2013/14 - LISTE 18 | The young art fair in Basel

Platform China0/9/7Platform China BJSun NingChen Haitao319-1 East End Art District A,Caochangdi Village CN-Chaoyang Ds.100015 BeijingT +86 10 6432 0091M +86 136 0100 6060Platform China HKClaudia Albertini60, Wing Tai Road, Chai WanIndustrial City Phase 1 Unit 601CN-Chai Wan Hong KongT +85 2 2523 8893M +85 2 9768 8093www.platformchina.orgSolo Show at LISTE:Zhao Zhao, 1982, CNOther Artists of the Gallery:Bi Jianye, CNHuang Liang, CNJia Aili, CNJin Shan, CNLi Ming, CNMa Ke, CNQin Qi, CNShi Jinsong, CNSong Yuanyuan, CNWang Yin, CNXiao Bo, CNXiao Jiang, CNZhang Yexing, CNZhou Yilun, CN(top)Zhao ZhaoFragments, 2007Steel26 × 27 × 5 cm(middle)Zhao ZhaoNecklace, 2007C-Print andLimestone;set of 3 photos100 × 150 cm eachand 35 beads of1.5 cm diametereach(bottom)Zhao ZhaoI cannot be sadsleeping next toyou, 2012Oil on canvas150 × 180 cm144 / 145Trained as painter at Xinjiang Arts Institute,Zhao Zhao (b. 1982) soon discoveredperformance as a medium to best expresshis concerns. He understands art as aperformative act to provoke and mediatealternative realities in pursuit of newsubjectivities. The first performance piecehe ever conceptualized was that of walkingnaked in public to challenge the systemof value and religious ideologies amonglocal Muslim population. The performancenever took place as he was arrestedbefore it happened. What it seemed arebellious streak was nonetheless his soonto develop artistic direction. Zhao believesart should engage people, trigger reactionsto heighten self-consciousness. Asconsequence of his first non-performance,the display of youthful high spirits grewinto a range of concerns that henceforthcharacterizes his diverse body of works.Zhao’s approach to art and his process ofmaking art is unique. He uses subversivemethods to present a concept, doing so heis sharp and successful. Many of his worksare related to an event, and his personalconnection to that it. The way the event hadimpact on Zhao induces him to turn it intoa form of expression, which fully translateshis thoughts and feelings.Zhao maintains that ‘aesthetics shouldgive rise to new possibilities’.Among his early projects, the photographicdocumentation of his performativeinterventions to works by his predecessorsis quite explanatory: Necklace (2007) is a35 bead string necklace made from partsof Joseph Beuys’ project 7000 Oaks;Euro (2008) takes stolen metal from Kiefer’sLibrary formerly on view at the HamburgerBahnhof and casts it into a one-Euro coin.Naturally inclined to a healthy disrespectfor authority, Zhao absorbed from hisproximity to Ai Weiwei an awareness of finergradations of iconoclastic behaviour.Hence a deep fascination to iconoclasmunderlies much of his works. However,his interventions show deep admiration anddesire for close engagement withprecursors.