MadeIn Gallery is pleased to present a selection of works for the 2020 Guangzhou Art Fair, featuring artists Chen Ying, Ding Li, Lu Pingyuan, XU ZHEN®, Yang Shen and Zhong Wei.

About Chen Ying

Chen Ying born in 1982 in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang Province of China, majored in Scenography and graduated from the Central Academy of Drama in 2010. He currently lives and works in Beijing. Chen Ying’s paintings mostly originate from real-life scenes. During his creation process, Chen integrates iconic geometric forms within scenes from his everyday life, reconstructing the image. As the three-dimensional space is constantly compressed and altered, the work under his paintbrush gradually becomes abstract. Chen’s practice presents perpetual incidental changes, and a subtle conversion between two and three-dimensional space, reality and withdrawal is revealed through the artist’s meditative perspective.

His most recent exhibitions include: “Chen Ying Solo Exhibition”, KWM artcenter, Beijing, 2019; "Extreme Mix”, Guangzhou Airport Biennale, Guangzhou, China, 2019; “Traceable”, Madein Gallery x Carlos/Ishikawa@CONDO Shanghai 2018, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, 2018; “Reality & Regeneration-CHEN Ying Solo Exhibition, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, 2017; “Form Consumption Over Substance Reflection”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, 2017; Scissors & Stone & Cloth, Songzhuang Museum, Beijing, 2014; “Micro Real”- China and Japan Youth Artists Exhibition, Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, 2014.

About Ding Li

Ding Li was born in 1979 in Shanghai, and graduated with a MA from theOil Painting Department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris, France (École NationaleSupérieure des Beaux-arts de Paris). The works of Ding Li are based on repeatedexperiments with the aim of defining a pure expression of his own in thismedia. His practice focuses on the exploration of painting developed frommaterials characteristics and presents a new visual language through thereconstruction of oil paints, spray paints, brushes and frames.

His recent exhibitions include: “April 12th, No.106, 2879 LongtengAvenue”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2020; “Robert Song”, MadeIn Gallery,Shanghai, China, 2019; “Wild Metropolis”, PowerlongMuseum, Shanghai, China, 2019; “Advent: Inventing Landscape, Producing theEarth”, Qianshao Contemporary Art Center, Shanghai, China, 2019; “Extreme Mix-GuangzhouAirport Biennale”, Guangzhou, China, 2019; “The Kind Stranger”, UNART Center,Shanghai, 2019; “The Variable and The Generating”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai,2019; The First Porsche “Young Chinese Artist of the Year” Nominees’Exhibition, Modern Art Museum, Shanghai, China, 2017; “Serendipitous Mission”,MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2017; "Form Consumption Over SubstanceReflection", MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2017; "InformationSculpture Superhighway", MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2016;"Inventing Ritual", Bentu, Chinese artists at a time ofturbulence and transformation, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, France,2016; "Not Impulsive Enough Is the Devil", MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai,China, 2015.

About Lu Pingyuan

Lu Pingyuan was born in 1984 in Zhejiang province, China, lives and works in Shanghai. Lu Pingyuan‘s artworks involves a variety of media, including texts, installations, videos, paintings and others. For a few years, Lu Pingyuan concentrated his practice on the writing of “stories” as a unique type of media for art creation. These short “stories” significantly broaden the artworks’ state of existence in the real world, extend the inherent spirit of art itself. His works have been exhibited extensively in both national and international museums and biennales.

Recent solo exhibitions include: “Imperishable Affection”, Powerlong Museum, Shanghai, China, 2020; “KOLA”, chi K11 Art Museum, Shanghai, China, 2019; “La Malle aux Trésors”, Mansion de Hermès, Shanghai, China, 2018; “Lost Child”, ONEHOME Art Hotel, Shanghai, China; “HOME ALONe”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, 2017; “Hidden Treasure”, The Galaxy Museum of Contemporary Art, Chongqing, China, 2017; “James Stanley-The Seventh Earl of Derby”, Center for Chinese Contemporary Art, United Kingdom, 2016; “ON KAWARA”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, 2016; “Unexpected Discoveries”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, 2015; “Time Capsule”, Gallery Box, Gothenburg, Sweden, 2011. He participated in numerous group shows among which are “Shanghai Plaza”, Shanghai Plaza, Shanghai, China, 2020; “Something Happened”, Powerlong Art Center, Xiamen, China, 2020; “Wish You a Sweeeeeet Life”, Duende Contemporary Art Museum, Foshan, China; “YES! ART FESTIVAL”, M WOODS, Beijing, China, 2020; “Illusive Particles”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2020; “PROPHESY”, Wind H Art Center, Beijing, China, 2020; “Wild Cinema”, TX Huaihai, Shanghai, 2020; “Being of Evils”, Hive Center for Contemporary Art (Beijing), Beijing, China, 2020; “Wild Metropolis”, Powerlong Museum, Shanghai, China, 2019; “The Secret of Childhood”, Luxelakes·A4 Art Museum, Chengdu, China, 2019; “Advent: Inventing Landscape, Producing the Earth”, Qianshao Contemporary Art Center, Shanghai, China, 2019; “Extreme Mix-Guangzhou Airport Biennale”, Guangzhou, China, 2019; “Land of the Lustrous” UCCA Dune, Qinhuang Island, China, 2019;  “Edge of the Wonderland-Thailand Art Biennale”, Krabi, Thailand, 2018; “Artist is Present”, Yuz Museum, Shanghai, China, 2018; “City Unbounded-China·Shanghai Jing’an International Sculpture Project”, Jing’an Sculpture Park, Shanghai, China, 2018; “This is Shanghai”, Cunard Building, Liverpool, UK, 2018; “Long March Project: Building Code Violations III - Special Economic Zone”, Long March Space, Beijing, China, 2018; “Arts in Urban Cultures”, Taikoo Li Sanlitun, Beijing, China, 2018; “*underground-children-festival”, Para Site x Goethe-Institut Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, 2018; “Animamix Biennale—Ballade”, Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai, Shanghai, China，2018; “PLAY”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2018; “11th Shanghai Biennale”, Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China, 2016; “9th Liverpool Biennale”, Liverpool, England, 2016; “A Beautiful Disorder”, Cass Sculpture Foundation, England, 2016; “Mountain Sites: Views of Laoshan”, Si Fang Art Museum, Nanjing, China, 2016; “3rd Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art”, Ural, Russia, 2015 etc. Lu Pingyuan was nominated for the 4th Art Sanya for the Young Chinese Artists Award and the First Porsche “Young Chinese Artist of the Year”.

About XU ZHEN®

XU ZHEN®, founded by artist Xu Zhen in 2013, is the flagship art brand of MadeIn Company. Born in 1977, Xu Zhen is a leading Chinese artist and curator, and the founder of MadeIn Company. XU ZHEN® is committed to art creation and cutting-edge culture development. XU ZHEN® is one such initiative to offer spiritual aspirations and life experiences of the finest quality through the appreciation and collection of artworks and events produced by the brand.

Xu Zhen

Artist, Curator, MadeIn Company Founder

Xu Zhen was born in 1977, and lives and works in Shanghai. Xu Zhen has been considered as an iconic figure in Chinese contemporary art. In 2004, Xu won the prize for ‘Best Artist’ at the China Contemporary Art Award. His practice covers various media such as installations, video, painting and performance, etc. 

Xu Zhen has exhibited internationally, at museums and biennales, such as, Venice Biennale (2001, 2005), The Museum of Modern Art (New York, 2004), Mori Art Museum (Tokyo, 2005), MoMA PS1 (New York, 2006), Tate Liverpool (2007), Hayward Gallery (London, 2012), Lyon Biennial (2013), Armory Show (New York, 2014), Long Museum (Shanghai 2015), Al Riwaq Art Center (Qatar, 2016), Sydney Biennial (2016), Guggenheim Museum (New York, 2017), Sharjah Biennial (2019), The Museum of Contemporary Art（Los Angeles, 2019）, among others. 

Aside from being an artist, Xu Zhen is also a curator. He co-curated together with other artists major exhibitions in Shanghai and was one of the initiators of Art-Ba-Ba (www.art-ba-ba.com), a leading online forum for discussion and critique of contemporary art in Shanghai, in 2006. In 2009, Xu Zhen established ‘MadeIn Company’, a contemporary art creation corporate, focused on the production of creativity, and devoted to the research of contemporary culture’s infinite possibilities. In 2013, MadeIn Company launched XU ZHEN® which is committed to art creation and cutting-edge culture development. In 2014, MadeIn Company established MadeIn Gallery and in November 2016 launched the first “Xu Zhen Store” in Shanghai. 

