Twin Tracks: Yang Fudong Solo Exhibition
China’s preeminent museum of contemporary art, the Yuz Museum will present Twin Tracks: Yang Fudong Solo Exhibition. As the one of the series Shanghai Galaxy, this exhibition is curated by American Academy of Arts & Sciences member and famous art historian and curator Wu Hung.
One of China’s most respected contemporary artists, Yang Fudong began his artistic career in the early 1990s, rising to international prominence in the first decade of the 21st century for his contemplative video works expressing the aspiration and angst of a young generation in China caught between modernization and traditional culture. Using film and video, Yang Fudong captures the potent interval between reality and unreality. His works hint at the tenuous relationship between maturity and naiveté, beauty and sadness, freedom and responsibility, broadening the understanding of film narrative, while also reflecting the inner world of Yang Fudong.
The title of the exhibition, “Twin Tracks”, comes from the Chinese proverb Nanyuan Beizhe, literally meaning to “go south by driving the chariot north”. The title refers not only to the two different styles of works on display in the exhibition, but also Yang Fudong’s favored working method. Through the primary medium of video, Yang Fudong expands upon the formal qualities of the film language, as well as conveying the depth and breadth of his ideas. When creating a work, Yang Fudong does not start with a clear concept or image in mind, rather, as he describes, he pursues a “recognized sensibility, which happens to be precisely the same sensibility felt by the audience”. The final result is a ‘recognized film’ independent of a unified style or subject matter.
“Twin Tracks: Yang Fudong Solo Exhibition” focuses on five important works by Yang Fudong presented since 2007: East of Que Village (2007), Blue· Kylin ／A Journal of Shan Dong (2008), The Fifth Night (2010), About the Unknown Girl – Ma Sise (2013-2015) and the China premier of The Colored Sky：New Women II (2014). Through a focus on twin tracks of Yang Fudong’s work, the exhibition explores the complex ambiguous relationship between reality and unreality to re-examine different lifestyles of modern society and its meaning. The threads of images and themes within the works cross stretches, some seeming to emerge from the echo of the past, while others are obscured and disappear in a distant haze. Their significance lies not in the relationship between each other, but in the impression the artist has left.
Yang Fudong Solo Exhibition is on view, courtesy of Yuz Museum. Located on Shanghai’s Xuhui Riverside, the Yuz Museum represents the foundation of an emerging art scene in the West Bund Cultural Corridor. The Yuz museum strives to promote the exhibition and development of contemporary art, and to enhance the public’s understanding and appreciation of contemporary art. And draw the world’s attention to Shanghai.
