AIKE-DELLARCO is pleased to announce Chen Zhou’s solo exhibition “Andy Kaufman." The title of this exhibition was inspired by Andy Kaufman, one of the brightest American stars of the 1970s. Kaufman was born in 1949, and died of lung cancer in 1984 – he was only 35. Audiences went wild over his unique performances on the stage and screen, some to the point of obsession. 

Chen Zhou admires Kaufman because his humor is often hidden within moments of "inaction", which were as simple as standing nervously on stage or drinking a glass of water. The simplicity of Kaufman's acts transcended logic and sparked the kind of spontaneous laughter that comes from the gut. Kaufman's genius for humor is a valuable legacy, especially in these overly complex, intellectually-focused times.

In his latest solo exhibition, Chen Zhou has moved away from his usual practice, abandoning his highly sophisticated and intricate shooting method. Instead, he has taken a more improvisational approach to shooting nine works in total, calling the series "9 Jokes". Those featured in the videos include Aike-Dellarco Director Roberto Ceresia, security guards from MadeIn Company's 2014 UCCA solo exhibition, artist couple Lin Ke and Wang Rui, audience members standing before Hans-Peter Feldmann's works, and Chen Zhou himself, recorded standing in front of his own works. The videos are an impressionistic representation of Chen's observations on and ridicule of contemporary art, and form a continuation of the artist's 2013 solo exhibition – “I'm not not not Chen Zhou”, and another stop on his "yellow journey".

*image (left)
courtesy of the artist and Aike Dellarco