Superstructure
Curator: Bao Dong
Artists: Cai Lei; Hou Yong ;Huang Yishan ;Li Yiwen ;Liu Yazhou ;Wang Peiyong;Wu Ding; Xu Zhe;Zhou Qinshan
Opening: 2019.3.9 17:00—19:00
Duration: 2019.3.10 - 2019.4.13
Closed on Mondays
Leo Gallery Shanghai
Address: Ferguson Lane, 376 Wu Kang Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai 200031,China.
Superstructure / Curator: Bao Dong
As the most familiar philosophical term for contemporary Chinese, the “superstructure” and the corresponding “base” have always been an architectural metaphor. Human society is divided into the visible upper parts and invisible basic parts, and the significance of Karl Marx's philosophy is to point out that it is the invisible parts, which is known as the “superstructure”, that determine the politics, thoughts and cultures that are visible in human society. Here, the image of architecture not only implies the magnificent appearance, but also points to the concept of orders.
In this exhibition, by borrowing and extending this architectural metaphor, we present it through a series of architecture-related works. In these works, the architecture contains four identities: Firstly, architecture as a visual theme - through which artists use the real or imagined architecture to organize the ontological factors of the works, such as the formal structure, the language of the medium, and else. Secondly, architecture as a social space - as artists regard architecture as the background of narration or event, which makes it both a physical space and a social context. Thirdly, architecture as a pure concept - as artists take architecture as an externalized form of human rationality or objective spirit, making architecture a conceptual art. Fourthly, “architecture” as the form of verb - as the artist uses the process of construction to present sporadic occurrences in a specific context.
Cai Lei
1983 Born in Changchun, Jilin，china
2015 Graduated from the Sculpture Department of Central Academy of Fine Art obtaining a master‘s degree
2009 Graduate from China Central Academy of Fine Arts with the degree of Bachelor of Arts
2004 Luxun Academy of Fine Arts attached middle school
Hou Yong
1976 Born in Beijing, China
Graduated from the Oil Painting Department of the Central Academy of Fine Art, Beijing China
Currently lives and works in Beijing, China
Huang Yishan
1983 Born in Shantou, Guangdong, China
2009 Get M.A.in the Oil Paintion Department of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts
The lecturer in the Oil Painting Department of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Art
Li Yiwen
1982 Born in Luoyang, China
2006 Bachelor of Arts, majoring in fresco, The Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
2011 Master of Arts, majoring in fresco, The Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
Currently lives and works in Beijing, China
Liu Yazhou
1990 Born in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China
2014-2017 MFA, Central Academy of Fine Arts , Beijing, China
2009-2014 BFA, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chongqing, China
Currently live and work in Beijing, China
Wang Peiyong
1987 Born in Shandong, China
2013 Graduate from Sichuan Fine Art Institute, achieve bachelor degree in oil painting,Sichuan China
2016 Graduate from Sichuan Fine Art Institute, achieve master of fine art in oil painting, Sichuan China
In 2017, as an exchange student studied in Academy of Art and Design Offenbach Germany.
As a professor in Sichuan Fine Art Institute at oil painting department, currently works and lives in Chongqing.
Wu Ding
Currently working and living in Shanghai
2017 Graduated from the School of Intermedia Art at The China Academy of Art
2006 Graduated from the Department of Sculpture, Academy of Fine Arts at Shanghai Normal University
1982 Born in Shanghai, China
Xu Zhe
1976 Born in Shanghai, China
2006 Graduated from School of fine art of Aix-en-Provence, France.
Currently lives and works in Shanghai.
Member of a cross-border practical artist group—Zuzhi.
Received the 2016 Asian Cultural Council (ACC) fellowship of Visuel Arts.
Zhou Qinshan
1977 Born in Huangpu, Guangzhou
Doctor of philosophy， SUN YAT-SEN University, China
Master of fine arts， The Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts
She is now a professor at Contemporary Art Department in The Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts
