Supported by: Boers-Li Gallery
Sponsored by: HELU Culture Communication Co. Ltd., Project Woo, and BUNDSTAR mediar

Exhibition Description

“That which the land bears, between the six directions… The spirits are born, varied in form, in heaven or in life: only the sages can penetrate their truth. Does it not describe the present by borrowing the fantastical language of the ancient, pre-Qin tomes? It does not!”

A work ten painstaking years in the making, QiuAnxiong’s ink film trilogy The New Book of Mountains and Seas I, The New Book of Mountains and Seas II, and The New Book of Mountains and Seas III will be shown together for the first time in this exhibition. The New Book of Mountains and Seas observes the modern world from a perspective outside of symbolic knowledge systems. Built on the narratives of classical Chinese myths, these works reveal a crisis of the modern world, expressing a skepticism toward and criticism of modern civilization. The artworks do not simply embody the “Chineseness” of traditional Chinese worldviews; rather, they manifest a global quality inherent to the development of contemporary culture.

This exhibition also breaks down the traditional boundaries of the exhibition space, with a rolling broadcast of short films by both artists displayed onLujiazui’s Citibank“Bund Star” LED screen. This link, bridging the Lujiazui architectural complex and the galleries of Fosun Foundation Shanghai, engenders a metaphorical collision between contemporary art and society, one that resonates throughout the entire city.