About Yang Shen

Yang Shen, born in 1973 in Beijing, graduated from the Mural Art department of Central Academy of Fine Arts. He currently lives and works in Beijing. Yang Shen's paintings focus on the connection between personal memories, experiences, fantasies and historical times. Through continuous practice and unceasing exploration of painting language, Yang has gradually established a unique personal style. His paintings profoundly narrative-oriented, using illusory imagination to transform daily scenes into absurd and surrealistic visual experiences. He excels in juxtaposing cinematic elements, science fiction scenes and characters bearing the marks of time, to create fantastical surrealistic pictures.

His exhibitions include: “Meeting the Future – International Exhibition for Contemporary Art”, S x V Museum of Modern Art, Qingdao, China, “An Opera for Animals”, Rockbund Museum, Shanghai, China; "Supernatural”, White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australis, 2018; “YANG Shen: Oddity”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2018; “Commodity & Ideology”, Klapper Hall Gallery, New York, U.S.A., 2017; “Scarcity & Supply”, The 3rd Nanjing International Art Festival, Baijia Lake Art Museum, Nanjing, China, 2016; “KOREA with KOREA”, OZANEAUX ArtSpace, New York, U.S.A., 2016; “John Moores Painting Prize China”, SPSI Art Museum, Shanghai, China, 2012.

About Zhong Wei

Zhong Wei, born in Beijing, China in 1987, currently works and lives in Beijing. Zhong’s practice takes form in immersive installations and paintings that speak to China's vibrant but chaotic Internet-based visual language. Having compiled a massive database of memes and imagery found online, Zhong uses these ubiquitous images as raw materials for his works. After arranging these materials in countless arrays and variations using computer, the artist builds digital sketches before painting them on canvas. Zhong responds through appropriation to the Internet popular culture, collective psychology, and social phenomena. Data and composite images removed from their context are intertwined on the canvas, presenting the virtual world unique ecosystem and visual experience. 

Zhong Wei held a solo exhibition "易变░耦态 :NeメT Levé し" at de Sarthe Gallery, Hong Kong in 2019, and participated to the group show "Contemporary Showing Off" at de Sarthe Gallery, Hong Kong in 2020. Zhong Wei will also present a new installation project at PLATE Space in Beijing in 2020. His works are included in permanent collections among which: JP Morgan Chase Art Collection.

MadeIn Gallery Artist Lu Pingyuan's proposal Tree is shortlisted for the third and fourth High Line Plinth commission.

Pine trees have a very unique meaning in Eastern culture. They symbolize independence, monasticism, tenacity, longevity, and hospitality. They often appear lonely on cliffs and are praised by the ancients in a stance of bending over to meet other people. Lu Pingyuan borrows the form and cultural connotation of pine trees to transform this ancient oriental sacred plant into one of the universal languages of the world: an anthropomorphic cartoon form, and then he moves it to the urban civilization, which represents the center of the world. This absurd contextual replacement makes Tree present a complex anxiety about globalization.

After collecting and reviewing 80 proposals from a wide range of artists nominated by an international advisory committee, High Line Art has shortlisted 12 proposals for further consideration for the third and fourth High Line Plinthcommissions. The selected proposals are by artists Iván Argote, Nina Beier, Margarita Cabrera, Nick Cave, Banu Cennetoğlu, Rafa Esparza, Teresita Fernández, Kapwani Kiwanga, Lu Pingyuan, Pamela Rosenkranz, Mary Sibande, and Andra Ursuţa. The artists hail from five continents, coming from Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark, Mexico, Romania, South Africa, Switzerland, Turkey, and throughout the United States. They bring a range of perspectives, with proposals that touch on colonialism, climate change, human rights, spirituality, and the natural world.

An exhibition of sculptural models of their proposed artworks will be exhibited on the High Line beginning in January 2021. Two out of the 12 shortlisted proposals will be selected as the third and fourth High Line Plinth commissions, to be installed in 2022 and 2024 respectively. Each Plinth commission will be on view for 18 months.

About the High Line Plinth

The High Line Plinth is a new landmark destination for public art, designed as the focal point of the Spur, the newest section of the High Line. Unlike most of the other sections of the park where visitors are moving along thoroughfares, the Spur is conceived as a natural gathering space. The Plinth serves as an anchor at the center of this piazza, creating a dialogue with the towering skyscrapers and arresting vistas of the immediate surroundings. As the first location on the High Line that is solely dedicated to the presentation of art, the High Line Plinth provides artists an incredible opportunity to realize new and ambitious commissions on a scale rarely seen in the public sphere in New York. Inspired by the Fourth Plinth of Trafalgar Square in London, the large scale and high visibility of the Plinth offers artists a unique platform to inspire a diverse public audience and contribute to the ever-changing conversation around contemporary art and monuments.

About Lu Pingyuan

Lu Pingyuan was born in 1984 in Zhejiang province, China, lives and works in Shanghai. Lu Pingyuan‘s artworks involves a variety of media, including texts, installations, videos, paintings and others. For a few years, Lu Pingyuan concentrated his practice on the writing of “stories” as a unique type of media for art creation. These short “stories” significantly broaden the artworks’ state of existence in the real world, extend the inherent spirit of art itself. His works have been exhibited extensively in both national and international museums and biennales.

Recent solo exhibitions include: "Imperishable Affection", Powerlong Museum, Shanghai, China, 2020; “KOLA”, chi K11 Art Museum, Shanghai, China, 2019; “La Malle aux Trésors”, Mansion de Hermès, Shanghai, China, 2018; “Lost Child”, ONEHOME Art Hotel, Shanghai, China; “HOME ALONe”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, 2017; “Hidden Treasure”, The Galaxy Museum of Contemporary Art, Chongqing, China, 2017; “James Stanley-The Seventh Earl of Derby”, Center for Chinese Contemporary Art, United Kingdom, 2016; “ON KAWARA”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, 2016; “Unexpected Discoveries”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, 2015; “Time Capsule”, Gallery Box, Gothenburg, Sweden, 2011. He participated in numerous group shows among which are “Shanghai Plaza”, Shanghai Plaza, Shanghai, China, 2020; “Something Happened”, Powerlong Art Center, Xiamen, China, 2020; “Wish You a Sweeeeeet Life”, Duende Contemporary Art Museum, Foshan, China; “YES! ART FESTIVAL”, M WOODS, Beijing, China, 2020; “Illusive Particles”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2020; “PROPHESY”, Wind H Art Center, Beijing, China, 2020; “Wild Cinema”, TX Huaihai, Shanghai, 2020; “Being of Evils”, Hive Center for Contemporary Art (Beijing), Beijing, China, 2020; “Wild Metropolis”, Powerlong Museum, Shanghai, China, 2019; “The Secret of Childhood”, Luxelakes·A4 Art Museum, Chengdu, China, 2019; “Advent: Inventing Landscape, Producing the Earth”, Qianshao Contemporary Art Center, Shanghai, China, 2019; “Extreme Mix-Guangzhou Airport Biennale”, Guangzhou, China, 2019; “Land of the Lustrous” UCCA Dune, Qinhuang Island, China, 2019;  “Edge of the Wonderland-Thailand Art Biennale”, Krabi, Thailand, 2018; “Artist is Present”, Yuz Museum, Shanghai, China, 2018; “City Unbounded-China·Shanghai Jing’an International Sculpture Project”, Jing’an Sculpture Park, Shanghai, China, 2018; “This is Shanghai”, Cunard Building, Liverpool, UK, 2018; “Long March Project: Building Code Violations III - Special Economic Zone”, Long March Space, Beijing, China, 2018; “Arts in Urban Cultures”, Taikoo Li Sanlitun, Beijing, China, 2018; “*underground-children-festival”, Para Site x Goethe-Institut Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, 2018; “Animamix Biennale—Ballade”, Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai, Shanghai, China，2018; “PLAY”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2018; “11th Shanghai Biennale”, Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China, 2016; “9th Liverpool Biennale”, Liverpool, England, 2016; “A Beautiful Disorder”, Cass Sculpture Foundation, England, 2016; “Mountain Sites: Views of Laoshan”, Si Fang Art Museum, Nanjing, China, 2016; “3rd Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art”, Ural, Russia, 2015 etc. Lu Pingyuan was nominated for the 4th Art Sanya for the Young Chinese Artists Award and the First Porsche “Young Chinese Artist of the Year”.

