On July 17th 2011, The Pace Gallery, Beijing will be pleased to present a solo exhibition for Qiu Zhijie for the very first time. Qiu Zhijie is a very important artist in the world of Chinese contemporary art. Integrating theory, text and creativity into distinct practice, he attempts to express his unique point of view towards art.
This exhibition, entitled Cell, explores just that through its works, consisting of unconstrained honeycomb-like units. Simple mediums and limitless combinations are evocative of a cell’s growth. This is a representation of growth, through which we have attempted to make a clear understanding emerge from the artist’s complex earlier works. The work’s simple weaving and growth explore the very possibilities of artistic expression.
About Qiu Zhijie
Qiu Zhijie was born in Fujian province in 1969, and graduated from the print department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1992. He currently works and lives in Beijing and Hangzhou. Combining a wide range of media, namely photography, video, calligraphy, painting, installation and performance, his works undeniably possess an experimental spirit.
Qiu Zhijie received traditional calligraphy training, as well as intense literature, history and philosophy reading at a relatively young age. He was exposed to contemporary art even before entering the China Academy of Fine Arts. During his study, he was deeply influenced by Joseph Beuys and the Fluxus movement. His graduation work, The Orchid Pavilion One Thousand Times, has become a classic in Chinese contemporary art history. After graduation, he audited classes at the Institute of Foreign Philosophy, Peking University, studying Analytical Philosophy and Phenomenological Philosophy. At the same time, he created a series of installations and photographic works concerning the control of media power and the rationality of identity concepts. In the mid 1990's, Qiu participated in the discussion about the tendency towards vulgar sociology in Chinese art and his writing on the subject was acclaimed. After that he curated a video art exhibition and became an active promoter of new media art. In the late 90s, critical of conceptual art, Qiu Zhijie curated an exhibition called “Post-Sensibility: Alien Bodies and Delusion Exhibition" (1999). Interest in calligraphy and traditional Chinese philosophy, as well as interest in the field study method of Sociology are both visible in his extreme and large-scale art creations.
Constantly innovating and evolving, since 1993, Qiu Zhijie’s works have been shown at first-class art institutions both domestically and internationally, including New York PS 1 Contemporary Art Center (Inside Out: New Chinese Art, 1998), Pompidou Art Center (This is China, 2003), The 6th Guangzhou Biennale (2006), Tate Liverpool (The Real Things: Chinese Contemporary Art, 2007), Venice Biennale (2009). In 2010, the artist also participated in The Pace Gallery, Beijing's group exhibition, Great Performances.
