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莫愁

邱志杰近作

北京

2008年10月25日—12月6日

Mochou: Recent Works by Qiu Zhijie, Installation view
Mochou: Recent Works by Qiu Zhijie, Installation view
Mochou: Recent Works by Qiu Zhijie, Installation view
Catching the Moon in Water: Capture the Presumptuous Flying Machine 水中捞月:捕捉狂妄的飞行器, 2008
Fetch Water with a Bamboo Basket: It May Be Possible There 竹篮打水:在那里或许是可能的, 2008
Jingwei Filling the Ocean: Each Eddy Has a Key to It 精卫填海:每一个漩涡都有一把钥匙, 2008
Looking for a Needle in the Ocean: A Contemplative Wrecker 海底捞针:一个若有所思的打捞者, 2008

Chambers Fine Art Beijing is pleased to announce the opening on October 25, 2008 of Mochou by Qiu Zhijie, his second exhibition at the gallery following The Shape of Time: Light Calli-photography by Qiu Zhijie at Chambers Fine Art New York in 2006. The installation and a new series of woodcuts and ink drawings on paper are associated with the artist’s ongoing investigation of the history of Nanjing and in particular the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, inaugurated in 1968 and regarded as a great triumph of Chinese power and resourcefulness.

In recent years Qiu Zhijie has been focusing on projects that require extensive travel and documentation in association with the production of works of art in a variety of media. Beginning with his association with the first phase of the Long March Project, continuing with his epic journey from Lhasa to Khatmandu in the footsteps of Nain Singh and now with his deep involvement with the city of Nanjing, Qiu Zhijie has embarked on an ambitious cultural voyage, investigating aspects of Chinese history and culture as they impinge on life today. Most ambitious by far is A Suicidology of the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, the title for an ongoing project involving documentation, research and social activism (in this case, working with a suicide-prevention squad) in association with the production of works of art in many media. Mochou is affiliated with Qiu Zhijie’s gesamtkunstwerk though in an indirect way.

His association with Nanjing began in 2005 when he curated Archaeology of the Future, the second Nanjing Triennial. From the second half of 2007, he began to focus on the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge and in particular the relationship between this potent symbol and the high rate of suicides that occur there. Research and documentation led to a wide range of artistic productions, including a group of editioned prints and unique works on paper made at Singapore Tyler Print Institute and independent installations such as Mochou.

Related to one of the lithographs, the installation at Chambers Fine Art Beijing is based on the legend of Mochou, a young girl who lived in the Qin Dynasty, who was so poor that she had to sell herself to pay for her father’s funeral. Deeply unhappy in her marriage, she committed suicide in the lake that now bears her name and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Nanjing.

The central feature of Qiu Zhijie’s installation is a large, crystalline abstract sculpture, originally a scholar’s rock from which all the naturally formed projections have been sliced off. These are attached to the wall of the gallery. A path for the blind enables the visually impaired to touch the rocks and feel their way around the gallery while a stream of water trickles down the abstract sculpture, beginning the process that will eventually return it to its original form as a scholar’s rock. Accompanying the installation is a new series of woodcuts and ink drawings on paper, further variations on Qiu Zhijie’s haunting and mysterious imagery. By focusing on the bridge which is such a potent symbol of China’s emerging power and related themes from China’s past such as Mochou, Qiu Zhijie explores themes such as time, memory and destiny, issues that have always been central to his interests in whatever medium he worked.

计划于2009年3月12日在纽约前波画廊举行的展览《莫愁:邱志杰近作》几乎没有发生。

将要展出的作品于3月5日到达纽约肯尼迪机场,但直到3月14日,仍被美国海关扣押,《莫愁》几乎成为一个“失败”的展览。幸运的是,艺术家邱志杰3月10日晚飞到纽约,听到这个消息后,立刻决定在前波画廊的墙壁上即兴作画。3月11日早上,画廊工作人员赶到纽约中国城购买了毛笔和墨汁,邱志杰也与此同时制作出了计划方案。从11日下午3点开始,他马不停蹄的画,连夜奋战,于第二天上午11点左右,完成了占据画廊所有四面墙壁的大型壁画创作。画完之后,他倒头就睡着了,还差点错过了下午6点的开幕。

不可否认,这次的即兴作品是邱志杰多年创作中最优秀的作品之一。无论是以画面内容,隐藏内涵,还是笔墨处理,作品常常引用到中国传统图像和文字。同时,艺术家也将在纽约的不眠之夜所接触到的小物品直接搬到画面中,比如住处的一个海螺,从中国城的越南餐馆买的饮料吸管等。作品的结尾处是拿着《大观》的小手,也许就是艺术家刚刚出生四个月的女儿吧。在当今众多艺术家雇佣大量助手工作的环境下,邱志杰证明了“艺术家的手”与艺术家的创作之间的关系是不可代替的。

展厅的墙壁上还贴有打印出的原计划展出的作品图像——直到今天,作品仍然被美国海关扣押着。此次展览将持续至5月9日,邱志杰的墙上绘画届时将会被涂掉。

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