MadeIn Gallery is pleased to participate in the 2020 ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair, from November 12th to November 15th, 2020, presenting a selection of recent works by artists Ding Li, Liu Wa, Lu Pingyuan, Pu Yingwei, Su Yu-Xin, Wang Ziquan and XU ZHEN®. 
 

About Ding Li

Ding Li was born in 1979 in Shanghai, and graduated with a MA from theOil Painting Department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris, France (École NationaleSupérieure des Beaux-arts de Paris). The works of Ding Li are based on repeatedexperiments with the aim of defining a pure expression of his own in thismedia. His practice focuses on the exploration of painting developed frommaterials characteristics and presents a new visual language through thereconstruction of oil paints, spray paints, brushes and frames.

His recent exhibitions include: “April 12th, No.106, 2879 LongtengAvenue”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2020; “Robert Song”, MadeIn Gallery,Shanghai, China, 2019; “Wild Metropolis”, PowerlongMuseum, Shanghai, China, 2019; “Advent: Inventing Landscape, Producing theEarth”, Qianshao Contemporary Art Center, Shanghai, China, 2019; “Extreme Mix-GuangzhouAirport Biennale”, Guangzhou, China, 2019; “The Kind Stranger”, UNART Center,Shanghai, 2019; “The Variable and The Generating”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai,2019; The First Porsche “Young Chinese Artist of the Year” Nominees’Exhibition, Modern Art Museum, Shanghai, China, 2017; “Serendipitous Mission”,MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2017; "Form Consumption Over SubstanceReflection", MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2017; "InformationSculpture Superhighway", MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2016;"Inventing Ritual", Bentu, Chinese artists at a time ofturbulence and transformation, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, France,2016; "Not Impulsive Enough Is the Devil", MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai,China, 2015.

About Liu Wa

Liu Wa (b.1994) is an artist who explores the subjectivity and limitation of human perception through interactive installation, moving image, and painting. She receives her BA in Anthropology and Art from Yale University in 2017 and currently works in Beijing and New York. Through technological approaches, neuroscience in particular, she creates visual pathways between the abstract emotions of the audience and the physical environment. In the current age of technology, her pluralistic practices seek to grapple with humanist topics, such as self-awareness and agency, exploring the interdependence between mentality and physicality. Liu’s works have been globally exhibited and collected by prestigious museums and galleries. She is the winner of the 2018-2019 Porsche “Young Chinese Artist of the Year” and was selected for the “Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list” in 2019.

Recent solo exhibitions include: Solo project: “Moon Milk”, ART021, Shanghai Exhibition Center, Shanghai, China, 2019; “Glimpse”, Asia Now, Paris, France, 2019; “Glimpse: A Passing Look”, Sabsay Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2018; “Still”, Arts First Festival, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA, 2017; “Tree of Life”, performance, Yale University, New Haven, USA, 2015. Selected group exhibitions include: “Immaterial/Re-material”, UCCA Beijing, Beijing, China, 2020; “Words at an Exhibition”, Busan Biennale 2020, Busan, Korea, 2020; “The 2018-2019 Porsche ‘Young Chinese Artist of the Year’ Nominees Exhibition”, Beijing Exhibition Center, Beijing, China, 2019; “Enter”, Refshaleoen, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2019; “The Variable and The Generating”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, 2019; “Porsche Young Chinese Artist of the Year”, Beijing Exhibition Centre, Beijing, China, 2019; “The 6th Guangzhou Triennial—As We May Think”, Feedforward, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China, 2018; “After Sunset”, Galerie Liusa Wang, Paris, France, 2018; “Heart of the Tin Man”, M Woods Museum, Beijing, China, 2017; “I Do (Not) Want To Be Part Of Your Celebration”, Qiao Space & Tank Project Space, Shanghai, China, 2017; “Art Utopia”, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China, 2016; “Fantastic Art China”, Javits Convention Center, New York, USA, 2016.

About Lu Pingyuan

Lu Pingyuan was born in 1984 in Zhejiang province, China, lives and works in Shanghai. Lu Pingyuan‘s artworks involves a variety of media, including texts, installations, videos, paintings and others. For a few years, Lu Pingyuan concentrated his practice on the writing of “stories” as a unique type of media for art creation. These short “stories” significantly broaden the artworks’ state of existence in the real world, extend the inherent spirit of art itself. His works have been exhibited extensively in both national and international museums and biennales.

Recent solo exhibitions include: “KOLA”, chi K11 Art Museum, Shanghai, China, 2019; “La Malle aux Trésors”, Mansion de Hermès, Shanghai, China, 2018; “Lost Child”, ONEHOME Art Hotel, Shanghai, China; “HOME ALONe”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, 2017; “Hidden Treasure”, The Galaxy Museum of Contemporary Art, Chongqing, China, 2017; “James Stanley-The Seventh Earl of Derby”, Center for Chinese Contemporary Art, United Kingdom, 2016; “ON KAWARA”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, 2016; “Unexpected Discoveries”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, 2015; “Time Capsule”, Gallery Box, Gothenburg, Sweden, 2011. He participated in numerous group shows among which are “Shanghai Plaza”, Shanghai Plaza, Shanghai, China, 2020; “Something Happened”, Powerlong Art Center, Xiamen, China, 2020; “Wish You a Sweeeeeet Life”, Duende Contemporary Art Museum, Foshan, China; “YES! ART FESTIVAL”, M WOODS, Beijing, China, 2020; “Illusive Particles”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2020; “PROPHESY”, Wind H Art Center, Beijing, China, 2020; “Wild Cinema”, TX Huaihai, Shanghai, 2020; “Being of Evils”, Hive Center for Contemporary Art (Beijing), Beijing, China, 2020; “Wild Metropolis”, Powerlong Museum, Shanghai, China, 2019; “The Secret of Childhood”, Luxelakes·A4 Art Museum, Chengdu, China, 2019; “Advent: Inventing Landscape, Producing the Earth”, Qianshao Contemporary Art Center, Shanghai, China, 2019; “Extreme Mix-Guangzhou Airport Biennale”, Guangzhou, China, 2019; “Land of the Lustrous” UCCA Dune, Qinhuang Island, China, 2019;  “Edge of the Wonderland-Thailand Art Biennale”, Krabi, Thailand, 2018; “Artist is Present”, Yuz Museum, Shanghai, China, 2018; “City Unbounded-China·Shanghai Jing’an International Sculpture Project”, Jing’an Sculpture Park, Shanghai, China, 2018; “This is Shanghai”, Cunard Building, Liverpool, UK, 2018; “Long March Project: Building Code Violations III - Special Economic Zone”, Long March Space, Beijing, China, 2018; “Arts in Urban Cultures”, Taikoo Li Sanlitun, Beijing, China, 2018; “*underground-children-festival”, Para Site x Goethe-Institut Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, 2018; “Animamix Biennale—Ballade”, Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai, Shanghai, China，2018; “PLAY”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2018; “11th Shanghai Biennale”, Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China, 2016; “9th Liverpool Biennale”, Liverpool, England, 2016; “A Beautiful Disorder”, Cass Sculpture Foundation, England, 2016; “Mountain Sites: Views of Laoshan”, Si Fang Art Museum, Nanjing, China, 2016; “3rd Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art”, Ural, Russia, 2015 etc. Lu Pingyuan was nominated for the 4th Art Sanya for the Young Chinese Artists Award and the First Porsche “Young Chinese Artist of the Year”.

About Pu Yingwei

Pu Yingwei, 1989 Born in Taiyuan, China. Lives and works in Lyon and Beijing, received his BFA from Sichuan Fine art Institute, DNSEP (MFA with Félicitation du jury) from École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Lyon. Pu Yingwei bases his work upon his personal investigation of realities, as he believes that the experience and memory of individuals are the cordial justification of the world’s existence. The artist is revisiting and parodying political and historical text in a personal way through his practice of various forms, including exhibition, writing, publishing and lecturing, and working in his writing of a nonfictional autobiography the narratives that involve such broad topics as race, country, language and colonization.

