On July 11, 2015, sponsored by the Beijing Times Art Museum, with the academic support of Experimental Art Committee of China Artists Association, “Times Youth – Young Artists Program 2015: Up-Youth China Young Artists Exhibition 2015” opened at Beijing Times Art Museum. The exhibition is supported by Kleinsun Gallery in America, GALERIE 99 in Germany, NUOART in China, and is divided into 3 parts including “Palm Form”, “Polymeric Form”, “Multiple Enzymes Form”, to present many vivid art creations by a total of 39 young artists, Wu Hongliang, Hu Bin and Liu Libin respectively served as the curators of the three parts.

Hosted by Beijing Times Art Museum, Times Youth – Young Artists Program initially started in 2014, which will hold events in every second Saturday in July, to focus on the different ways of exploring art by the most creative artists who were born in the “1970s”, “1980s”, “1990s”, all attempt to present relatively clear characteristics of the times for young artist groups. Liu Yan, Executive Director of Beijing Times Art Museum said young artists were the leaders and practitioners of contemporary Chinese art in the future, so their creations should be more calmly considered and prudently confronted in the face of the present quick development of material, capital and market.

At 2:30 pm, the three curators unfolded a dialogue on “The Polyhedron of Young Art”, started from the perspective of their work experiences to talk about the status quo of young artists’ creations, meanwhile it interpreted the conceptual connotation and curatorial idea in each part. Wu Hongliang, Director of the Art Museum of Beijing Fine Art Academy planed the exhibition section of “Palm Form”, and he said he known many young artists, who mainly discussed on “concept problem” and “grand narrative problem”, but he was more interested in the young artists’ intuition for creation, for example, the creation brought a kind of pleasure to the hand, for the artists, the back of the hand would be seen by people, so it was the concept, while the palm of the hand was only seen by the artists themselves, and it was the thing that the artists badly wanted to do, so it was the reason why the theme was named “Palm Form”. In this era the concept takes first place, the exhibition stresses on the role of the hand, emphasizing painting, a modeling sense again, in order to describe the reciprocation between hand and heart, thus emphasizing the pleasure of painting. Participating artists include Geng Xue, Jin Nv, Kanazawa Yona, Julia Weller, Li Xi, Qian Liang, Song Kun, Tan Tan, Wang Lei, Wang Lijun, Wu Jianan, Yan Cong, Yang Min.

Hu Bin is the curator for the part themed “Polymeric Form”, which is related to the creative state and expressive curve of the young artists, Hu has found that more and more young artists’ creation showcased a diverse, decentralized creative form, which embodied neither an integrated unity, nor an opposing and divided structure, but it was a reticulation which focuses on the “rhizosphere” relationship. Their creations are often composed of groups, each one can been considered as an individual work, while they are interconnected, sharing a set of methodology. At the same time, such a creative relation also responds to the flatting of social system, which can produce infinite links, is the embodying and extending of a kind of “tuber” thinking. Artists Cai Yuanhe, Cai Zebin, Guo Lijun, He Lixiao, Hu Cheng, Huang Chunfeng, Huang Liyan, Li GuoJie, Liu Yin, Wang Zilu, Xie Zhengli, Yang Mushi, and Zhang Wenchao participate in the part.

Liu Libin nominated the third part as “Multiple Enzymes Form”, he said that, while some artists promoted that “give me a fulcrum, I can move the world”, another group of artists believed that “give me a seed, I can evolve an universe”, but they had been ignored in the context of contemporary Chinese art. Their works were exquisite and rich, in varied personal art forms, but because of the richness of the works and the singularity of each personal world, the audience found it difficult to explain and analyze, so it was entitled “Multiple Enzymes Form”, trying to through the emphasis on “organic characteristic”, to reveal the creative characteristics of this kind of artist. A cell could become an organism with the aid of catalytic power of “enzyme”, the human body did, couldn’t the art work? Artists Dai Xueqing, Li Linlin, Li Quanshan, Li Yang Paints Dream, Luo Yueming, Pan Ran, Qin Zhen, Sun Jiaona, Xie Kun, Zhang Lei, Zhang Li, Zhao Miaomiao, Zhou Chunlei participate in the part.

The exhibition is divided into three parts, which are interconnected, to constitute a work of the “Up-Youth” of the young art, art museums, artists, curators and audiences examine the creative group together, and think of the fresh creative phenomenon, rather than a “noisy” art consumption. The exhibition continues to August 9.

Text and photo by Zhang Wenzhi/CAFA ART INFO

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