Bangbang and Blackandwhite is a story of Bangbang who hangs about the streets, earning 2000RMB per month carrying shop goods and private “burdens”.  In the evenings he goes to Tuya Street where the beautiful Blackandwhite lives. He poses for her, getting 18RMB for 45 minutes - letting her make him more black and more white… He takes off his clothes and lies down very timidly in front of her. She looks at him for a while. Silence. It starts with light caresses, but with each moment her movements become stronger and more intense. She goes on and on, over his head, his nose, his lips, his shoulders, his thighs, and after spending her time with his penis, she finally moves back to his legs and finishes at his feet; she would like him to turn, but it is too tiring to do it for the second time. She knows that this time she will be able to turn him into her pain, her lust, her dreams, her desires...

He dresses slowly, spending a bit too much time with his buttons. Then disappears in the fog of Chongqing – slowly silently and proudly. He could be anyone – a monk, a king, a shop assistant or a real estate agent. He walks till the next crossroad where he leans against an electric pole - the only free left in the whole alley.

At the very end of the day after a small little hotpot, he gets together with his friends in a cellar teahouse where he speaks his mind and plays… Chongqing is a place where a revolution could begin…. he forgets about Blackandwhite……. and when they meet for the next time he will carry frames and clay, not even recognizing that it is her.

Bangbang and Blackandwhite is an exhibition presenting four female and two male artists based in Chongqing – all of different backgrounds, different generations, and employing different techniques.  In this exhibition they are brought together by the bangbang – a special character of Sichuan – and black and white – the color spectrum of their artworks.  Each of the artists has a refined trip of mind to reveal.

Li Xiaoqi finds inspiration for his oil paintings in Chinese literature, discovering Lu Xun’s “blood steamed bread”.
Fu Yuxiang takes out “charming dog”, one of his many animals that have so much to say.
Pang Xuan, after taking a long walk along the street of video, performance and photography, guides a trip in ink calligraphy with the use of a pencil.
Li Wenchun lets you follow her youthful and erotic fantasies where she always playfully finds herself.
Zheng Yu gives us a glimpse into her life’s only series of artwork  - the depiction of a mythological place, located at the spot where the sun rises. She builds it slowly, step by step, with very strict rules for people to enter. If you are lucky you could meet her there - sitting next to Hongyi Fashi.

Li Xiaojing, frame by frame, creates an army of “Lai” characters.

Zane Mellupe, curator ● 17 february 2011

Experiencing the city, Expressing the self

Chongqing, the foggy, well-known mountain city in the west of China with its high speed and intense pace of urbanisation is witness to all the realities of a national development policy focussing on economic growth. Geographically, Chongqing is an intersection of the urbanised lifestyles of eastern China and the less developed farming and production based economy of the west of China. The lifestyle there has long been structured around the culture of the riverside port, yet for more than 10 years, rapid urban construction has been overlapping the lifestyle and culture of the ordinary, common people, which is part and parcel of the throes of urban construction and modernisation. City development notably changes not only the surface of the city, it hastens the pace of ruptures in traditional lifestyles and the disappearance of regional culture and traditional lifestyles. A common phenomena, it is easily observed, not easily altered.

Before talking about Chongqing's contemporary art, two points must be made:
1. Art is inseparable from context. Chongqing's distinctive and rich urbanisation offers an incisive and graphic setting for artists to draw from.
2. Art is inseparable from tradition. In a sense, tradition implies style and heritage. Artists from the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute initiated the Sichuan school, a representation style predominantly concerned with the individual experience of the artist as a creative starting point. Exploring the inner experience of the artist, very few of their works addressed wider social themes. This is a direct way to use a private language to express perspectives on culture, forming a rich and highly individual expression. Starting in the '80s with Luo Zhongli's 'Father', other artists of the school were Zhang Xiaogang, Ye Yongqing, Zhou Chunya, He Duoling; in the '90s Chen Wenbo, Feng Zhengjie, Xin Haizhou, Yang Shu, Zhang Xiaotao; and in the '00s Li Duankai, Xiong Yu, Gao Yu and so on, all of whom have somewhat followed in this tradition. In this continuous flowing river of creation, it is clear that external context has been influential in bringing about changes in the focus of the works. From the "native soil" paintings of Luo Zhongli and others, to the "cartoon drawings" of typical city life by younger artists in the early '00s we can see how artists and their form of self-expression are indeed influenced by reality and social change.

The new generation of artists tend to have more clear individual standpoints. In the early '00s, many of Chongqing's artists were employing "cartoon drawing” techniques and expressing quite positive imaginations of city living, whereas now, we can see a lot more direct criticism in their work. In terms of painting language, artists are abandoning the practice of applying broad patches of colour, instead highlighting brushwork and technique, with the use of colour tending to be more personal. Pang Xuan, for example, in the early '00s was producing almost solely video and photography. Important topics of her work were the difficulties of youth and growing up, city and urbanisation, which formed an energetic yet perplexing view of the city. Her current works have a strong tendency to reflect on history and culture: her “Words and Phrases" series, which is a deconstruction of classical texts, creates a cultural dialogue and has very personal qualities. Zheng Yu builds himself a spiritual home called "Yang Valley Village". In this legendary place, where the sun rises each day, Zheng Yu builds herself a spiritual home called "Yang Valley Village". In this legendary place, where the sun rises each day, Zheng Yu uses her brush to create a mountain with villagers, as well as her ideal partner with whom to live with, there. Relative to male artists, the work of female artists tends towards humanisation and is more experience-oriented. Li Wenchun's work takes a very frank look on life, youth, growing up, motherhood, demonstrating life itself. Li Xiaojing connects memory and fantasy, to quietly observe the surrounding vicissitudes. Artistic creation is a process of interaction with external contexts and in the future hopefully we will see artists with more individual and gelivable means of expression.

Ni Kun, curator and Organhaus' executive director (translated by Lauren Gollasch)● 15 february 2011