Exhibition themed in Trudge – Geography of Utopia will be presented at Iberia Center for Contemporary Art located within 798 Art Zone in Beijing dating from 22 September till 15 October by Utopian Art Group artists Deng Dafei and He Hai.
Trudge is a daily behavior, as well as a symbolic notion or metaphor like pursuit, quest, or aspiration. It is natural to associate trudge with overwhelmingly philosophical quests as where we are from and where to go. As far as Utopian Art Group is concerned, the wonder of trudge lies in its magic combination of daily routine with ideal.
Shown in works completed individually or collaboratively, trudge has grown into a core concept to both artists’ creation over years. Trudge turns into the major form of art expression applied by both artists in their various works. Utopian Art Group has deployed unique artistic experiments across the nation and the globe, inspired permanently by featured domain wherever they set foot. Along with the constant treks, a trudging image emerges, mirroring Utopian Group’s ceaseless pursuit of ideal paradise beyond the filthy human world.
Utopian Art Group was invited by Manchester Chinese Art Center to complete on-the-spot art creation and to join the Asian Art Triennial Exhibition in the year of 2011, which generates the oncoming exhibition in September. During the one-month creation in Manchester, Deng Dafei and He Hai successfully conceived a series of works entitled Encircling, including behavioral art, video, photography, and sets of device demonstration. Dressed in bizarre costume and postures, the two artists pushed a giant wool ball along lanes and streets of Manchester, stringing up decisive sites of the city and eventually encircling a besieged spot. The route was copied onto the war of Chinese Art Center, forming an image of sheep. The highlight of this artistic creation is to call upon memory of Industrial Revolution in Manchester.
Encircling gave rise to the notion of trudge, corresponding to Utopian Group’s artistic aspiration. After the Asian Art Triennial Exhibition in Manchester, Utopian Group designed fresh works stressing on the theme of trudge. In the meanwhile, they sort out previous works with an intention of highlighting innate theme of trudge. The endeavor of the approaching exhibition is, therefore, consist of vigorous fresh creations plus renewed former works.
