciousness that is subtle and concealed yet grand and turbulent deep in our hearts, hence to promote reflection and observation on the times and mankind. “We need to look up at the starry sky for a moment. It is often challenging to merely discuss or assess the contemporary, however, the space and time that we inhabit, the imagination that possess, provide an enduring consensus. One needs an independent space for meditate and solitude.” Similar yet distinct, alike yet not identical. The Huge Sand Dunes Are the Bed of the Sea.
Wu Jian’an: The Huge Sand Dunes Are the Bed of the Sea
2021.9.16-2022.2.13
ENNOVA ART MUSEUM，Langfang，China
Virtual Exhibition：https://www.artexb.com/pano/exb116/?startscene=0&startactions=look