Chopsticks is the first joint exhibition of leading Chinese artists Song Dong and Yin Xiuzhen. Both artists graduated from the Fine Arts Department of Capital Normal University in Beijing in 1989 but since then have pursued independent careers that have attracted wide international attention.
For both artists the events in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989 led to a period of deep introspection during which they questioned everything they had been taught and it was not until five years later that they began to appear in public with installations and performances.
In their work Song Dong and Yin Xiuzhen confront broad social issues through an intense focus on gestures and actions that are deeply personal in meaning. Song Dong gave moving expression to deep familial feelings in the video installations Touching My Father and Father and Son in the Ancestral Temple, 1998. Yin Xiuzhen has moved from the touching intimacy of works such as Clothes Chest, 1995 to the more public concerns of Ruined City, 1996 and Transformation, 1997 in which she reflects on the changing face of Beijing as the old city disappears.
For Chopsticks, the married couple has agreed to celebrate their tenth anniversary in their first joint appearance. Whether finely crafted or disposable, two chopsticks are required for the task of conveying food to mouth, a metaphor for the personal bonds that unite them. Chopsticks are also suggestive of food and good cheer and for the occasion of this exhibition, the galleries of Chambers Fine Art will be converted into a ritual space in which the artists will present variations on this theme. A fully illustrated catalog will be published on the occasion of this exhibition.
*Catalogue & Limited Edition Catalogue Available
前波画廊将于2002年11月7日迎来题为《筷子》的展览。这将是宋冬和尹秀珍夫妇的首次联合展。宋冬和尹秀珍同时于1989年毕业于首都师范大学油画系。毕业以后一直各自独立创作，两人分别赢得了国际艺术界的关注。
1989年6月4日的事件使宋冬和尹秀珍开始质疑他们以前所学到的东西。5年后两人才开始公开展示装置和行为作品。
宋冬和尹秀珍将他们的作品聚焦于身体的姿势和动作，同时正视社会现象，探讨这些现象对自身的特殊意义。宋冬1998年的作品《抚摸父亲》和《父子 太庙》表达了感人的亲情。尹秀珍的作品─从1995年的《衣箱》，到1996年的《废都》，到1997年的《变化》─从个人转变到公众，是她对北京老城区的逝去进行的反思。
在宋冬和尹秀珍结婚十周年之际，《筷子》展览使我们能有机会看到夫妻二人新的事业合作关系。无论是精心制做的筷子，还是一次性的卫生筷，两支筷子同时使用才能将食物送进嘴里。于是《筷子》成了夫妇俩紧密结合的象徵。
展览期间，宋冬和尹秀珍将把前波画廊转变为一个庆典场所，对《筷子》这一主题进行各种不同的诠释。