樹 The Tree
夏季群展 A summer group show
展覽時間：2009年6月26日至8月30日
開幕時間：2009年6月26日，週五，晚6-8點
畫廊地址：上海市岳陽路170弄1號樓1樓
上海James Cohan畫廊將於2009年6月26日至8月30日展出《樹》。本次群展聚集了30多名國際藝術家，他們的創作從多個層面探索了有關"樹"的概念。另一方面，該展覽緣起也得自上海這座城市裏草木蔥蘢的街道、綠地，以及19世紀40年代引入上海的梧桐樹。樹是上海別致的風景，也是有關"後殖民"的一個符號。樹木成蔭，隨季節變換，就如同這座變化中的城市。
《樹》展現了包括Francesco Clemente在內的一批藝術家作品裏恣肆、詩意的一面。Francesco的紙本水彩描繪了如有人形、又時如雲彩的樹冠、枝杈。而Philip Taaffe的作品出自其《複合自然》系列；其中潛在的自然界的圖式和結構是其數十年創作的核心。April Gornik紙本碳條作品裏陰沉的叢林則著力於氣氛渲染，Yuko Murata和Joan Nelson的畫作又將觀者帶入一個寧靜、憂傷的樹林。
加州著名攝影家Bill Owens亦有作品參加展覽。Owens的照片以其對美國城市郊區生活經典、怪誕的刻畫得名，正如其1971年的作品《弄下滿樹葉子在院子耙在一堆，我爸爸覺得這是個好主意。我覺得他瘋了。》所述。而Myoung Ho Lee精準神秘的擺拍作品，如為樹木畫像，考察了樹木的個體特徵與身份。
展覽中，樹形結構也成了藝術家關注的焦點：Ward Shelly的《媒體楷模》，係一個樹形時間軸，標注了媒體影響下的歷史人物與事件。Roxy Paine的紙本繪畫勾勒出了他宏偉的、猶如二維廣告牌的不銹鋼樹形裝置的藍圖。史金淞的《半截松》用各類漂白的樹枝樹榦重構了一件巨型、理想化的"盆栽"。顏磊的繪畫曾在第12屆卡塞爾文獻展上展出。該作品以油畫的形式記錄了他于2003年在深圳的項目，當時藝術家圈下了一塊綠地，將之從未來兩年的地産投資形勢中隔離開來。
《樹》展還將包括草間彌生、Jessica Backhaus、Manfredi Beninati、陳傑、Lorenzo de Los Angeles、Carroll Dunham、David Dupuis、André Ethier、Lynn Geesaman、郭鴻蔚、April Gornik、Amy Kao、Trenton Doyle Hancock、季雲飛、林明弘、Frank Majore、Keith Mayerson、Robin O'Nell、Hiraki Sawa、史晶、Mark Steinmetz、孫遜、Alison Elizabeth Taylor、Yuken Teruya等藝術家的作品。
本次展覽另有三件委約新作，分別出自北京的藝術家孫遜、郭鴻蔚，以及林明弘。孫遜的《論進化論》乃是一件融合了紙本繪畫、剪紙（紙刻）和動畫投影的裝置。郭鴻蔚手繪的畫冊詼諧的戲倣了著名藝術雜誌《Parkett》，以一期《樹》特刊將近50年藝術史上與"樹"相關或為靈感的作品蒐羅其中。林明弘的裝置《搖錢樹—永春》喚起了人們對上海街頭車水馬龍的場景的記憶——在那裏曾有腳踏自行車的小販走街串巷兜售小風車。
June 26th - August 30th, 2009
Opening reception June 26, 6-8pm
James Cohan Gallery Shanghai is pleased to present its summer group exhibition The Tree, opening on June 26th and continuing through August 30th, 2009. This exhibition brings together over 30 international artists who explore the subject of trees in various aspects. The exhibition is also inspired by the city of Shanghai with its many tree-lined streets and lanes and its wonderful history with the Plane tree first planted by the British and French in the 1840s. These trees are one of the outstanding features of this remarkable city and are symbolic of Shanghai's colonial and post-colonial history. They provide shade and shadow, a dramatic and ever-lasting sense of seasonal change amidst a city in constant flux.
The Tree offers both whimsical as well as poetic perspectives by such artists as Francesco Clemente, whose extraordinary watercolor depicts human forms as boughs and branches within a tree that could, at any moment, become a cloud. Or in the work by Philip Taaffe, from his Composite Nature series, where the underlying patterns and structures of the natural world have been central to his work during the past decade. More atmospheric views are found in April Gornik's charcoal drawing, a darkened meadow of trees, and in the paintings by Yuko Murata and Joan Nelson, whose works take us on a journey to serene and melancholic forests.
Also on view are photographs by the renowned Californian photographer Bill Owens known for his classic and uncanny images of American suburban life, as seen in his 1971 photograph titled, "My dad thinks it's a good idea to take all the leaves off the tree and rake up the yard. I think he's crazy." While in Myoung Ho Lee's portraits of single trees—accurate and mysteriously staged—examine the character and individual identity of the tree itself.
The very structure of a tree is the focus for many artists: Ward Shelly's Media Role Models, a tree-shaped timeline, charts historical figures and events influenced by the media. Roxy Paine's ink drawing illustrates a proposal for a monumental stainless steel tree as a two-dimensional billboard for signage or advertisement. Shi Jinsong's Short Pine Tree reconstructs an enlarged, idealized and hybrid bonsai with various types of bleached tree roots, trunk and branches. In Yan Lei's painting, which was once exhibited at Documenta XII, the artist documents his intervention project executed in Shenzhen in 2003, where the artist arranged for a plot of tree-lined land to be removed from the hands of speculation and real estate investment for a two-year period.
The Tree exhibition also includes works by Jessica Backhaus, Manfredi Beninati, Lorenzo de Los Angeles, Chen Jie, Carroll Dunham, David Dupuis, André Ethier, Alicia Framis, Lynn Geesaman, April Gornik, Guo Hongwei, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Yun-fei Ji, Yayoi Kusama, Michael Lin, Frank Majore, Keith Mayerson, Shi Jing, Robin O'Nell, Hiraki Sawa, Mark Steinmetz, Sun Xun, Alison Elizabeth Taylor, Yuken Teruya.
Three newly commissioned works for this exhibition are also featured: Beijing-based artists Sun Xun and Guo Hongwei, and a new work by Michael Lin. Sun Xun's installation On Darwinism combines drawings, paper cut-outs and shadow theater. Guo Hongwei's hand-drawn illustrated book is made to resemble a special issue of the international contemporary art journal Parkett that features historical works related to or inspired by trees for over the past fifty years. Michael Lin's new installation Money Tree-Evergreen evokes a scene once common to the daily hustle and bustle of Shanghai, where street peddlers used to ride Chinese manufactured bicycles selling paper pinwheels.
James Cohan Gallery
Shanghai
1/F Building 1, No.1 Lane
170 Yue Yang Road
Shanghai 200031
PRC CHINA
T: (86) 21.54.66.0825
F: (86) 21.54.66.0823
Tuesday - Saturday, 10 - 6pm
Sunday, 12 - 6pm;
Monday by appointment
asolway@jamescohan.com
www.jamescohan.com