Frith Gallery - Chen Zhen

A Chen Zhen exhibition was held at Frith Street on Golden Square, London. The exhibition was held on 7 July to 14 August 2015. Chen Zhen is known as one of the leading figures in Chinese Avant-Garde.

 

The first piece I came across in the exhibition is the Autel (Alter) Series which explores the artist’s experiences of the consumer society. The most prominent piece which is most striking is of the red ball which is a meteorite encased in Bauxite ore. Objects beside it shows the sacrifice of the consumer object as it gives itself to the birth and death represented in the meteorite.

 

The next installation is the Cocon du Vide (Empty Cocoon) which resembles both a “cocoon” and someone bent down in prayer. The installation is made with threads of prayer and abacus beads with a child’s toy in the centre made with a shell case and ammunitions. The title seems to suggest with the work the idea of rebirth and growth, especially with the juxtaposition between the toy and the cocoon casing.

 

On a table has atop the Crystal Landscape of Inner Body, made with glasswork, forms organs made up in the human body. Each piece also takes on a symbol of the 12 astrological signs.

Instrumental Musical is a series of works made up of traditional Chinese chamber pots. It is associated with the sound of cleaning, which is linked to Chen Zhen’s experiences in the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

Un-interrupted Voice is are percussion instruments made from beds and chairs from around the world. The work is connected to the ideology of Buddhists would rather be beaten than speak out openly about faith. The drumstick, made from police batons, are to strike the instruments as a way of self-awareness or “drumming an awakening of the mind” and is not to imply any form of real violence.

 

Lands-Objectscape has these desolate settings illustrated with everyday objects in glass “coffins” to signify victims of the consumer society.

Hung from the ceiling is Lumière Innocente (Innocent Light) which is of a child’s bed which shares the same feel of Cocon du Vide.

“A child’s bed hanging in space … A transparent organic form … A silent life attached to a thread in the void, nascent and vanishing. A cocoon of light …” Chen Zhen describing Lumière Innocente

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