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Mochou

Recent Works by Qiu Zhijie

NEW YORK

March 12 – May 9, 2009

Mochou: Recent Works by Qiu Zhijie , Installation view

Mochou: Recent Works by Qiu Zhijie 

Installation view

Mochou: Recent Works by Qiu Zhijie , Installation view

Mochou: Recent Works by Qiu Zhijie 

Installation view

Mochou: Recent Works by Qiu Zhijie , Installation view

Mochou: Recent Works by Qiu Zhijie 

Installation view

Mochou: Recent Works by Qiu Zhijie , Installation view

Mochou: Recent Works by Qiu Zhijie 

Installation view

Scheduled to open at Chambers Fine Art New York on March 12, 2009, Mochou: Recent Works by Qiu Zhijie is an exhibition that nearly did not happen. During the preparations for the current exhibition at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing – Qiu Zhijie: Breaking through the Ice – Qiu Zhijie began working on a series of fourteen paintings in ink on paper related to a series of larger works on the same theme exhibited at Chambers Fine Art Beijing in 2008. Well known as an artist who thrives on challenges, this exhibition was more than he bargained for.

The works arrived at JFK on March 5 but on March 11 the works had not yet been released by US Customs, making it likely that the exhibition opening would indeed be a “failure,” the theme underlying the full range of works related to the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge and the related Mochou legends. Fortunately Qiu Zhijie had arrived in New York on March 10 and responding to the desperate situation, agreed to paint directly on the gallery walls. In the morning brushes and ink were purchased in Chinatown and during frequent breaks for smoking on the steps outside the gallery building, he drew a series of very rough sketches for the three walls and one partial wall of the gallery. Beginning at 3pm on March 11, he worked continuously without sleeping for the next twenty hours, putting the finishing touches and adding inscriptions around 11am the day of the opening. Then he crashed and nearly missed the opening later in the day.

The resulting wall-paintings are an extraordinary accomplishment, among the best works of this prolific and highly inventive artist. Whether linked by formal similarities or playful analogies, the isolated objects and larger groupings in the wall-paintings frequently reference classical Chinese themes and imagery. He also incorporated a number of objects that had caught his eye during the twenty–four largely sleepless hours he had so far spent in New York (a conch-shell in the apartment where he was staying, straws that accompanied cold drinks purchased at a Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown). Further personal references were added to the free-wheeling imagery on the wall, notably the hand of his recently born daughter opening a classic Chinese text Image of the World next to the gallery entrance.

Having worked in the full range of media available to the artist today including video, installation and performance for most of his career, Qiu Zhijie had mostly relegated his skills as a painter and calligrapher to a background role. Faced with this challenge, however, he pulled out all the stops, rediscovering skills and techniques that had been latent for many years. When it is increasingly common for successful artists to work with large numbers of assistants, Qiu Zhijie shows that there is no substitute for the intimate relationship between the hand of the artist and the materials he is using.

Strategically placed on the walls are Xeroxes of the paintings exhibited in Beijing and the fourteen works still with US Customs. The wall paintings will be on display until May 9, at which time they will be painted over.

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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