Date: 9 October 19h00 to 3 November 2007
Now 34LONG once again brings together an exhibition focusing on work from various internationally acclaimed artists, with an exciting new Oriental slant: CHINA!
34 Long was the first South African gallery to show a work by Feng Zhenjie in November 2005 and will now be the first to introduce works by other prominent contemporary Chinese artists whose work commands huge respect internationally. Works obtained in person from the artists and their representatives in Beijing will be added to ones acquired from galleries and at auction in Europe and America.
These artists have skyrocketed to fame and fortune in recent years, but they may need some introduction locally:
Wang Guangyi works in a style known as ‘political pop’. In his Great criticism series, Cultural Revolution propaganda poster images in flat, colourful American pop style are combined with Western brand logos like Chanel, Coca-Cola, HP, Swatch and Canon. 34LONG has acquired HP invent, a silk screen print on paper from an edition of 20 for this show.
Zhang Xiaogang, widely described as ‘the Van Gogh of contemporary Chinese art’ uses the visual language of official photography to create haunting, subtly disturbing images in his ‘bloodline’ works. A 2006 limited edition print, Family’s portrait from this series will be the highlight of the exhibition.
The Luo brothers (Luo Wei Guo, Luo Wei Dong and Luo Wei Bing), all trained in fine art, hail from the south of China and have been producing mixed media artworks in Beijing for many years. They lived through the Cultural Revolution, and their work speaks of the disorientation of rapid modernization. They will be represented on the show by a unique, original work in laquer paint and collage on panel, Welcome Famous Brands of the World 08.
Yue Minjun, also a hot favourite in London and New York, uses self-portait and self-parody to make apparently hilarious works with deep, dark undertones. On show will be Revolutionary Romanticism (2000) from a serigraph edition of only 60, which displays his many-toothed grin of self-mockery.
Sheng Qi has gained wide recognition for his paintings of stamp-sized images of people and places lost after the Tianamen Square uprising, held in his mutilated left hand. 34LONG regards it as a privilege to include on this show four original oil paintings by Sheng.
Like the work of several other Chinese artists of their generation, that of Wang, Zhang, the Luo brothers’, Yue Minjun and Sheng has entered the international contemporary art market powerfully. At a recent Sotheby’s New York auction five of Zhang Xiaogang’s works were among the top ten sales; one fetched in excess of 2 million dollars. Less pricey than paintings, editioned works present the perfect opportunity to enter the exhilarating world of collecting contemporary Chinese art.
The exhibition will also include two newly acquired works by Mr. and works by Asha Zero, Matthew Hindley, William Kentridge, Robert Hodgins, Norman Catherine and Takashi Murakami.
Contact Details:
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or by appointment tel. +27 21 426 4594
www.34long.com
