There is No Problem
Curator: David Elliott
Artist: ShenShaomin
Duration: 2015.12.5 - 2016.4.5
Venue: Hall 1&2, E7/E9 Galleries, Redtory Museum of Contemporary Art (RMCA)
Organizer: Redtory Museum of Contemporary Art (RMCA)
Co-organizer: White Box Art Centre (Beijing)
Organized by Guangzhou Redtory Museum of Contemporary Art (RMCA)and curated by the renowned international curator David Elliott, the major exhibition “There is no problem – ShenShaomin’s project” will launch on Hall 1, Redtory Museum of Contemporary Art at the afternoon of December 5th, 2015. The exhibition this time is the first time to hold a major solo exhibition of ShenShaomin in this dozens years in mainland China, including 6 installations artworks and a large-scale art project presenting in half performance and half literatures and documents. The whole exhibition will take place in 4 halls in Redtory Art District and a portion of outdoor spaces which is the hugest exhibition in terms of space-covering since RMCA started.At the date of the opening ceremony, the organizer will invite the curator David Elliot and the artist ShenShaomin to conduct an academic dialogue in artistic concepts, practice and culture meaning. During the exhibition period, the organizer also will invite the art theorist Pi Daojian and philosopher Zhang Zhiyang to conduct another academic dialogue “What art is or is not”.
David Elliott is a curator, writer and professor of modern and contemporary art who has directed museums in Oxford, Stockholm, Tokyo, and Istanbul. He is currently Chairman of the Board of Triangle Art Network/Gasworks in London, Chairman of the Advisory Board of MOMENTUM in Berlin and a Visiting Professor in Curatorship at the Chinese University in Hong Kong. ShenShaomin was born in 1956 in Heilongjiang Province in China and he currently lives and works between Beijing, China and Sydney, Australia. He is an internationally famous artist in contemporary installation and conceptual art. Most of his artworks are installation, video and conceptual painting which always circuitously present the living condition of contemporaries and introspect profoundly.
The title of this exhibition is derived from a laconic remark made by Marcel Duchamp, the inventor of the ready-made, whose influence could be seen especially in an installation artwork “Art History” recently created by ShenShaomin. Besides, the works “Kowtow Pump”, “Bonsai”, “How long is infinity”, “I Sleep on Top of Myself” and “I touched the voice of God” will be shown to the public in Redtory Art District, which were once caught the attentions of international art community. In the work of “Art History”, Shen not only copies, condenses and amplifies the modern art master Duchamp’s artistic concept, but also encourages every visitor to make a comment to the motif of what art it is. All visitors’ comments will compose the artwork itself along with Duchamp’s artistic concept. Moreover, entitled with “I amthe result of myself”,ShenShaomin will announce the processing method to handle his remains after he die. On the one side, he, in the flesh, will perform on the exhibition site to show the current energetic living-condition. On the other side, tens of artists’ schemes about how to transfer different parts of his remains into works will be shown in exhibition.
The curator David Elliott indicates that ShenShaomin treats the fragile and transient life of human being as treasures and meanwhile he feels profoundly fear for the reckless destruction human ubiquitously and continuously conduct to the their own living environment. Nevertheless, his creation still reveals the wonderful aspiration deep inside his mind: no matter what the artistic problems or other problems of human’s society are, there is no problem after the solutions are put forward and move forward.
This exhibition will last until April 5th, 2016.
▲From the left: Curator of RMCA: Yang Xiao, exhibition artist: ShenShaomin, Curator of Guangdong Museum of Art: Wang Shaoqiang, curator of the exhibition: David Elliott, Art Director of RMCA and producer of the exhibition: Huang Lishi, Art Theorist and Art Consultant of RMCA: Pi Daojian, Curator of WHITEBOX Art Center: Sun Yongzeng, Design Director of RMCA
▲1st one on the right: Ex-Australia Ambassador to China and collector: Geoffrey Raby
▲From left: Consulate General of Israel in Guangzhou:Culture Consul EfratAvrahamy, Consulate General of Switzerland in Guangzhou: Deputy Consul GeneralBeat Ralph Schmid
【Academic】David Elliott × ShenShaomin
Speaker: David Elliott × ShenShaomin
Date: 2015.12.05
Venue: Hall 1, Redtory Museum of Contemporary Art (RMCA)
About the lecture: Organized by Guangzhou Redtory Museum of Contemporary Art (RMCA) and curated by the renowned international curator David Elliott, the major exhibition “There is no problem - ShenShaomin’s project” was launched on Hall 1, Redtory Museum of Contemporary Art at the afternoon of December 5th, 2015. The organzierinvited the curator David Elliottt and the artist ShenShaomin to conduct an academic dialogue talking about artistic concepts, practice and culture meaning.