Recent solo exhibitions/projects: “Photoethics: CHINAFRICA”, JIMEI x ARLES Discovery Award 2020, Xiamen, 2020; “Time, History, Why We Fight”, Beehive Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, 2020; Personal Project “Pu Yingwei and ChinaCapital”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, 2020; “Double Empire”, Nouvel Institut Franco-Chinois, Lyon, 2018; “If only it were true”, Galerie Sator, Paris, 2018; “Pu Yingwei and Jim Thompson Architects”, J: GALLERY, Shanghai, 2017; “Roman Nomade”, Hive Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, 2017; Recent group exhibitions: “AN ARCHIVE:SEVEN TRAILS”, Taikang Space, Beijing, 2020; “Those who see and know all, are all and can do all.”, 798 Art Center, Beijing, 2020; “Golden Flow”, Beijing Contemporary Art Expo 2020, Beijing, 2020; “Being of Evils”, Hive Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, 2020; “Dance With It”, Taikang Space, Beijing, 2018; “The Comfort Zone At A Distance”, Taikang Space-Light Pavilion, Beijing, 2018; “Frontier: Re-assessment of Post-Globalisational Politics”, OCAT Shanghai/OCAT Institute, Shanghai/Beijing, 2017-2018; “Fiction Art”, OCAT Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 2018; “I Do (not) Want To Be Part Of Your Celebration”, Qiao Space & TANK Shanghai Project Space, Shanghai, 2017; “Reciprocal Enlightenment”, CAFA, Beijing, 2017. Recent curatorial projects: “Sino-Wharf from Chinatown to Red Internationalism”, OCAT Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 2020. He won the John Moores Painting Prize (2012). HuaYu Youth Award (2018). His film “Interview” has been shortlisted for Caen Si Cinema Festival (2018). He has been shortlisted for “JIMEI·ARLES Discovery Reward” (2020) and the Gen.T list (2020). Also, Pu Yingwei views the nomadic life he’s lived in China and the West and the tide of globalization as a type of contemporary exile, and tries to describe in his works the intertextuality and mutual clarification between China’s domestic situations and other cultural contexts. In 2016, after “post-truth” became the word of the year, Pu Yingwei began his fictional writing, His article Empire’s Legacy On “Pacing: A Journey of 70 years” and its silences won the second prize of for the IAAC (International Awards for Art Criticism), in the belief that first-language writing and translating are the identity construction and contextual production as one among the “others”. And such production is ushering in a new possible identity that is rid of any established ideologies.

About Su Yu-Xin

Su Yu-Xin (b. 1991) was born in Taipei. She holds a MFA in Fine Arts from Slade School of Fine Art UCL, and works between Shanghai and Taipei. Her painting and other practices focuse on the relationships between visual language and other sensorial perceptions. Rather than painting from images or photography, Su’s work often tends to explore the complexity of a moment or a vague perception in life. Su uses painting to construct a delicate alternation of horizons, which varying distances elicit different paces of observation. The colourful layered surface and multi-perspectives in her works generate a dynamic vision within each painting.

Su’s paintings study how different rhythms, and fundamentally, the fluidity of human experience can operate and be stored inside a still imagery. In her practice, landscape is an in-between place, a traditional frontality in painting, which allows the artist to switch between figuration and abstraction, investigating the concept of new landscape - a mixture of still-life, graphs, digital calendar, fragments of text and memory. The landscape she is depicting is a field of hybrid vision and a contemporary impressionism that was never seen before this age.

Her recent exhibitions include: Solo Project “Almost No Memory”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, 2020; “A Hue to Spell”, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, 2019; “hic sunt leones”, 798 Art Centre, Beijing, 2019; “Taiwan Biennial-Wild Rhizome”, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, 2018; “Building Code Violation III, Special Economic Zone”, Long March Space, Beijing, 2018; “A World in a Grain of Sand: Mapping Shapes and Sites for Social Deometries Atlantis Fosun Foundation”, Sanya, 2018; “Trembling Surfaces”, Long March space, Beijing, 2016; “Future Island”, Saatchi Gallery, London, 2016; “2016 Slade Degree Show”, UCL, London, 2016; “Refuse: Refuge: Re-fuse”, The Koppel Project, London, 2016; “Small press project”, University of College London, London, 2016; “2015 Slade Interim show”, UCL, Slade School of Fine Art, London, 2015; etc.

About Wang Ziquan

Wang Ziquan, born in Shenyang, Liaoning in 1993, currently lives and works betweenHangzhou and Shanghai. He graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts witha B.A. degree in sculpture in 2017 and from the Royal College of Art with anM.A. degree in 2019. Wang’s practice is rooted in his unique observation andunderstanding of the Internet and the virtual world, exploring the thresholdvalues between virtuality and reality, and using 3D software to imitate theabsurdity in the physical world. By using narrative computer images, he copiesand pastes between virtual and real spaces.

Recent exhibitions includes: “ENSEMBLE URBAN”, APSMUSEUM, Shanghai, China, 2020; “The Picture Is Not at Ease”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2020; “Kung Fu or Disco?", Wooton Gallery, Changsha, China, 2020; Shanghai “Illusive Particles”, MadeInGallery, Shanghai, China, 2020; “Art Nova 100” , Guardian Art Center,Beijing, China, 2019; “Fragmentation”, The Coningsby Gallery, London, UnitedKingdom, 2019; “Material Statement”, Dyson Gallery, Royal College of Art,London, United Kingdom, 2019 and etc.; Wang Ziquan wasshortlisted for the Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize in 2020.

About XU ZHEN®

XU ZHEN®, founded by artist Xu Zhen in 2013, is the flagship art brand of MadeIn Company. Born in 1977, Xu Zhen is a leading Chinese artist and curator, and the founder of MadeIn Company. XU ZHEN® is committed to art creation and cutting-edge culture development. Through collecting and appreciating artworks and events produced by XU ZHEN®, users can enjoy spiritual aspirations and life experiences of the finest quality. 

Xu Zhen

Artist, Curator, MadeIn Company Founder

Xu Zhen was born in 1977, and lives and works in Shanghai.

Xu Zhen has been considered as an iconic figure in Chinese contemporary art. In 2004, Xu won the prize for ‘Best Artist’ at the Chinese Contemporary Art Award. His practice covers various media such as installations, video, painting and performance, etc.

Xu Zhen has exhibited internationally, at museums and biennales, such as, Venice Biennale (2001, 2005), The Museum of Modern Art (New York, 2004), Mori Art Museum (Tokyo, 2005), MoMA PS1 (New York, 2006), Tate Liverpool (2007), Hayward Gallery (London, 2012), Lyon Biennial (2013), Armory Show (New York, 2014), Long Museum (Shanghai 2015), Al Riwaq Art Center (Qatar, 2016), Sydney Biennial (2016), Guggenheim Museum (New York, 2017), Sharjah Biennial (2019), Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles, 2019), National Gallery of Australia (Canberra, 2020), among others.

Aside from being an artist, Xu Zhen is also a curator. He co-curated together with other artists major exhibitions in Shanghai and was one of the initiators of Art-Ba-Ba (www.art-ba-ba.com), a leading online forum for discussion and critique of contemporary art in Shanghai, in 2006. In 2009, Xu Zhen established ‘MadeIn Company’, a contemporary art creation corporate, focused on the production of creativity, and devoted to the research of contemporary culture’s infinite possibilities. In 2013, MadeIn Company launched XU ZHEN® which is committed to art creation and cutting-edge culture development. In 2014, MadeIn Company established MadeIn Gallery and in November 2016 launched the first “Xu Zhen Store” in Shanghai.

In the past months, with the profound changes in the world order and daily experience brought by the epidemic, our perception and visual experience of space and time, screen and image have also changed accordingly in this context. The mechanism of drew picture produces new meaning and new space for reading. This exhibition will focus on painting as a medium, and extend to video and relief works to explore the rich possibilities of picture-reading and the diversified development of visual language.

The artistic practices of Chen Ying and Su Yu-Xin are primarily painting. Chen Ying's paintings express the infatuation and exploration for perceptual embodiment and visual abstraction. With the characteristics of its symbolic geometric figures, Chen Ying's works advance and separate from the abstracted scenes which are reconstructed from the figures, and gradually strengthen the shapes and pictures, as well as the interaction among colors, structures and textures, which also derive and restrain each other. In this exhibition, the artist presents new works under different directions since his solo exhibition at KWM Art Center last year. Part of the exhibited works continue the artist's past style, while the others explore new working methods. Taking the disassembled human body shape and hair style as the modeling basis, the artist deduces from the concrete and abstract picture structure and color relationship, and counteracts the meaning of the form itself. The application and conversion of random brushstrokes create more overlapping spaces, thus expand more possibilities and richer viewing experience of abstract pictures.

