On the occasion of Art Basel Hong Kong 2014, Galerie Urs Meile will be presenting a selection of recent works by our represented artists.

Ai Weiwei’s (*1957) series of photographs titled National Stadium (2006, digital lambda-print, 156 × 190 cm (framed), edition of 9 + 2 AP) shows the different phases of construction—from the trench to the building shell—of the now iconic site of the Beijing Olympic Stadium, nicknamed Bird’s Nest.

Hu Qingyan (*1982) is a very conceptual sculptor. His works are usually extremely labor-intensive, despite them being based on the artist’s research into the field of sculpture. His recent work The Empty Room No.2 (2013, square steel tube, air, 189 × 198 × 180 cm) is concerned with the empty space inside a complicatedly shaped, rectangular tube.

Li Gang (*1986) experiments with various aesthetic possibilities through a wide range of media. His recent endeavor in painting consist of coarse canvases, handmade out of hemp-string, on which he paints magnified details of famous paintings, such as a part of a mustache or a fruit bowl (Red Apple, Green Apple, 2013, oil on hand-made canvas, 131 × 171 cm).

Tobias Rehberger (*1966) created a ‘third edition’ of Bar Oppenheimer—the bar he frequents, located at the heart of the Frankfurt’s artistic community—for Art Basel Hong Kong Encounters (HOMEAWAY (Oppenheimer Drawings II), 2014, porcelain, metal, watercolor on paper, bar: 370 × 870 × 270 cm; wall: 360 × 870 cm). The entire structure of the bar is made of porcelain; its surface is not glazed and thus remains open-pored. As the work will serve its purpose and will be used as a bar, it will soon accumulate stains and marks, which Rehberger interprets as “memory traces.” The wall behind the bar is covered with a pattern executed in a traditional watercolor technique and the height of the bar was lowered to suit traditional Chinese porcelain stools. In their Beijing location Galerie Urs Meile presents, simultaneous to Art Basel Hong Kong, the first solo exhibition by Tobais Rehberger in China. Das Kind muss raus 生 presents newest pieces, which were devised by Rehberger especially for Beijing and produced in Beijing and Jingdezhen. The works collec- tively act as a specially formulated continuation of the artists ongoing investigations into spatial aware- ness, matters of perception, and the everyday made extraordinary.

Shao Fan (*1964) usually works in oil painting, but recently has created a number of animal portraits in traditional Chinese ink. Each stroke is executed with the sense that it alone is already beautiful and together they create the image. Two of his ink drawings (Portrait, 2013, ink on rice paper, 365 × 154 cm; Portrait, 2013, ink on rice paper, 145 × 96 cm) will be shown.

Since many years Wang Xingwei (*1969) is creating an interwoven body of work, where one painting is born out of the previous one. Wang is prone to depicting scenes that are ambiguous, irrelevant, absurd, vulgar, scandalous and laughable. His plots are often unexpected, far-fetched, yet charmingly surreal. We will present his most recent work By the River Neva in St. Petersburg (2014, oil on canvas, 200 × 200 cm) depicting Wang’s vision of a hot summer day at the banks of the Russian river.

Xie Nanxing (*1970) is compelled to advance painting’s potential through experimentation and innova- tion. In his recent series, he alienates images in such a way that at first glance they seem abstract, but upon closer look one recognizes figurative elements (untitled, 2014, oil on canvas, 220 x 320 cm).

We will also exhibit works from the newest projects Two videos, three photographs, several related masterpieces, and American art (2013) and Lenin in 1918 (2013) by Yan Xing (*1986), which he developed for his exhibition at Galerie Urs Meile Beijing in fall 2013. Yan Xing combines a pure visual aesthetic with his talent in storytelling and references to art, history, politics and literature.

Furthermore we will show works by Swiss artists Julia Steiner (*1981) and Not Vital (*1948) and Chinese artists Shan Fan (*1959) and Qiu Shihua (*1940).

Complete list of artists:

Ai Weiwei –Hu Qingyan – Li Gang – Tobias Rehberger – Qiu Shihua – Shan Fan – Shao Fan – Julia Steiner – Not Vital – Wang Xingwei – Xie Nanxing – Yan Xing

-Galerie Urs Meile

Image: © Ai Wei Wei
Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne