Art + Shanghai Gallery welcomes the year of the Tiger with Xu Kong (虚空): Emptiness. Employed by spiritual traditions of both western and eastern doctrines, mandalas act as a micro-representation of the universe perceived by humans, serving as sacred (and secular) narratives composed of icons and symbols aimed at unifying its viewer with a sense of oneness.
Xu Kong: Emptiness observes the mandala as a visual illustration employed in meditation and its ability to provide solace to viewers. The exhibition examines the sequence of patterns and personal codes used by four artists working in the mediums of video, painting, and photography, and applies their work to the significance of iconography in meditation.
Art + Shanghai Gallery exhibition, Wuwei: Being and Nothing explored the common ground between the mandala-creating practice of mindfulness and the Taoist/Buddhist concept “Wuwei” (non-action), emphasizing being in the moment and how it applies to particular artworks. As a principle employed in creativity, Wuwei explored selfless action as a doctrine used by five artists working in video, painting, sound and performance. Engaged in the creative process, the artists were not concerned with any particular outcome, emphasizing the journey rather then the end (work) displayed.
While Wuwei sought to investigate the human ontological dilemma for being in the world, Xu Kong is marked by unconventional imagery of a more metaphysical nature. The exhibition focuses on the use of space and more specifically how trivial codes and patterns are used by an artist to communicate meaning to an audience. Both represent an ‘abstract’ art genera, but highlight very distinct aspects, Wuwei, the action and Xu Kong the visual.
Art critic and scholar, Gao Minglu, refers to such artists, often filed under the umbrella term of abstract art, as Maximalists [1950s Minimalism and late 20th century Western Modernism]. For Gao, the artists go beyond the formal appearance of an artwork to express an individual perception through daily practices.
Expanding Gao’s theory on his theory to include ‘non-Chinese’ abstract art or Maximalism, the physical form of the works is not the essence of the art, but rather the relationship between the artwork and the artist’s affect on it, as impacted by the artist’s environment. His point is illustrated in Xu Kong through the works of each artist who expresses his/her spatial concepts through repetitive forms, creating an infinite, non-linear, narrative and/or space.
Similar to the philosophical poetry of early 17th century Europe or Tibetan Vajrayana mandalas, the works of Xu Kong are seculamentals (secular sacraments) to be venerated not for what they are, but for what they represent. They symbolize an understanding and feeling that cannot be read and must be experienced.