Su Yu-Xin's paintings focus on capturing the connections among visual, language and neural perception. By painting as an action, she investigates people's experience of a certain object (landscape, object) in real life, and explores how to change the method of picture production and reproduction in turn; or, whether the way audience reads the picture may affect their experience of reality. All kinds of water body in landscapes are the themes that often appear in the artist’s creation, where the elements of sky, water surface, mountain and rock occur many times in different works. The tangible and intangible matter compete in shape and define each other’s boundaries, penetrating and transforming the way they occupy space. Red-Eye Flight visualizes the relative geographical location and the vacuum time in flight state. Also presented in the exhibition is Su Yu-Xin’s latest works, a series of wooden object paintings in mobile phone scale. These hand-made wooden and plaster objects are polished, shaped and painted with a very close working distance, and the viewers are also required to approach the picture, offering a more intimate reading experience. These picture objects are interspersed among the large-scale works in the exhibition space, providing a rhythm similar to the picture-intakes during our lives in social distance for the past half year.

Wang Ziquan's latest video and reliefs works expand the visual experience from screen and the Internet. The artist’s creations come from his unique observation and understanding of the Internet and the virtual world. Through computer images and narrative videos, he copies and pastes between the virtual and physical space to explore the thresholds of virtuality and reality. In his latest relief work, Wang Ziquan uses computer to create fictional character figures, which are provided with both the realistic and the abstract of human body modeling. These digital figures are detached, disassembled and flattened, then covered with transparent plates engraved with imprint wireframes and bones. In the logic of computer image, these wireframes and thresholds are the real pictures, not the figure itself. Presented at the same time is his latest video work Lychee Park, a fictional story that happened before software rendering. It continues the artist’s previous CG narrative image, creating a chaotic and fragmented visual aesthetics between video art and CG images.

Lu Pingyuan Solo Exhibition: Imperishable Affection 

Exhibition Period: 2020.11.6-2020.12.13

Participating Artist: Lu Pingyuan

Address: Hall 5, Powerlong Museum | No. 3055, Caobao Road, Minhang District, Shanghai

MadeIn Gallery artist Lu Pingyuan's latest solo exhibition "Imperishable Affection" opened on November 5 2020, at hall 5 Powerlong Museum, Shanghai. The exhibition will last until December 13.

Anthropomorphic faces can be seen everywhere. These innocent smiling faces carry human emotional sustenance, also unconsciously reveal the imaginary relationship and the mechanism of communication between the individual and the surrounding world.

Lu Pingyuan continues to pay attention to the phenomenon that humans animating objects. He extracts the characteristics of "living objects" particularly related to the human body from various visual systems such as snacks, commodity packaging, Chinese medicine, and preschool science education, which explores the social psychology of people's empathy for these images. Feng Zikai once expressed his humanistic care of“with life comes compassion”in his painting Imperishable Affection, encouraging people to appreciate everything around them with awe and the unique respect for living things. Motivated by this vision, Lu Pingyuan captures its representation in contemporary art context. By giving these innocent object images solid surfaces or timeless symbolic meanings, he further leads the discussion into certain consciousness and anxiety concerning with life form.

The exhibition includes the works of Lu’s unique story-telling, sculptures and installations, as well as works in musical form which he recently pays attention to, tracing back to the blending, derivation and rheology of natural and artificial“life forms”in social and cultural contexts. Lu takes this exhibition as an introspectation of the body, where bones and pelvic become vessels for music, inviting the audience to listen to the sound from inside the body.

About Lu Pingyuan

Lu Pingyuan was born in 1984 in Zhejiang province, China, lives and works in Shanghai. Lu Pingyuan‘s artworks involves a variety of media, including texts, installations, videos, paintings and others. For a few years, Lu Pingyuan concentrated his practice on the writing of “stories” as a unique type of media for art creation. These short “stories” significantly broaden the artworks’ state of existence in the real world, extend the inherent spirit of art itself. His works have been exhibited extensively in both national and international museums and biennales.

Recent solo exhibitions include: “Imperishable Affection”, Powerlong Museum, Shanghai, China, 2020; “KOLA”, chi K11 Art Museum, Shanghai, China, 2019; “La Malle aux Trésors”, Mansion de Hermès, Shanghai, China, 2018; “Lost Child”, ONEHOME Art Hotel, Shanghai, China; “HOME ALONe”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, 2017; “Hidden Treasure”, The Galaxy Museum of Contemporary Art, Chongqing, China, 2017; “James Stanley-The Seventh Earl of Derby”, Center for Chinese Contemporary Art, United Kingdom, 2016; “ON KAWARA”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, 2016; “Unexpected Discoveries”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, 2015; “Time Capsule”, Gallery Box, Gothenburg, Sweden, 2011.He participated in numerous group shows among which are “Shanghai Plaza”, Shanghai Plaza, Shanghai, China, 2020; “Wild Cinema”, TX Huaihai, Shanghai, 2020; “Being of Evils”, Hive Center for Contemporary Art (Beijing), Beijing, China, 2020; “A Hypothetical Show For A Closed Museum”, M Woods, Beijing, China, 2020; “Wild Metropolis”, Powerlong Museum, Shanghai, China, 2019; “Advent: Inventing Landscape, Producing the Earth”, Qianshao Contemporary Art Center, Shanghai, China, 2019; “Extreme Mix-Guangzhou Airport Biennale”, Guangzhou, China, 2019; “Land of the Lustrous”, UCCA Dune, Beidaihe, China, 2019;  “Edge of the Wonderland-Thailand Art Biennale”, Krabi, Thailand, 2018; “Artist is Present”, Yuz Museum, Shanghai, China, 2018; “City Unbounded-China·Shanghai Jing’an International Sculpture Project”, Jing’an Sculpture Park, Shanghai, China, 2018; “This is Shanghai”, Cunard Building, Liverpool, UK, 2018; “Long March Project: Building Code Violations III - Special Economic Zone”, Long March Space, Beijing, China, 2018; “Arts in Urban Cultures”, Taikoo Li Sanlitun, Beijing, China, 2018; “*underground-children-festival”, Para Site x Goethe-Institut Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, 2018; “Animamix Biennale—Ballade”, Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai, Shanghai, China; “PLAY”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, China; “11th Shanghai Biennale”, Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China, 2016; “9th Liverpool Biennale”, Liverpool, England, 2016; “A Beautiful Disorder”, Cass Sculpture Foundation, England, 2016; “Mountain Sites: Views of Laoshan”, Si Fang Art Museum, Nanjing, China, 2016; “3rd Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art”, Ural, Russia, 2015 etc. Lu Pingyuan was nominated for the 4th Art Sanya “Huayu Youth Award” and the 1st Porsche “Young Chinese Artist of the Year”.

MadeIn Gallery is pleased to present a selection of works for the 2020 Yangtze Art Fair, featuring artists Chen Ying, Ding Li, Lu Pingyuan, Su Yu-Xin, XU ZHEN® and Yang Shen.

About Chen Ying

Chen Ying born in 1982 in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang Province of China, majored in Scenography and graduated from the Central Academy of Drama in 2010. He currently lives and works in Beijing. Chen Ying’s paintings mostly originate from real-life scenes. During his creation process, Chen integrates iconic geometric forms within scenes from his everyday life, reconstructing the image. As the three-dimensional space is constantly compressed and altered, the work under his paintbrush gradually becomes abstract. Chen’s practice presents perpetual incidental changes, and a subtle conversion between two and three-dimensional space, reality and withdrawal is revealed through the artist’s meditative perspective.

His most recent exhibitions include: “Chen Ying Solo Exhibition”, KWM artcenter, Beijing, 2019; "Extreme Mix”, Guangzhou Airport Biennale, Guangzhou, China, 2019; “Traceable”, Madein Gallery x Carlos/Ishikawa@CONDO Shanghai 2018, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, 2018; “Reality & Regeneration-CHEN Ying Solo Exhibition, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, 2017; “Form Consumption Over Substance Reflection”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, 2017; Scissors & Stone & Cloth, Songzhuang Museum, Beijing, 2014; “Micro Real”- China and Japan Youth Artists Exhibition, Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, 2014.

