Shaire 是野

Our exhibition is coming up soon!

SLOW: Zhu Yingchun, Carlos Jiménez and Aaron Distler.
Open hours: 20 - 24 September 2016, 10.00 - 18.00
Venue: China Exchange, 32A Gerrard St, London W1D 6JA

SLOW: Zhu Yingchun, Carlos Jiménez and Aaron Distler. Shaire 是野 is honoured to present Slow, an exhibition and artistic exchange conceived by artist Zhu Yingchun with Carlos Jiménez and Aaron Distler. The artists…

The readings featured in Carlos’ film take place in a reconstructed setting similar to traditional Chinese gardens with symbolic stones from Lake Tai (Tai Hu Shi 太湖石) found between Suzhou and Wuxi and valued for their unusual shape and rarity since Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD). These symbolic stones represented something beyond nature or the immortal and were used to create ‘scholar gardens’ - a space for Chinese intellectuals’ meditation and entertainment.

Filmmaker Carlos Jimenez will present a film based on his time at the studio of Zhu Yingchun in Nanjing, China, alongside other locations including Suzhou and Shanghai. The film focuses on the Chinese garden and the historical staging of natural elements - aligning with a similar focus in Carlos’ work of dualities such as the real and the reconstructed.

The journey in which Distler travels to creating an artwork is equally as important as the finalised artwork itself, it is an exploration of the purity of sculptural materials and processes. Aligning himself with the philosophies of ‘slow design’, Distler’s exquisite craftsmanship finds a harmony with the material’s existing patterns as he follows the natural curves and grain of the wood.

Sculptor Aaron Distler often uses the forces of nature such as steam and fire in the making of his works. The exhibition will feature sculpture Chimera from Distler’s series of bent wood and burned, oiled paper works, which reference the history of craft and the balance of rational contemporary structures with organic, decaying material reminiscent of seeds and nests.

Artist Pouran Jinchi talks about her expressive visual forms of language. http://artradarjournal.com/2016/09/05/scripts-and-sensibility-iranian-american-pouran-jinchi-interview/?from=feedblitz_403966_5288815

Scripts and sensibility: Iranian-American Pouran Jinchi – interview | Art Radar

The exhibition will feature Zhu Yingchun’s new ink drawings, prints, and two woodblock prints used to make traditional Chinese thread-bound books.

In order to preserve the traditional techniques of Chinese book making, this featured new work is a collaboration between the artist and the master engravers Ma Mengqing 马萌青 and Deng Dingyi 邓鼎一 at the Jinling Buddhist Publishing House, Nanjing, established in 1866.

Nature’s small creatures such as ants, snails, and other insects which inhabit the environments that surround Zhu Yingchun’s studio in Nanjing, China, have become his main source of inspiration. The artist aims to reconstruct former notions of insects through an aesthetic, harmonious lens and develop a mutual appreciation, which can be traced to traditional Chinese culture.

The delicate markings left by the insects’ traces on paper become universal forms and shape a new typography that resemble a hybridity of continental characters - forming new relations and binds between nature and language.

The title of the exhibition Slow is inspired by the sign 慢, displayed at the entrance to Zhu Yingchun’s studio in Nanjing, China. This sign greets visitors and reminds them to slow down and consider their environment carefully – setting the stage for discovery.

Shaire 是野 is an arts initiative and based in London, Singapore, and the 798 Arts District of Beijing and brings together an interdisciplinary and international group of artists, designers, filmmakers, and curators. At its foundation, Shaire 是野 is devoted to supporting the creative process of all artistic disciplines – presenting inspiring projects internationally.

Throughout the next few days we will be posting information about each artist everyday…