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

Rijksakademie scholarship holder Cheng Ran’s (*1981) series Before Falling Asleep is inspired by classic fairy tales told at bedtime. The so far produced two out of four parts adapt the fables The Pond and the River by Ivan Krylov and Aesop’s Two Pigeons. Actors embody the animals of the original story, thus creating a grey area, where metaphors meet reality and philosophy encounters life. Before Falling Asleep Part 2 - Two Pigeons (2013, super 16 mm film transferred to single channel HD video, color/sound, 4’11”) will be shown as part of Art Basel Film on Thursday, June 19 at 10 pm at Stadtkino Basel.

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 ( Jesus’ Hair, 2013, oil on hand-made canvas, 201 × 143 cm; A Stone, 2013, oil on hand-made canvas, 95 × 95 cm).

Shao Fan (*1964) is known for his intriguing achromatic animal portraits (Portrait, 2014, oil on canvas, 145 × 90 cm). Deeply influenced by Chinese tradition his seemingly approachable works are not easy to grasp for someone with Western background.

Julia Steiner (*1981) works with gouache on large sheets of paper. Through the means of drawing, she investigates forms and structures of surfaces, employing fragments of found phenomena in her compositions. Condensations, blank spaces and states of transition interest her. They will exhibit three of her recent works: seesaw space (2013, gouache on paper, 220 × 150 cm), construction place (2013, gouache on paper, 203 × 306 cm) and Dark Move (2013, gouache on paper, 240 × 405 cm).

An endless curiosity for engagement with new experiences, places and people remains at the heart of Not Vital’s (*1948) work. His Mountains (2011, marble, plaster, 54 × 57.2 × 25.5 cm and 72 × 70.5 × 23.5 cm) are inspired by traditional Chinese Dali stones, an ancient practice of selecting marble blocks for their pattern, cutting them into thin slices and framing them. The patterns usually resemble steep mountains surrounded by water similar to Shanshui ink drawings, which have been popular in China since the 5th century.

Wang Xingwei (*1969) is prone to depicting scenes that are ambiguous, irrelevant, absurd, vulgar, scan- dalous and laughable. His plots are often unexpected, far-fetched, and yet charmingly surreal. They will present two of his paintings: untitled (moondoor) (2007, oil on canvas, 200 × 200 cm) and untitled (green penguin) (2005, oil on canvas, 168 × 175.5 cm).

Ai Weiwei’s (*1957) work Container (2013, huanghuali wood, 190 × 190 × 190 cm) is reminiscent of mini- malist sculpture or art transport crates. In contrast it was built in traditional Ming dynasty technique without the use of screws or nails. Its upper corners have been cut which makes the object useless and edgeless. Furthermore they will show works by Chinese artists Hu Qingyan (*1982) and Qiu Shihua (*1940), Xie Nanxing (*1970) and Yan Xing (*1986) as well as German artist Christian Schoeler (*1978).

-Galerie Urs Meile

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