ACAW VIP Kick-Off Party

Hosted by Chambers Fine Art

By Invitation Only

A special celebration honoring ACAW Consortium Partner institutions, artists, participants & collaborators. Consumable installation of delicacies, The Aerial by the experimental artist He Wei in conjunction with Yang Jiechang’s exhibition The Whip.

 

The Aerial

The Aerial is an participatory installation by He Wei, comprised of hundreds of delicate uncanny “creatures,” in each of which a feathered “head” is connected to three pointy “legs” at the bottom via a long slim “neck.” The work is inspired by the visual of the incense burner from Han Dynasty in ancient China, which usually features a paradise where animals of various kinds reside and frolic. Taking place at Chambers Fine Art where artist Yang Jiechang’s exhibition, The Whip, is on view, the work also transforms Yang’s layers of ink on xuan paper into a three-dimensional space, bearing a visual metaphor for a floating square of ink. Guests are encouraged to use the bottom of each “creature” as a fork and play with it while mingling with each other in a breezy atmosphere. As guests wield these “creatures,” their body movements that come along—dip and whip, indicate the action in Chinese painting and calligraphy.

 


The Aerial is co-presented with Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation and NEW INC, the New Museum’s incubator dedicated to supporting innovation, collaboration, and entrepreneurship across art, design, and technology. Food and catering is provided by New Kam Man and MoCA Asian Bistro, event photo by RV Studio, and printing by Cloud Printing.

 

Yang Jiechang: The Whip

The artist’s second exhibition at Chambers Fine Art. Although Yang continues to explore a wide range of forms and media including painting, collage, installation, performance and sculpture, calligraphy has always been a primary concern. He has spoken of it as “a means to cultivate myself, to improve my human qualities” rather than as a continuation or development of traditional approaches. The calligraphies exhibited reveal the extraordinary vigor of his brushwork whether referring to Buddhist iconography or conveying simple messages in English. In contrast is a monumental triptych of a landscape executed in a meticulous style that originates in another manner of traditional Chinese painting. Inspired by Bocccaccio’s Decameron, Yang’s Tale of the 11th Day series contains unexpected elements that intrude upon the peaceable environment evoked in earlier Chinese paintings. Through October 17.

Chambers Fine Art> MAP
522 W 19th St (10th & 11th Ave.)

Above: HE Wei, Flirting Goblets, courtesy of the artist
Below: Yang Jiechang, The Steps of the Great Yu (Yu Bu), 1999, Ink and acrylic on Xuan paper, mounted on canvas, 75 in x 37 in (190 x 95 cm)