中國當代
　　趙波個展 － “與流行無關”
　　2008年8月30日-10月15日
　　開幕式: 2008年8月30日下午三點

　　中國當代畫廊很榮幸地向大家發佈藝術家趙波個展的消息。藝術家準備了15幅油畫作品，將於2008年8月30日-10月15日在位於798工廠內的中國當代畫廊展出。與此次展覽相配備的畫冊也已印刷，屆時，藝術家本人將會到場。

　　趙波畢業于四川美術學院，作為“新現實主義”的一份子，趙波展示了他對傳統現實主義在當代藝術範疇內的解釋，所針對的對像是現今的城市，不同於早期帶有政治含義的先鋒派藝術。新現實主義藝術成長在政治相對穩定的時代，但問題還是有的，那就是將歷史與霓虹燈輻照下的大好未來相結合。趙波的作品由雄渾的顏色與人物的肖像畫相接而成，展現了當下消費主義帶給原先人民公社式社會環境的變化。趙波于70年代出生，生長在一個將中西方文化合璧－中山裝與Gucci, 四合院與摩天大樓的時代，在毛澤東時代的集體主義與1979年鄧小平時代的改革開放兩套領導路線之間，藝術家找到了創作的靈感，使其作品更有深度。

　　最近，趙波從中國人口擁有3000萬人口的重慶遷至中國的文化中心北京，讓他更強烈地感受到了名牌文化對城市的侵蝕，刻畫了正在被各種快餐品牌，公司商標，飲料商標淹沒的城市容貌，將其與拔地而起的城市建設相結合，在不協調的空間中，著重地展現了藝術家對這種不現實感覺的憂慮。藝術家將這種不現實的感覺，以“取而代之”的藝術手法得以體現，將阿迪達斯的商店，百事可樂的廣告牌，大眾汽車的甲殼蟲取代了我們腳下真實的土地。

　　觀眾可以馬上看見各種各樣的商標如麥當勞，肯德雞，可口可樂，米老鼠，但是畫布上面的人物們卻別有一番風趣。他們表情猥瑣，好像隱藏著只有自己才知道的秘密。為了加深這種創作思維，藝術家故意將他們的視線不交錯于參觀人們的視線。畫面上人物突出的眼球，無神的眼瞳散出的目光與畫面形成銳角，好像在互相對視或者看著畫布以外的什麼東西。

　　除了大幅的油畫，趙波的作品還包括小型的油畫，將加重字體的西方商標與一件富有中國特色的文化物件擺放在一起，比如一盞燈籠，一顆紅星。在這些小型油畫中，趙波用中國的元素給輕飄飄代表消費主義的商標起著加重的作用。趙波的作品的共性，就是對消費主義的質問，質問它的享樂，它的貪婪，它那看似存在著的“富饒”。這些促成了人們心目中對西方商品的嚮往，這種嚮往什麼時候會不會徹底地取代人們對中國的傳統的嚮往？未來是無法預見的，但是趙波在自己的作品中捕捉到了21世紀全球化大方向下的中國，其生命力，其雜亂無章和自相的矛盾。

　　趙波的作品于國內外多次展出。收藏于多個收藏家及公共美術館，如美國科羅拉多州Kent & Vicky Logan收藏系列，美國德克薩斯州Chaney Family收藏系列，美國丹佛美術博物館，上海當代藝術館， 深圳何香凝美術館等。

[專稿] 趙波個展－“與流行無關”

　　Chinese Contemporary Gallery
　　Zhao Bo – FASHION DISCONNECT
　　August 30 – October 15, 2008
　　Opening: August 30, 2008, 3 pm

　　For immediate release – Chinese Contemporary Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of Zhao Bo’s solo exhibition FASHION DISCONNECT. The artist has prepared fifteen new paintings that will be on display 30 August – 15 October 2008 at Chinese Contemporary’s Beijing gallery in Factory 798. The opening will be 30 August 2008 at 3 pm and the artist will be present. A catalogue has been produced in conjunction with this exhibition.

　　A graduate of the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts and a part of the “New Realists”, Zhao Bo demonstrates extraordinary talent in his interpretation of traditional realism within a contemporary stage, namely that of the modern Chinese city. Unlike the political motivations of earlier avant-garde artists, New Realists came to age in an era of relative political stability, when one of the most pressing dilemmas is the forced reconciliation of the past and the neon-lit future. Awash in bold colors and chaotic iconography, the artist’s canvases serve as portals into the fragmentation that consumerism has wrought upon China’s once communal experience. Born in the 1970s, Zhao Bo grew up in a country of immense transition – bridging the divide of West versus East, Mao jackets versus Gucci, hutongs versus skyscrapers. It is this tension between the societal juxtapositions of life under the collectivism of Mao’s rule and that of post-1979 Deng Xiaoping Reforms that lends poignancy to his works.

　　Having recently moved from Chongqing, the most populous city in China overflowing with more than thirty million residents, to Beijing, the country’s international capital, Zhao Bo has witnessed firsthand the advent of the name brand culture and its insidious infiltration of the urban landscape. The artist depicts his nation nearly choking in the suffocating grasp of fast food restaurants, corporate mascots, soda brands, and so on. Highlighting his concern with the frantic and multi-layered development of the contemporary Chinese city, the artist positions figures within an incongruous space. Zhao Bo hints at the impossibility of such an excessively cluttered cityscape by excluding solid ground. Instead, it is the compilation of the familiar products of our time – Adidas stores, Pepsi billboards, Volkswagon Beetles – that serve as a reference point for reality.

　　Though the logos of the international corporate giants strewn across the canvases - McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Coca Cola, Mickey Mouse - are instantaneously accessible to the viewer, the figures embedded within their framework remain aloof. Their deviant facial expressions suggest a considerable inside joke acknowledged by those who have saturated themselves in this garish explosion of consumption. This is emphasized by the realization that not a single figure meets the audience’s gaze, rather their bulging eyes and emotionally void pupils are skewed at acute angles, either engaging each other or focused on a distant point far from the restrictive boundaries of the canvas.

　　In addition to large-scale paintings, Zhao Bo has also created smaller scale vignettes, placing a large, bold Western brand adjacent to something typically Chinese such as a lantern or red star. Within these paintings, Zhao Bo takes care to incorporate emblems of his country to serve as ballast against the kitsch logos that have become commonplace to most Chinese. As in all of his paintings, the artist seems to be asking, what is it about the consumerism, the greed, the insatiable ingestion of tangible ‘prosperity’ that has catalyzed the preoccupation with Western products and how long before this supercedes the semblance of a unified Chinese traditional culture? The future may be unclear, but Zhao Bo has captured the vitality, frenzy and contradictions of China’s 21st century globalization.

　　Zhao Bo's works have been shown extensively in China and abroad. They are in many prestigious collections, such as the Kent and Vicki Logan Collection in Colorado, the Chaney Family Collection in Texas and the Denver Art Museum. His paintings have been included in exhibitions at the Denver Art Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Shanghai and the He Xiangning Art Museum in Shenzhen.