Chambers Fine Art is proud to announce the opening of Na Zha Baby Boutique. Comprised of sculptures, blueprints, and photographs, this exhibition represents the debut solo show by Shi Jinsong, one of the leading young sculptors in China . The title refers to an enduring figure of Chinese folklore and mythology: Na Zha, an impish trickster with supernatural powers and flamboyant fashion sense (legend has it his red silk trousers generated so much heat the sea began to boil, enraging the East Sea Dragon King). Na Zha's essential ferocity long since tamed in the Chinese psyche, he is now chiefly celebrated as a God of Lotteries and Gambling, a commodified totem of the new global economy.
Through his razor-sharp sculptures and related works, Shi Jinsong initiates a dialogue, at once menacing and ironic, between the forms of mythic Chinese culture and modern day globalization. “Na Zha” is here recast as the brand name for an outrageously unsafe line of baby products. Meticulously assembled in stainless steel from intricate mechanical drawings, they include a deadly Carriage; a sadistic Cradle; a sinister Walker; and a malicious, multi-part Toy complete with needle-tipped pacifiers and dismembering abacus. Baby Boutique confronts its “shopper” with a radically strange and seductive “product,” lethal luxury designed to reveal the forces that dominate our lives in unimaginable ways.
Born in Danyang County, Hubei Province in 1969, Shi Jinsong enrolled at the Hubei Academy of Fine Arts in 1994, majoring in sculpture and mastering a gamut of traditional techniques. Under the influence of three powerful stimuli – radical socio-cultural change in China; a reading of Foucault's Madness and Civilization; and the birth of his first daughter - the artist began to investigate ideas of transformation and control. Featured in Alors La Chine, a groundbreaking survey of contemporary Chinese art mounted at the Centre Pompidou in 2003, his sculptural installation A Life of Sugar (2001) consisted of aspirational material objects made of sugar. Designed to melt over the course of the show, the impermanence of the objects served up a delicious critique of disposable consumer goods.
The artist darkly elaborated on this critique in Secret Book of Cool Weapons (2002), reconfigurations of corporate logos into ancient types of weaponry. With Na Zha Baby Boutique, the first in a series of proposed exhibitions displaying the latest “product lines” of the Na Zha brand, Shi Jinsong elevates his craftsmanship and concerns to their fullest expression yet, consolidating his status as one of the most innovative and trenchant young sculptors in China.
*Catalogue Available.
作为中国年轻艺术家史金淞的第一次个人展览，《哪吒儿童用品》将展出雕塑，作品蓝图，摄影等多种媒体的艺术作品。此次展览的题目来自于中国着名的神话传说 ：哪吒法力无边，又调皮可爱（他出生时身穿红绸，首带金轮，浴于东海，激怒龙王）。但他千年的魔力到今天似乎已经萎缩，只剩下一个可爱的形象 ，甚至成为社会经济化转变的象徵。
史金淞的“哪吒＂系列作品外表尖锐，却是中国传统文化与当今世界化发展之间讽刺性的对话。“哪吒＂是婴儿用品的品牌商标，但这些用品外表危险而无法使用。 所有作品都根据精密的蓝图制做组装，包括婴儿车，摇篮，学步车，玩具，奶嘴等。这些儿童用品外表华丽，造型可人，巧妙地揭示了我们日常生活的细节和不为人 知的力量。
史金淞1969年出生于湖北当阳，1994年毕业于湖北美术学院，在那里学习了各种雕塑技巧和技术。他的作品都与变化和权力有关，受到了多方面影响，比如 中国社会的剧烈变迁，福科的着作《疯癫的历史》，和自己女儿的出生。在2001年创作的《甜蜜生活》里，史金淞用麦芽糖制做了常见的生活用品的模型，曾于 2003年在法国蓬皮杜文化艺术中心举办的《Alors La Chine》中展出。展览过程中，麦芽糖慢慢溶化，表现了日常生活中常用物品的瞬间性。
这个主题在2002年的作品《名门利刃》中近一步发展，世界着名品牌商标变成了古老的兵器。《哪吒儿童用品》将第一次展出史金淞设计创造的“哪吒＂品牌，不仅充分地展现了精美的工艺和设计，也再一次证明了他是当今中国最有创造力，最富潜力的年轻雕塑家。
*提供展览目录。