Pirelli HangarBicocca (Milan) presents “Short-circuits” from 15 October 2020 to 21 February 2021, curated by Vicente Todolí, the retrospective dedicated to Chen Zhen, one of the main figures of the contemporary art scene. Celebrated by the most important museums in the world, the artist has been able to overcome the gap between Eastern and Western expressiveness, through works of great visual power that anticipate the socio-political complexity of today's world, analyzing themes such as globalization, the consumerism and their relationship with tradition.
The title of the exhibition takes its cue from the creative method developed by the artist, defined as the "short-circuit phenomenon": the unveiling of the hidden meaning of the work of art when it is moved from the original context for which it was conceived in a different place. A process that leads Chen Zhen to reflect on the concept of symbolic and cultural contamination as a way of artistic creation. The conception of the exhibition reflects this practice, creating unprecedented combinations between the works on display and highlighting the numerous references and connections present in the artist's work in open dialogue with different themes: globalization and consumerism, the overcoming of the hegemony of Western values and the encounter between different cultures.
The exhibition itinerary is thus articulated starting from one of the most important works by Chen ZhenJue Chang, Dancing Body – Drumming Mind (The Last Song), (2000), a monumental installation made up of numerous chairs and beds from different parts of the world and covered with cowhides. The work is among the few to have a performative connotation and, on certain occasions, it can be activated by dancers through body movements as a meditative tool and by percussions that recall the massage of traditional Chinese medicine. The installation alludes to themes related to the care of the body and spirit, central to Chen Zhen's research. The heterogeneity of elements from different contexts also characterizes Round table (1995), work created for the United Nations Palace in Geneva. In this case 29 chairs are fixed to the surface of a round table: everyday objects which on the one hand become symbols of the actions of power and international political debates, on the other they represent an invitation to unity and harmony, an opportunity for meeting and party.
The transformation of China into a consumerist and capitalist society is another central theme in Chen Zhen's work, and is well represented in the installation Fu Dao / Fu Dao, Upside-down Buddha / Arrival at Good Fortune (1997). The title is based on the Chinese ideograms for "good luck"/"fortune coming", an indication that is usually hung upside down in public places and which is homophonic with the expression "upside-down Buddha". Chen Zhen deepens his reflections on man, nature and society, which is seen as increasingly distant from the spirit of Buddhism. The work is made up of found objects – such as televisions, fans, car body components – and upside-down Buddha statuettes, suspended on a structure, the top of which is covered with bamboo branches. Chen reflects on the short circuits produced by the rapid proliferation of mass consumer goods on the society of his country of origin. The relationship with China and its modernization are also at the basis of Daily Incantations (1996), made following a trip to his hometown, after several years spent in the West, and of Prayer Wheel – Money Makes the Sea Go (Chinese Slang) (1997). The first installation consists of 101 urinals arranged in a semicircle and fixed to an imposing wooden system that recalls an ancient musical instrument, inspired by the artist's observation of some women intent on washing chamber pots in the morning near a prestigious hotel of Shanghai. This image brings to mind the daily rituals of his childhood: the physical washing of chamber pots and the mental reading of Mao's Red Book. The second is conceived as an immersive environment inside which a prayer wheel is placed, inspired by his journey to Tibet, made before moving to Paris, and covered with ancient Chinese abacuses and calculators. Significant to understand the influence that this geographical shift has generated is Le Rite suspendu / mouillé of 1991, which marks the artist's abandonment of painting and the transition towards a greater awareness of the installation nature of his practice. As stated by Chen Zhen, the work represents a self-portrait, a self-criticism and a self-reflection. However, it is significant for the relationship between the natural element and the industrial artefact, another central relationship in the artist's practice Eruption future, created in 1992 and presented in Pirelli HangarBicocca for the first time since then.
Finally, the exhibition also presents works that investigate the concepts of illness and healing, both physical and spiritual. In Purification Room (2000), for example, the artist wonders about the possibility of purification of man and more generally of the world. The visitor is welcomed into a monochromatic and apocalyptic-looking domestic environment: the furniture, objects and walls that compose it are, in fact, covered by a layer of clay, which on the one hand seems to cancel any vital drive and growth, but which on the other hand highlights the most essential and intimate elements of life itself, triggering a reflection on its meaning and on the concept of destiny. A stimulus to free oneself from the most trivial characteristics of existence to reach a state of greater awareness of one's spirituality and one's body and to recover the balance with nature and contemporary society. And it is with this invitation to catharsis that "Short-circuits" in the space of the Cube closes with the work Jardin-Lavoir (2000): formed by 11 beds, transformed into water tanks, each of which houses everyday objects, such as clothes, shoes, electronic components and books, and is surmounted by a hydraulic system from which flows of water flow continuously. For the artist, this installation evokes a "garden of purification" in which to meditate and gather.
Chen Zhen
Among his most notable solo exhibitions are Le Magasin, Grenoble (1992); The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York (1994); Tel Aviv Museum of Art (1998); Cimaise & Portique, Albi (2000); Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb (2000); GAM – Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, Turin (2000); Serpentine Gallery, London (2001); Pac – Milan Contemporary Art Pavilion, Milan, MoMA PS1, New York (2003); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2003–04); Kunsthalle Vienna (2007); MART – Museum of modern and contemporary art of Trento and Rovereto (2008); Musée Guimet, Paris (2010); Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai (2015). His works have been included in group exhibitions of international scope, including Couvent des Minimes, Pourrières, France (1990); The Museum of Modern Art, Oxford (1993); Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam (1994); Palace of Nations, Geneva (1995); ICA Boston (1998); Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh (1999); ARC – Musée d'art moderni de la Ville de Paris (2000–01, 2009); Fundació Miró (2004); Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2007–08); ; Yuz Museum, Shanghai (2014); Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2017); Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2018). Chen Zhen has also participated in exhibitions such as the Shanghai Biennale (1996); Lyon Biennial, Gwangju Biennial (1997); Johannesburg Biennial (1997); Venice Biennale (1999, 2007 and 2009); Valencia Biennial (2001, 2003); Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane (1999–2000); Yokohama Triennale (2005); Guangzhou Triennial (2006). You have received numerous awards and recognitions such as the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant (1990 and 1995), the Gwangju Biennial Art Prize (1997) and the “Fonds d'incitation à la création” from the French Ministry of Culture (1998).
Works by Chen Zhen can be found in prestigious collections, including: Centraal Museum, Utrecht; CNAP – center national des arts plasticiques, France; GAM – Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, Turin; Guggenheim Abu Dhabi; The Jumex Collection, Mexico; Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo; M+, Hong Kong; MART – Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto; MAXXI, National Museum of XXI Century Arts, Rome; MONA – Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart (2013); Musée de l'histoire de l'immigration, Palais de la Porte Dorée, Paris; Musée National d'Art Moderne – Center de Création Industrielle, Center Pompidou, Paris; Museo del Novecento, Milan; Pinault Collection; Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Tate London.