About the speaker: David Elliott is a curator, writer and professor of modern and contemporary art who has directed museums in Oxford, Stockholm, Tokyo, and Istanbul. During 2014 he was Artistic Director of A Time for Dreams, the IV International Moscow Biennale of Young Art, co-curator of PANDAMONIUM: New Media Art from Shanghai and Fragments of Empire at MOMENTUM in Berlin and curator of Art From Elsewhere. Art from British Regional Galleries, a Hayward Gallery Touring Exhibition.
ShenShaomin: Born in Heilongjiang province, China, 1956. Works and lives in Beijing, China and Sydney, Australia. Originally trained as a printer during the Cultural Revolution, throughout the last 20 years Shen has forged an important international career. Shen has presented work across the US, Europe, China and Australia including the 17th Biennale of Sydney; the first Kiev Biennial; Liverpool Biennial; Busan Biennial, Korea; Guangzhou Triennial; Shanghai Biennale etc. His works have been collected by many art museums, universities, foundations and private collectors.
【Academic】Pi Daojian × Zhang Zhiyang: What Art is or is not
Speakers: Pi Daojian × Zhang Zhiyang
Date: 2016.1.9
Venue: Hall 1, Redtory Museum of Contemporary Art (RMCA)
About the lecture: On January 9th, as one of the academic events of the exhibition: There is no problem, art theorist Pi Daojian and philosopher Zhang Zhiyang held a conversation under the topic of “What Art Is / Is Not”. Through a conversation between art history and philosophy, they found the thread to the answer of this question. By focusing on the development of western art and the center of Chinese traditional art, combing the development of Chinese contemporary art, the conversation provided us a multi-dimensional theoretical thinking and academic opinion.
About the speakers: Pi Daojian, Born in Hubei Province in 1941 and graduated from the Hubei Art Institute in 1981 with a graduate degree of Art History and Theory Major. He is now the professor of School of Art of the South China Normal University, the guest researcher of Institute of Arts of Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts, the guest professor of Hubei Institute of Fine Arts and Hubei Institute for Nationalities, the member of the Academic Committee of Shanxi Province Art Museum, the member of the Academic Committee of Guangdong Museum of Art’s “Guangzhou Contemporary Art Triennial Exhibition”, Distinguished research fellow of Guangzhou Museum of Art Academic Committee, member of Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center Construction Advisory Committee, academic member of Chinese Contemporary Art Institute (New York, America).
Zhang Zhiyang：Professor of Hainan University Social Science Research Center Social Ethics Research Institute. His research fields include western philosophy, Chinese contemporary philosophy and Chinese ancient philosophy.
【Academic】Shen Shaomin: A Thorn Stuck in the Throat
Speaker: Shen Shaomin
Date: 2016.3.13
Venue: Hall 1, Redtory Museum of Contemporary Art (RMCA)
About the lecture: It is embarrassed that a thorn stuck in the throat，which is hard to swallow and spit it out. Contemporary art is also in such an embarrassed times. We have been finding the possibility of a breakthrough at a set system. However, for decades, everyone is still wander in the circle of Marcel Duchamp and Joseph Beuys. If meaphysical is moral, physical is adevice, the artist is a thorn stuck in the middle.
About the speaker: ShenShaomin: Born in Heilongjiang province, China, 1956. Works and lives in Beijing, China and Sydney, Australia. Originally trained as a printer during the Cultural Revolution, throughout the last 20 years Shen has forged an important international career. Shen has presented work across the US, Europe, China and Australia including the 17th Biennale of Sydney; the first Kiev Biennial; Liverpool Biennial; Busan Biennial, Korea; Guangzhou Triennial; Shanghai Biennale etc. His works have been collected by many art museums, universities, foundations and private collectors.
【Academic】 David Elliott: Shen Shaomin’ Project
Speaker: David Elliott
Date: 2016.3.27
Venue: Hall 1, Redtory Museum of Contemporary Art (RMCA)
About the lecture: This talk placedShenShaomin's work in the context of his times, comparing his approach with that of other artists but also looked at the unique influences that have influenced his work style and subject matter.
About the speaker: David Elliott is a curator, writer and professor of modern and contemporary art who has directed museums in Oxford, Stockholm, Tokyo, and Istanbul. During 2014 he was Artistic Director of A Time f
or Dreams, the IV International Moscow Biennale of Young Art, co-curator of PANDAMONIUM: New Media Art from Shanghai and Fragments of Empire at MOMENTUM in Berlin and curator of Art From Elsewhere. Art from British Regional Galleries, a Hayward Gallery Touring Exhibition.
