Lawrence Li at Global Noise Online has been blogging regularly about the upcoming China Power Station, “A major exhibition of Chinese contemporary art, architecture and sound” that opens in a couple of days. The exhibition includes pretty much every artist in Guangzhou city and Guangdong Province, and many of the experimental sound artists from across China. I’d go and see it but I’m in the antipodes and afraid to leave my room unless I end up butchered, in a vat in an abandoned bank vault. Curator Ou Ning is also blogging frequently with pictures.
Battersea Power Station echoes post-industrial art venues in China and the works on show have been chosen to activate the enormous scale of its spaces. The exhibition will be filled with sound and moving images, arguably the most prolific and strongest type of work being created in China today. There are three floors to visit and the art will engage with each of these distinct areas. The unmissable and outstanding view from the third floor will offer a rare perspective of London. Two celebrated Chinese architects will define the space, demonstrating the potential of the building.
SERPENTINE GALLERY PRESENTS
CHINA POWER STATION: PART 1
AT BATTERSEA POWER STATION, LONDON
CO-PRODUCED BY THE RED MANSION FOUNDATION
For five weeks this autumn, the Serpentine Gallery will take up residence in Battersea Power Station with a presentation of Chinese culture. This is the first chapter in an on-going series of exhibitions of contemporary Chinese art, architecture and sound, presented by the Serpentine Gallery and co-produced by The Red Mansion Foundation in collaboration with Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo.
China Power Station: Part I is a unique opportunity to visit the iconic Battersea Power Station before it is redeveloped. It will also be the first chance to see the work of an extraordinary and vibrant new generation of Chinese artists and architects installed at this remarkable site.
Battersea Power Station echoes post-industrial art venues in China and the works on show have been chosen to activate the enormous scale of its spaces. The exhibition will be filled with sound and moving images, arguably the most prolific and strongest type of work being created in China today. There are three floors to visit and the art will engage with each of these distinct areas. The unmissable and outstanding view from the third floor will offer a rare perspective of London. Two celebrated Chinese architects will define the space, demonstrating the potential of the building.
This is the Serpentine Gallery’s first large scale, off-site exhibition project. It will embrace and celebrate the power of the building as well as the buoyant developments in Chinese contemporary culture.
The exhibition is part of the Serpentine Gallery’s ongoing collaboration with the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo. China Power Station: Part I in London marks the first phase of the project. Part II will be developed for Oslo in 2007 and Part III for Beijing in 2008. The project will propose a new model for showcasing developments in Chinese art and architecture and will be updated annually from 2006 to 2008.
This exhibition heralds the continuation of the Serpentine’s ambitious expanded programme, devised by Julia Peyton-Jones, Director, Serpentine Gallery and Co-Director, Exhibitions & Programmes and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Co-Director, Exhibitions and Programmes and Director of International Projects. China Power Station Part I, II and III are curated by Julia Peyton-Jones, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Gunnar B. Kvaran, Director, Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art.
China Power Station: Part 1 includes works by artists Ai Wei Wei, Cao Fei, Chen Liaoyu, Chen Shaoxiong, Gu Dexin, Huang Yong Ping, Jia Zhang Ke, Kan Xuan, Liang Yue, Liang Wei, Liu Ding, Lu Chunsheng, Qiu Anxiong, Song Tao, Wang Jian Wei, Xu Tan, Xu Zhen, Yang Fudong, Yang Zhenzhong, Zhang Pei Li; architects Ma Qingyun and Yung Ho Chang; and curators Ou Ning and Pi Li.