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About Ding Li

Ding Li was born in 1979 in Shanghai, and graduated with a MA from the Oil Painting Department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris, France (École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts de Paris). The works of Ding Li are based on repeated experiments with the aim of defining a pure expression of his own in this media. His practice focuses on the exploration of painting developed from materials characteristics and presents a new visual language through the reconstruction of oil paints, spray paints, brushes and frames.

His recent exhibitions include: “Robert Song”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2019; “Wild Metropolis”, Powerlong Museum, Shanghai, China, 2019; “Advent: Inventing Landscape, Producing the Earth”, Qianshao Contemporary Art Center, Shanghai, China, 2019; “Extreme Mix-Guangzhou Airport Biennale”, Guangzhou, China, 2019; “The Kind Stranger”, UNArt Center, Shanghai, 2019; “The Variable and The Generating”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, 2019; “In the Name of December 12.”, Imagokinetics Lab, Hangzhou, China, 2018; “The First Porsche “Young Chinese Artist of the Year” Nominees’ Exhibition, Modern Art Museum, Shanghai, China, 2017; “Yellspace Programme Exhibition—Partial Archive”, Yell Space, Shanghai, China, 2019; “Serendipitous Mission”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2017; "Form Consumption Over Substance Reflection", MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2017; "Information Sculpture Superhighway", MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2016; "Inventing Ritual", Bentu, Chinese artists at a time of turbulence and transformation, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, France, 2016; "Not Impulsive Enough Is the Devil", MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2015.

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About Lu Pingyuan

Lu Pingyuan was born in 1984 in Zhejiang province, China, lives and works in Shanghai. Lu Pingyuan‘s artworks involves a variety of media, including texts, installations, videos, paintings and others. For a few years, Lu Pingyuan concentrated his practice on the writing of “stories” as a unique type of media for art creation. These short “stories” significantly broaden the artworks’ state of existence in the real world, extend the inherent spirit of art itself. His works have been exhibited extensively in both national and international museums and biennales.

Recent solo exhibitions include: “KOLA”, chi K11 Art Museum, Shanghai, China, 2019; “La Malle aux Trésors”, Mansion de Hermès, Shanghai, China, 2018; “Lost Child”, ONEHOME Art Hotel, Shanghai, China; “HOME ALONe”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, 2017; “Hidden Treasure”, The Galaxy Museum of Contemporary Art, Chongqing, China, 2017; “James Stanley-The Seventh Earl of Derby”, Center for Chinese Contemporary Art, United Kingdom, 2016; “ON KAWARA”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, 2016; “Unexpected Discoveries”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, 2015; “Time Capsule”, Gallery Box, Gothenburg, Sweden, 2011. He participated in numerous group shows among which are “Shanghai Plaza”, Shanghai Plaza, Shanghai, China, 2020; “Something Happened”, Powerlong Art Center, Xiamen, China, 2020; “Wish You a Sweeeeeet Life”, Duende Contemporary Art Museum, Foshan, China; “YES! ART FESTIVAL”, M WOODS, Beijing, China, 2020; “Illusive Particles”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2020; “PROPHESY”, Wind H Art Center, Beijing, China, 2020; “Wild Cinema”, TX Huaihai, Shanghai, 2020; “Being of Evils”, Hive Center for Contemporary Art (Beijing), Beijing, China, 2020; “Wild Metropolis”, Powerlong Museum, Shanghai, China, 2019; “The Secret of Childhood”, Luxelakes·A4 Art Museum, Chengdu, China, 2019; “Advent: Inventing Landscape, Producing the Earth”, Qianshao Contemporary Art Center, Shanghai, China, 2019; “Extreme Mix-Guangzhou Airport Biennale”, Guangzhou, China, 2019; “Land of the Lustrous” UCCA Dune, Qinhuang Island, China, 2019;  “Edge of the Wonderland-Thailand Art Biennale”, Krabi, Thailand, 2018; “Artist is Present”, Yuz Museum, Shanghai, China, 2018; “City Unbounded-China·Shanghai Jing’an International Sculpture Project”, Jing’an Sculpture Park, Shanghai, China, 2018; “This is Shanghai”, Cunard Building, Liverpool, UK, 2018; “Long March Project: Building Code Violations III - Special Economic Zone”, Long March Space, Beijing, China, 2018; “Arts in Urban Cultures”, Taikoo Li Sanlitun, Beijing, China, 2018; “*underground-children-festival”, Para Site x Goethe-Institut Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, 2018; “Animamix Biennale—Ballade”, Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai, Shanghai, China，2018; “PLAY”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2018; “11th Shanghai Biennale”, Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China, 2016; “9th Liverpool Biennale”, Liverpool, England, 2016; “A Beautiful Disorder”, Cass Sculpture Foundation, England, 2016; “Mountain Sites: Views of Laoshan”, Si Fang Art Museum, Nanjing, China, 2016; “3rd Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art”, Ural, Russia, 2015 etc. Lu Pingyuan was nominated for the 4th Art Sanya for the Young Chinese Artists Award and the First Porsche “Young Chinese Artist of the Year”.

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About Su Yu-Xin

Su Yu-Xin (b. 1991) was born in Taipei. She holds a MFA in Fine Arts from Slade School of Fine Art UCL, and works between Shanghai and Taipei. Her painting and other practices focuses on the relationships between visual language and other sensorial perceptions. Rather than painting from images or photography, Su’s work often tends to explore the complexity of a moment or a vague perception in life.Su uses painting to construct a delicate alternation of horizons, which varying distances elicit different paces of observation. The colourful layered surface and multi-perspectives in her works generate a dynamic vision within each painting.

Su’s paintings study how different rhythms, and fundamentally, the fluidity of human experience can operate and be stored inside a still imagery. In her practice, landscape is an in-between place, a traditional frontality in painting, which allows the artist to switch between figuration and abstraction, investigating the concept of new landscape- a mixture of still-life, graphs, digital calendar, fragments of text and memory. The landscape she is depicting is a field of hybrid vision and a contemporary impressionism that was never seen before this age.

Her recent exhibitions include: A Hue to Spell, KuanDu Museum of Fine Art, Taipei, 2019; hic sunt leones, 798 Art Centre, Beijing, 2019; Taiwan Biennial- Wild Rhizome, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, 2018; Building Code Violation III, Special Economic Zone, Long March Space, Beijing, 2018; A World in a Grain of Sand: Mapping Shapes and Sites for Social Deometries Atlantis Fosun Foundation, Sanya, 2018; Trembling Surfaces, Long March space, Beijing, 2016; Future Island, Saatchi Gallery, London, 2016; 2016 Slade Degree Show, UCL, London, 2016; Refuse: Refuge: Re-fuse, The Koppel Project, London, 2016; Small press project, University of College London, London, 2016; 2015 Slade Interim show, UCL, Slade School of Fine Art, London, 2015; etc.

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About XU ZHEN®

XU ZHEN®, founded by artist Xu Zhen in 2013, is the flagship art brand of MadeIn Company. Born in 1977, Xu Zhen is a leading Chinese artist and curator, and the founder of MadeIn Company. XU ZHEN® is committed to art creation and cutting-edge culture development. XU ZHEN® is one such initiative to offer spiritual aspirations and life experiences of the finest quality through the appreciation and collection of artworks and events produced by the brand.

Xu Zhen

Artist, Curator, MadeIn Company Founder

Xu Zhen was born in 1977, and lives and works in Shanghai. Xu Zhen has been considered as an iconic figure in Chinese contemporary art. In 2004, Xu won the prize for ‘Best Artist’ at the China Contemporary Art Award. His practice covers various media such as installations, video, painting and performance, etc. 

Xu Zhen has exhibited internationally, at museums and biennales, such as, Venice Biennale (2001, 2005), The Museum of Modern Art (New York, 2004), Mori Art Museum (Tokyo, 2005), MoMA PS1 (New York, 2006), Tate Liverpool (2007), Hayward Gallery (London, 2012), Lyon Biennial (2013), Armory Show (New York, 2014), Long Museum (Shanghai 2015), Al Riwaq Art Center (Qatar, 2016), Sydney Biennial (2016), Guggenheim Museum (New York, 2017), Sharjah Biennial (2019), The Museum of Contemporary Art（Los Angeles, 2019）, among others. 

