Breaking ground - Nov 17

Stacey Duff looks ahead to ‘Breaking Forecast’, the latest exhibition from the UCCA, and tells us what to expect from this winter’s most highly anticipated show

UCCA turns two this month, and to celebrate they’re showcasing eight Chinese artists. ‘Breaking Forecast’ may refer to the artists’ groundbreaking talent, or it could be a veiled message to cynics who never thought that the arts centre would have make it this far.

Rumours continue to surround the UCCA about whether Baron Guy Ullens has plans to sell the space or whether it will fold, but regardless of its future, the UCCA has certainly set the standard in terms of presenting contemporary art to a larger community – even compared to equally prestigious but less dynamic state-run counterparts such as the National Art Museum Of China.

The line-up features a mix of experienced and mid-career artists, as well as a handful of up-and-comers – all of them believed to be ‘key figures in China’s new generation of artists’. The show is co-curated by Jérôme Sans and Guo Xiaoyan, though those who know Guo (who previouslyhelped build the collection at the Guangdong Art Museum) will know that she has a different curatorial style from Sans. Sans revels in flamboyance; Guo is adept at understatement. Will they clash? What is certain is that the sheer stylistic diversity of the artists will provide plenty of contrast.

Cao Fei, who was recently selected as a finalist for the Guggenheim’s Hugo Boss Prize, presents an installation of her ‘RMB City’. The virtual art piece (preview it at www.rmbcity.com) will be complemented with a photo work entitled ‘A Hutong War’, where Cos Players meet fruit vendors, and everyone wears a Darth Vader Mask.

Yang Fudong gained early fame with works like ‘Estranged Paradise’, a 76-minute video work that combined fantasy and discontent in the lives ofChina’s young urbanites. Here, Yang shows a large-scale video installation entitled ‘Dawn Mist, Separation Faith’.

The title may strike some ears as artsy-fartsy, but few Chinese video artists have so effortlessly adapted traditional Chinese aesthetic concepts to an urban environment and captured it on film. Meanwhile, 37-year-old Beijinger Liu Wei has an edgy, street-smart personality – and it shows.

Just last month at Boers-Li Gallery, his exhibit of stacked television sets gave a cosmopolitan and ironic shrug to mass media. Here he contributes with a gigantic space-age porcelain sculpture, previously shown at Beijing Commune. His knee-high sculpturesof world landmarks – crafted from ox-hide – will also be on show. Other artists include veteran critic, curator and artist, Qiu Zhijie, who showed at Ullens earlier this year; Shanghai conceptual badboy Xu Zhen; Cantonese artist Zheng Guogo; and Chu Yun, the 31-year-old installation artist who received rave reviews this summer for his entry in the Venice Biennale.

The ones to watch however are Sun Yuan and Peng Yu. The duo officially became the most talkedabout collaborative team in Beijing with their recent installation at Tang Contemporary.

Entitled ‘Freedom’, it featured a high-pressure water hose that sprayed chaotically against thegallery’s iron-plated walls. You never know what Sun Yuan and Peng Yu are going to pull at the last minute, but what they have scheduled for Ullens is a group of wax sculptures depicting middle-aged businessmen in a less than favourable light.

Each of these artists are at the top of their game. The only question that remains is whether the show will come off as cautious celebration or in-yourface spectacle.

We suspect the latter. After two years of surviving in this town, it’s probably time for a carnival.

‘Breaking Forecast: Eight Key Figures in China’s New Generation of Artists’ opens on November 17. See listings for details or visit www.ucca.org.cn.