Joint exhibition of Xu Jiang and Shi Hui entitled “Flourishing Spirits” was open on April 13 at Ludwig museum in Deutschherrenhaus Koblenz. The exhibition features over a hundred pieces of recent works by Xu Jiang and Shi Hui, which is also the first joint exhibition by this couple in Europe.

With its location at the “Deutshes Eck”(German corner), at the confluence of the rivers Rhine and Mosel, and facing the “Kaiserdenkmal”, which is in 1992 returned to its original form, the “Deutschherrenhaus” -the previous house of the German cavaliers - forms a vital counterpart to the historical orientation of the town. “Deutshes Eck” is the memorial site of the unification of Germany, the historical landmark of German spirits, the field full of memories of German ethic spirit. It is the first time for a contemporary artist who presents his work at this corner. The highlight of this exhibition is a large scale sculpture by Xu Jiang, “Living Together”(2012). This 6-meter-high iron installation is composed of 800 pieces of sunflower sculptures, standing far apart facing the statute of German Emperor William I, the first king of Germany, which was described by Rhein-Mosel Newspaper as a dialogue of wills and spirits between two civilizations of Germany and China.” Review published on Bonn Times referred it as “new neighbour of the King.” In the following two months, visitors passed on the Rhine River would experience exactly a nostalgic feeling as well as a kind of bright prospect coexisted in the Sino-European cultures.

I

Xu Jiang’s large-scale sculpture “Living Together”, placed at the Deutsches Eck during the exhibition, is the most outstanding piece in the overall presentation. As Beate, the Director of the Ludwig Museum said: “This is an historic event, which realizes as an exhibition in front of the Prussian Imperial Monument at the Deutsches Eck, which is an important place for memories for German people. Previously, the government prohibited any artist to display their works.” In this regard, the Rhine-Moselle Newspaper commented: “It is a dialogue of the will and spirit between German and Chinese civilization.

“Living Together” of Xu Jiang, is composed of steel arrays of 800 sunflower sculptures, of the height of 6 to 8 meters, creating a heavy pressure for the viewers, 800 javelin-like iron poles densely standing and pointing to the sky, 800 surging sunflowers booming in various forms, vibrant and rising towards the sky.

The exhibition on view in the interior of the museum is divided into two parts. The first part is “Rise from the Ashes”, featuring nearly one hundred paintings themed on sunflowers by Xu Jiang, as well as his new works, an installation composed of twenty colorful glass sunflower lights. The second part is entitled “Still Water Running into the Deep” which presents more than 10 recent works by Shi Hui, including the large-scale fiber art installation “Compendium of Materia Medica” series, as well as an outdoor installation “Knot”. The exhibition is the first joint exhibition by the couple Xu Jiang and Shi Hui, held in Europe.

In the 1980s, Xu Jiang and Shi Hui experienced a baptism of the vanguard art movement: Under the tutelage of Maryn Varbabov, a Bulgarian artist who was teaching in Hangzhou at that time, Shi Hui engaged in a cross-media creation of contemporary fiber art; Xu Jiang was studying at the Hamburg Academy of Fine Arts, going back and forth between the East and West, between the local and international, between the ideological and experimental form. At the beginning of the new century, as the president of the China Academy of Art, Xu Jiang bursts out with great passion and vitality in creation and ideology, while Shi Hui is one of most important female artists in China, and an important artist that promotes fiber art in China. From their personal creations and educational practices, a new vision of “contemporary” is on view.

II

This exhibition presents two different worlds. Xu Jiang's works themed on “Rise from the Ashes”, the blazing old sunflowers experiencing the cycle of birth and death in the sunlight, and is a symbol for an entire generation: the generation grown up in the fanaticism and disillusionment during the Cultural Revolution. During this time not only the thinking, but also society was subjected to profound changes. There have been stormy vicissitudes of life, and were burdened with responsibility and hope.

Compared with the profound agitation of Xu Jiang, Shi Hui’s works present a lightweight and quiet aspect. On the contrary to “Rise from the Ashes”, water is the theme of Shi Hui’s works, “Still Water Running into the Deep” in a quiet and naive world, with the use of weaving, pumping silk to weave brocade, an epic tale of a woman’s daily life.

“Compendium of Materia Medica” is the most striking among Shi Hui’s works in the exhibition, in these series of works created in 2009, Shi Hui connected the natural materials such as rice paper and dried vegetation together. These works not only trace the source of the naturalistic worldview of Chinese medicine, but also pay tribute to the Confucian traditions of “Bowu”, “Gewu”(study the principles of the materials), with a traditional form of book and album, opening the vision of Chinese traditional knowledge to European audiences. Excavating a micro-world construction from the natural structure of the fiber, this micro natural structure becomes an important reference for Shi Hui’s artistic creation.

III

Xu Jiang’s “Living Together” is located at the projection of the Deutsches Eck, the vast water area where the Rhine and Moselle Rivers converge together.

The vast waters of the two rivers converge at the mouth. Looking back, this jungle-like Kwai Park, and distant majestic Kaiser Wilhelm statue, a distant relative from Deutsche is at the angle of the tip of the triangular plaza. William the Conqueror, the spiritual symbol of the reunification of Germany, underlies the German nation demonstrating suffering and hope. At the moment, he is a Prancing Horse Swagger, majestic and dignified, towering like a mountain. The 800 old steel sunflowers head towards the sky in front of him, where a proudly, raging tide rushes, like a flame rising. This distant relative of both inspires a chase far from historical sentiments, containing the spirit and will of thinking from Kam.

Beginning in May last year, the "Living Together” tour has been in Germany for nearly a year. They used to be in the National Museum of Dresden where the ruins of the dome stand, later they blossomed in the snow at the main exhibition halls of Kassel Documenta. At the ancient courtyard of the Ludwig Museum, sunsets slide on the surface of Shi Hui’s gorgeous works. 12 pieces of polished stainless steel frames are scattered with each other, building a five-meter-high large-scale installation, thousands of shiny steel pipes densely arranged like a beehive, as if an opened organ, where the interspersed steel wires create beautiful abstract images.

On the day before the opening of the exhibition, a team of innocent German children was led by their teacher to the Deutsches Eck. They raised their juvenile faces, looking up at the towering sunflowers, whispering, echoing the theme of “Living Together”.

Translated by Chen Peihua and edited by Sue/CAFA ART INFO