Aside from being an artist, Xu Zhen is also a curator. He co-curated together with other artists major exhibitions in Shanghai and was one of the initiators of Art-Ba-Ba (www.art-ba-ba.com), a leading online forum for discussion and critique of contemporary art in Shanghai, in 2006. In 2009, Xu Zhen established ‘MadeIn Company’, a contemporary art creation corporate, focused on the production of creativity, and devoted to the research of contemporary culture’s infinite possibilities. In 2013, MadeIn Company launched XU ZHEN® which is committed to art creation and cutting-edge culture development. In 2014, MadeIn Company established MadeIn Gallery and in November 2016 launched the first “Xu Zhen Store” in Shanghai. 

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About Yang Shen

Yang Shen, born in 1973 in Beijing, graduated from the Mural Art department of Central Academy of Fine Arts. He currently lives and works in Beijing. Yang Shen's paintings focus on the connection between personal memories, experiences, fantasies and historical times. Through continuous practice and unceasing exploration of painting language, Yang has gradually established a unique personal style. His paintings profoundly narrative-oriented, using illusory imagination to transform daily scenes into absurd and surrealistic visual experiences. He excels in juxtaposing cinematic elements, science fiction scenes and characters bearing the marks of time, to create fantastical surrealistic pictures.

His exhibitions include: “Meeting the Future – International Exhibition for Contemporary Art”, S x V Museum of Modern Art, Qingdao, China, “An Opera for Animals”, Rockbund Museum, Shanghai, China; "Supernatural”, White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australis, 2018; “YANG Shen: Oddity”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2018; “Commodity & Ideology”, Klapper Hall Gallery, New York, U.S.A., 2017; “Scarcity & Supply”, The 3rd Nanjing International Art Festival, Baijia Lake Art Museum, Nanjing, China, 2016; “KOREA with KOREA”, OZANEAUX ArtSpace, New York, U.S.A., 2016; “John Moores Painting Prize China”, SPSI Art Museum, Shanghai, China, 2012.`

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MadeIn Gallery artist Liu Wa participates in Busan Biennale 2020 "Words at an Exhibition–an exhibition in ten chapters and five poems", presenting the latest watercolor and video works Devil's Ivy(2020) and two-channel video installation Racing Thoughts (2019) in "Chapter 9:  Electricity Speaks".

Busan Biennale 2020 examines the city and tries to expand the various spectrums of a metropolitan through artistic expressions. At Busan Biennale 2020, ten fiction writers and one poet were invited to write on the characteristics of the city of Busan as a conceptual basis for selecting the artists, each responding through new commissions and existing works within the context of the exhibition.

Devil’s Ivy is a 10-min virtual reality film interrogating the increasingly blurred lines between truth and imagination during the COVID-19 pandemic. It sends the viewer on a surreal trip to the city of Wuhan under lockdown, the virus-hit cruise ship and the mass grave in New York.

Liu Wa works with drawings, paintings and video, and for the last few years, she has turned her drawings into virtual reality work. Liu presents 30 pieces of watercolor on paper of Devil's Ivy in this exhibition. 

The other work on display, Racing Thoughts, traces the artist’s aimless Internet surfing through two divergent yet complementary approaches. One the right channel, she clinically measures her real-time emotions through an EEG-based brain-computer interface. On the left channel, she blends her hand-drawn animations with the screencast, delineating her imagination with a human touch. During her Internet surfing, she comes across with fake science articles and mental health records.

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MadeIn Gallery artist Liu Wa participates in group exhibition at UCCA Beijing, "Immaterial / Rematerial: A Brief History of Computing Art", a wide-ranging overview of the evolution of computing art from the 1960s to the present, exploring topics that span from machine-learning aesthetics to digital objecthood and technological discontent. The exhibition defines its area of focus not simply as digital art in general, but art-making that actively engages with the algorithms and generative logics that undergird the field of computing.

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MadeIn Gallery artist Lu Pingyuan participates in the group exhibition "Wish You a Sweeeeeet Life" at Duende Contemporary Art Museum, presenting Don't Ask Me Who I am.

In Don’t Ask Me Who I Am the artist sprayed smiley faces on images of planet gathered from the Internet.  This series of works is about a mysterious artist from one of Lu Pingyuan’s stories. This artist was inspired at a younger age by one of the lines from The Lion King: “The great kings of the past look down on us from those stars.” Then he decided to travel to the outer space and paint smiley faces on those starry planets as if they were a family smiling at the earth. He traveled on a spaceship to the cosmos and got lost in the space soon after. Don’t Ask Me Who I Am is the sketch of his plan and the beginning of this story, or at least, it isn’t its end.

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MadeIn Gallery artist Lu Pingyuan participates in "YES! ART Festival" and presents three of his latest works from the "Story" series. 

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MadeIn Gallery artists Lu Pingyuan, Xu Zhen® and Zheng Yuan participate in "Something Happend". This exhibition is the opening exhibition of Nothing Happened Gallery and gathers more than 60 works from 47 world-renowned artists. All the artworks are shown in China for the first time, ranging from painting, video, installation, sculpture, photography and more.

The exhibition will be divided into four major theme exhibitions. Lu Pingyuan's "Look! I'm Picasso!"series, Xu Zhen's Eternihty-Buddha in Nirvana, Under Heaven-0302BD0187 and Zheng Yuan's Nothing Happened are exhibited in the "+ 86" exhibition area.

Lu Pingyuan’s series of works, “Look! I’m Picasso!”, is inspired by the first feature-lengthcomputer-animated film produced by Pixar in 1995, “Toy Story”. A scene in the film presents thetoy Mr. Potato Head with his eyes, nose and mouth on the side claiming: “Look! I’m Picasso”. Theartist conceived a series of cubist paintings and sculptures in the style of Picasso and incorporatedelements inspired from the facial props of Mr. Potato Head.

"Eternity" is a series of sculptural installations that fuses together and immortalizes classics of art history and great civilizations. Statues of Greek gods or Chinese divinities and Modern Art sculptures are replicated using mineral composite, taking on the form of visual hybrids. “Eternity” brings global civilization into a broader perspective, showing through the East - West cultural impact/collision, the historical influence of the traditional Orient and the modern Occident on contemporary life.

"Under Heaven", a magnificent title filled with an authoritative sense, consists in dense cream flowers of fancy colors: strawberry red, grape purple, mocha green, milk white, chocolate black... such as a thick layer of flowery cream on a freshly baked cake. These desiring aliment colors and the creamy form are twisted together into a carved baroque jungle; the exaggerated scales of the works present an intense and extravagant gaiety.

Nothing Happened began with a video made by a minimalist. A few vehicles occasionally passed by the viewer and there were no pedestrians in sight on the highway in a freezing winter. Meanwhile, according to the real-time city simulation, a serious accident simultaneously occurred on the same highway while the photographer made this video. But in a strong favor of the minimalist aesthetic, she chose not to shoot the accident, in a way to maintain the tranquility of a cold winter day.

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MadeIn Gallery artist Xu Zhen® participates in "Duration: Chinese Art in Transformation" in Beijing Minsheng Art Museum, presenting his video work Rainbow (1998). 

Xu Zhen’s early video works focus on the body and public space. The video work Rainbow (1998) records a person’s back growing increasingly red, and throughout the entire process, the result of slaps are heard on the soundtrack but never seen. Xu Zhen uses the body as a medium to challenge the threshold which the human body can withstand; the image and the audio lead to inconsistent facts, directing the audience to re-examine the reliability of image and their own viewing experience.

Yang Shen’s new series “Explorer and the Jungle” continues the narrativity, and the mysterious yet grotesque atmosphere of his previous paintings. Taking the rainforest as backdrop, the new series focuses on the fictional story of a western explorer traveling in the Asian jungle, and hope to explore the relationship between human, animals and nature. The identity of explorer in the works is vague. In history, they may be scientists, colonists, artists and even spies. However in Yang Shen's paintings, as a representative of human beings, the explorer makes contact with nature, so as to explore how human beings understand and get along with nature in the process of their own civilization. By juxtaposing characters and elements that belong to different time and space in the same scene, the artist constructs a fantasy world with his painterly brushstrokes.

