Chambers Fine Art is pleased to announce the opening on November 5 of Wu Jian’an: Seven-Layered Shell. Since Daydreams, his first exhibition at Chambers Fine Art in 2006, Wu Jian’an has won wide acclaim for the way in which he utilizes techniques derived from the traditional art of paper-cutting in increasingly ambitious multi-layered works and installations.
It was the outbreak of the SARS epidemic in 2003 that led to the creation of Daydreams, his first mature series of paper –cuts. For Wu Jian’an, however, paper-cutting was not an end in itself but the means by which he could express his fascination with Chinese mythology and the fantastic aspects of ancient civilizations worldwide. For his subsequent exhibition, The Heaven of Nine Levels (2008) and the installation Mountain Ranges exhibited at ART HK 11, he turned to Chiyou and Xingtian, ancient Chinese heroes who achieved ever-lasting fame for their bravery in adverse circumstances.
The tendency toward extravagant elaboration is even more pronounced in the works included in the present exhibition, Wu Jian’an: Seven-Layered Shell. As described by Professor Haun Saussy in his introductory essay to the catalog, the simple outline of a human body “turns out to be immensely complex. The shadow fragments. The one body is now teeming with smaller bodies that are themselves teeming with smaller bodies. The bodies at their various levels peer at us with countless eyes or go about their business, ignoring us.”
The exhibition focuses on two major works, Seven Layered Shell and Rainbow. In the former, three hundred and sixty cut-out forms are used in different combinations to create seven images of different aspects of the spiritual world. Through a process of free association, references to western cultural icons such as Darwin, Mao, Freud and Einstein cohabit with monster figures that derive from the Shan hai jing (Book of Guideways to the Mountains and Seas), an early Chinese geographical treatise. The monochromatic environment created by Wu Jian’an’s banners in Seven Layered Shell contrasts with the dazzling palette of Rainbow which is centered on a free-standing sculptural form in the center of the gallery. In the words of the artist this “shows a man and a woman placed back to back with cloud motifs emanating from them, clouds that drift and circle, searching for ways to re-enter the physical bodies like the endless circulation of the life-force.” The surrounding walls of the gallery are covered in cloud patterns created with the same multi-colored collage technique.
Familiar as he is with a wide range of esoteric visual and literary materials and choosing to work in a technique that has its origins in folk-tradition, Wu Jian’an occupies a unique position among Chinese artists of his generation. In his ability to communicate messages from an inaccessible past, he may be seen as a visionary to whom the immediate concerns of life in the twenty-first century which figure so prominently in the work of his contemporaries are only of passing interest. He offers us a window into forgotten worlds.
北京前波画廊非常荣幸地宣布将于11月5日举办邬建安个展《七层壳》。邬建安自从在2006年第一次举办个展《白日梦》后， 他持续运用传统的剪纸艺术并将其升华到具有震撼力的大型多层次装置作品，从而赢得广泛的好评。
2003年是非典蔓延的一年，为邬建安的第一组成熟系列《白日梦》提供了素材与灵感。他通过剪纸来传达对中国神话和对世界古代文明的幻想。在之后的展览《九重天》（2008）和香港博览会展出的《群山》中，他重新投入对古代英雄蚩尤和刑天在战争中对敌人的英雄气概名流千古的探讨
邬建安在此次新的展览中更加奢华和详尽的阐述了作品主题。苏源熙教授（Haun Saussy）在为本次展览出版的图录中写到， 人类本身基础的线条 “一下子变成了非常错综复杂的创作（影子的各个组成部分）。于是，这个身体由许多小一点的身体组成，而这些小一点的身体又由许多更小一点的身体组成。这些不同层次和大小的身体用无数双眼睛注视着我们，或自管自地无视我们的存在。”
此次展览以两组系列为主：《七层壳》系列由360个剪纸小人，以七种不同形式的组合方式来表现不同的精神世界。假如你充分发挥想象空间，这些小的形象也可以暗示西方文化偶像，如达尔文、弗洛伊德和爱因斯坦，与中国早期地理文献《山海经》中妖魔鬼怪的人物形象共生存。另一组系列《虹》，其眼花缭乱的雕塑与单色调的《七层壳》长卷形成对比。艺术家描述《虹》的 “图案是一男一女两个形象，他们背对背依靠云气联结在一起，云气从身体里飘溢出来，在身边萦绕盘旋，又寻找机会重新进入身体，这样，就形成了气的循环流动”。在画廊四周的墙壁上也安置彩纸叠层拼贴的云气图案
邬建安的作品包含着深奥的视觉和文学内容，并运用了一种源于民间工艺的创作手法。在同代的艺术家中占据着独一无二的地位。他通过创作与无法触及的历史进行交流。他现今的作品虽关注的只是些逝去的趣味，但那些形象却是如此的鲜明突出，在那些只关心21世纪现实生活题材的人眼里，邬建安或许只是个幻想家，而他却为我们打开了一扇通向已被遗忘世界的窗口。