About Yang Shen 

Yang Shen, born in 1973 in Beijing, graduated from the Mural Art department of Central Academy of Fine Arts. He currently lives and works in Beijing. Yang Shen's paintings focus on the connection between personal memories, experiences, fantasies and historical times. Through continuous practice and unceasing exploration of painting language, Yang has gradually established a unique personal style. His paintings are profoundly narrative-oriented, using illusory imagination to transform daily scenes into absurd and surrealistic visual experiences. He excels in juxtaposing cinematic elements, science fiction scenes and characters bearing the marks of time, to create fantastical surrealistic pictures.

His exhibitions include: “Meeting the Future – International Exhibition for Contemporary Art”, S x V Museum of Modern Art, Qingdao, China, 2019; “An Opera for Animals”, Rockbund Museum, Shanghai, China, 2019; Para Site, Hong Kong, China, 2019; "Supernatural”, White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia, 2018; “YANG Shen: Oddity”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2018; “Commodity & Ideology”, Klapper Hall Gallery, New York, U.S.A., 2017; “Scarcity & Supply”, The 3rd Nanjing International Art Festival, Baijia Lake Art Museum, Nanjing, China, 2016; “KOREA with KOREA”, OZANEAUX ArtSpace, New York, U.S.A., 2016; “John Moores Painting Prize China”, SPSI Art Museum, Shanghai, China, 2012.

MadeIn Gallery's current exhibition "Illusive Particles" is extended till September 24th, 2020, and we are delighted to present artist Zheng Yuan's solo exhibition: "Forward, Backward" on September 30th, 2020.

"Forward, Backward" is the artist’s first solo exhibition in the gallery, as well as the first presentation of the final chapter for the “China Northwest Airlines” project, which has been the main focus of Zheng’s work since 2017.

Working primarily with time-based media, Zheng Yuan's work often operates at the intersection of fiction, documentary, essay, and investigative studies. His practice focuses on identity and evaluation and it’s ever-shifting relationship with history, power and representation. By introducing archival material, found footage and situations Zheng’s work acquires an interleaved complexity within imbricated contexts.

Since 2017, the artist has carried out complex and in-depth investigations starting with the “China Northwest Airlines” project. The core of this project is to revisit and rethink about contemporary China’s tremendous changes in the fields of economic reforms, diplomatic relations and geopolitics as well as the complex relationship between the subject and its external, during the time period from China’s Reform and Opening Up to joining the World Trade Organization, by using the history of civil aviation in China since 1950s as a clue perspective. From here, the artist continues to create and completes a number of works with different aspects and threads, including single-channel videos: A Brief History of China Northwest Airlines (2018), which investigates the assets of China Northwest Airlines (1989-2002), a short-lived airline company after its bankruptcy; A Failed Flight: Jiuquan Airport (2018), which is a revisit to the “Jiuquan Airport”, a relic of the briefly-existed historical period “China-Soviet Civilian Airlines”.

The exhibition will present two of Zheng’s latest works, The Last Step of Touch Down and Then What Have You Done in Your Entire Life?. As the finale of the “China Northwest Airlines” project, the two works will be displayed on the four large screens in the exhibition space.

The Last Step of Touch Down refers to the first step of walking down the gangway of an aircraft, and stepping onto the territory of another country. As the last step of the landing process, this moment also symbolizes the first step of establishing diplomacy. Therefore “the first step” was given special meaning and is always recorded by camera entirely. The last step of Touch Down includes a series of footages of national leaders, ambassadors and visiting delegations walking down from aircrafts, and extends from this action to the history of China's politics, diplomacy and the imported technology under the situation back then. This work focuses on the two stages of China intensively accepting foreign technologies: the first Five-Year Plan from 1953 to 1957 to fully accept the technical assistance from the Soviet Union; and the technology transfer from the west to China after Nixon's visit to China in 1972, under the background of sanctioning the Soviet Union. The work focuses on the history of the introduction of aviation technology and media technology in china, which played an important role in the process of globalization.

In Then What Have You Done in Your Entire Life?, shows the 40 years of career and the process of role transformation of the first two recipients and practitioners, who started working in the 1970s. Their experiences and consciousness have been greatly shaped by “the last step", therefore their images and words are also permeated among the footages of The Last Step of Touch Down. The two works have their own independent narratives and yet are intertwined with one another.

In order to present the artist’s “China Northwest Airlines” project in its integrity, the gallery will hold screening event for the other two works, A Brief History of China Northwest Airlines and A Failed Flight: Jiuquan Airport; and organize artist lectures and talks as well during the exhibition period.  

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About Zheng Yuan 

Zheng Yuan (b.1988, Lanzhou, China) currently lives and works in Beijing. He received his MFA in Film, Video, New Media and Animation at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2015. 

Zheng Yuan’s recent solo project includes “Up in the Air”, Taikang Space, Beijing, China, 2017; “An Open Studio”, PRACTICE SPACE, New York, United States, 2016. He recently participated in group shows including “An Impulse to Turn”, Inside-Out Museum, Beijing, China, 2020; “UN/CONVENTIONAL”, OCAT Shanghai, Shanghai, China, 2020; “Be In a Half of Maze” CAA Art Museum, Hangzhou, China, 2019; “The Mesh”, Shanghai chiK11 Art Museum, Shanghai, China, 2019; “Extreme Mix – 2019 Guangzhou Airport Biennale”, Guangzhou, China, 2019; “Porsche Young Chinese Artists of the Year Nominees’ Exhibition”, Beijing, China, 2019; “65th Oberhausen International Short Film Festival”, Oberhausen, Germany, 2019; “NOW IS THE TIME – 2019 Wuzhen Contemporary Art Exhibition”, Wuzhen, Zhejiang, China, 2019; “his sunt leones – Gallery Weekend Beijing 2019 Up&Coming Sector”, 798 Art Center, Beijing, China, 2019; “HOW NOW: THE LIFE APP”, HOW Art Museum, Shanghai, China, 2019; “Cosmopolis #1.5: Enlarged Intelligence”, Eastern Suburb Memory, Chengdu, China, 2018; “OFFLINE BROWSER”, The 6th Taiwan International Video Art Exhibition, Hong-gah Museum, Taipei, 2018; “New Metallurgists”, Julia Stoschek Collection, Düsseldorf, Germany, 2018; “Long March Project Building Code Violations III Special Economic Zone”, Long March Space, Beijing, China, 2018; “Flickering Boundaries”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2018; “The Ecstasy of Time”, He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China, 2017. His works are also screened at film festivals including the 36th Kassel Dokfest, Kassel, Germany, 2019; the 65th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Oberhausen, Germany, 2019; 55th Ann Arbor Film Festival, Ann Arbor, United States, 2017; European Media Art Festival, Osnabrück, Germany, 2016. He was nominated at the Art Sanya for the Young Chinese Artists Award in 2017.

As COVID-19 speeds around the world and continues to shut down more cities, people begin to consume Internet culture in order to escape the apocalyptic anxiety in 2020, allowing Internet memes to go viral across the globe. Built upon social media, 2020 Got Me Like merges everyday sentiments with classical movie scenes, and incorporates the artist’s footage during protests, turning memes into public commentary and political satire. In this eventful year, meme does more than hijacking and decontextualizing meanings, it has become a form of silent revolt against the absurd.

Moon Milk starts with a dream under anesthesia during neurosurgery and develops into a satirical critique on industrialization and gentrification campaign, which is materialized in a series of sculptural props for the video. The work interlaces the medical documentary of craniotomy and the whimsical narrative in Italo Calvino’s book “Cosmicomics,” drawing analogy between the surgical removal of brain tumor and the imaginary ritual of purifying the contaminated Moon milk. Through Italian and Chinese narrations, this work interweaves dream and reality, opening up new imagination on human agency that transcends the boundary between physical and nonphysical. 

Aphasia is an inability to comprehend or formulate language because of damage to specific brain regions. In this video, the lyrics of the music comes from using Machine Learning text generation neural networks. The artist and her research team from Cornell University used a program trained to simulate writing styles of humans, which had successfully generated text in the style of Shakespeare, to generate their own texts.

The artists and her researchers then took text data from the medieval papal bulls from popes, indulgence from prayers book, Brave New World (Aldous Huxley), Animal farm (George Orwell), books of animal husbandry, Doctor Faustus (Thomas Mann), Chinese online fictions (in the popular style of “Bossy, boss loves me”), and lyrics from R&B songs and Kanye West. Each text chosen by the artist represents a particular ideology. Completely generated by computer, those different blending of texts and ideologies achieves a unique style of writing.