and we’re off to a great start so far … being courted with a delicious meal at agora collective’s cozy downstairs cafe is a dangerous thing to get used to, but its a wonderful way to get to know the creative minds that will be working closely together for the next ten weeks.
after touring the building and spending a relaxed evening talking with the organizers, artists, writers and facilitators in agora’s gorgeous garden, it’s clear that the people here have all come together to develop something striking and original in this space during these next few months. looking forward to getting started.
fuel artistic exchange | goal met [17 days left]
so as of yesterday evening, berlin time, the kickstarter goal set for the campaign funding my current artist residency in berlin has been met! unbelievable!
an enormous amount of gratitude goes to every single person that has been a positive part of this project so far: the amount of encouragement, support and love that’s been shown to me – sometimes in unlikely and unexpected places – has been very touching and i’m very grateful.
and now, as my ongoing project with AFFECT module ii is now fully funded, i am very excited to begin customizing the personal rewards chosen by my backers, and start sending them on to their final destinations.
if you still want to be a part of the action, and are worried that you’ve missed all the fun, rest assured: there are a few rewards still available – from original and limited edition artwork to personalized, handwritten haikus – there are 17 days to go during which you can still be a part of this project while its live [the image below can take you to the || FUEL ARTISTIC EXCHANGE || page on kickstarter’s website].
have a lovely weekend and stay tuned.
affect module ii | agora collective, berlin
i am proud to announce my upcoming participation in module ii of AFFECT, agora’s program for collaborative artistic practices, in berlin to begin very soon.
fellow participating artists include: jol thomson, rune bosse, josé cori, aviv benn, alice bucknell, daniel almgrenrecén
the residency runs 11 july – 20 september for a total of 10 weeks], and is hosted in agora’s collective workspace inside berlin’s neukölln district.
i will be adding to the blog regularly during this time, keeping it up-to-date with news, images and updates on this project as well as details on its eventual exhibition and publication.
stay tuned for details – much more is on the way.
chinese landscape | tao hongjing
Dutch artist and gallery owner karin janssen has written a short article about some of my favorite shanghai-based artist friends, roland darjes, alexandre ouairy, and stefano ogliari badessa - specifically about the CHINESE LANDSCAPE solo exhibition, hosting the work of good friend tao hongjing [who plays with the subject of china’s dual identity in his multi-layered way].
karin janssen is a dutch artist and gallery owner who divides her time between london and the netherlands while exhibiting her work and running her project space in hackney.
year of the horse | 中国新年快乐 2014
happy chinese new year! 中国新年快乐!
wishing you and your loved ones all the adventure, good energy and success the year of the horse has to offer: have a wonderful 2014.
祝你和你的家人们：在新的一年中，万事如意，马到成功.
A GALLERY ON THE ROLL | randian
really happy about randian’s wonderful article on little victories gallery and the artists involved, A GALLERY ON THE ROLL.
This is a project I was involved in with artists, alec von bargen, Cristina Ohlmer, Evgeny Bondarenko, Jordan Kostov, Julian Palacz, Katie Surridge, Lili Chin, Luca Bray, saoirse higgins, Savinder Bual, Shang Cheng Xiang, Stefano Ogliari Badessi, Vittoria de Ferrari Sapetto, and Willy Chyr.
thank you randian for the lovely words.
also see more on the little victories gallery project here.
696 weihai lu | in remembrance
fellow artists and old friends, susanne junker (founder of stageBACK project space), barbara anna hussar and zwolf schnifis are giving a talk at the bavarian rivieratonight – doing their part to keep 696 immortal by focusing their discussion on this special community, formerly located in an abandoned gun factory in shanghai’s busy city center.
to touch on the good memories that still abound for so many people, i’m including below a few images and highlights from an article “shape of the city,” [originally published in 2011] which i discovered today while perusing the talk’s itinerary [thanks to barbara anna husar].
“initially, one may mistake the weihai lu 696 artists community for a government-sanctioned ‘creative cluster,’ like m50, red town [shanghai sculpture space], tianzifang, or beijing’s 798 arts district… what these creative clusters lack, however, is the real sense of danger, experimentation, and freedom that is still present at artist communities such as weihai lu, not to mention the lower rents that allow working artists to afford studio space in the center of the city.”
well put.
artists were evacuated from the area by, ahem, the you-know-what around 3 years ago … about the time this article was written. it is still touching though to see this place referenced fondly by people that used to work in its much-loved walls, as in the case of the former 696 artists speaking in bavaria this evening.
this space, now vacated for some time, still remains an iconic testament for me to both the transformative power of creativity and its ability to unite and inspire communities that choose to work together. the 80 something foreign and local artists that used to make up this community are now scattered all over the city/country/world, each making their work somewhere else now. it was special, but too good to last it seems.
missed but not forgotten: RIP, 696.
coming soon | Little Victories Gallery
shanghai’s newest mobile gallery space is artist-powered [literally, as the artist owners will be using their leg muscles to keep the space mobile] and was founded by artists katie surridge, julian palacz and stefano ogliari badessi who met in shanghai through a residency program. the crew of international artists found their inspiration for the showspace through the idea of censorship and its continuous presence in china.
little victories was established in 2013 in shanghai, china with the objective of running a thought provoking exhibition program of dedicated group and solo shows.
secret vii footage | ICS
so thanks to the team at ICS, we now have a copy of the footage aired a few weeks ago on shanghai’s largest local network which featured a great interview of all the artists of the secret vii.
this last exhibition, THE ESSENCE OF RANDOM, is to be our last guerilla pop up exhibition for some time. and just in time, as it looks as if the secret vii aren’t so secret anymore.
see the inteview footage on youtube here [mainlanders, we’ll need our vpns as usual].
secret vii | THE ESSENCE OF RANDOM
secret vii did its last pop-up exhibition as a group this last week at shanghai art space. some photos taken by susanne junker from the night are here.
the ICS crew were there conducting interviews which are planned to air on june 15, 8:30 pm.
see more information on stageBACK’s website here.
BLUE | secret vii
we’ve blown a hole in the concrete separating us from the old space and now – low and behold – the artists of the Secret vii are reclaiming our old place in the lanes behind taikang lu.
this third group exhibition showcases everything blue…
come be blue with us this evening for the group guerrilla opening from 6 – 9 pm, lane 248 #48 taikang lu.
year of the snake 2013
happy year of the snake.
food for thought in this article here on five big ideas in the year of the snake.
winter | shanghai
some advice on how to survive winter in shanghai …
…. eat spicy food …
… lots of it …
… stay inside – out of the cold weather – as much as possible …
… but bundle up if you must go outside …
… avoid the zombies – we have them underground now, too …
… only come out once it is warm again … it may be quite a while.
GUERILLASHOWERPROJECT | shanghai
the GUERILLASHOWERPROJECT is now underway. these are a few film stills below.
the noise strikes first – the rush of it
the personal and primitive ‘you’ seeking, ashamedly and humbly as you approach a metallic idol, another generous transformation:
overwhelming and meditative: the sound of the universe in a shower.
more on the GUERILLASHOWERPROJECT soon.
moving studios | 111 liyang lu
all good things must come to an end … the studio on the 2nd floor of the creative community of 111 liyang lu is being passed on to good friend – and fellow painter chick – wang yuhang, as we relocate my studio to the former french concession area in an old lane house building.
in the meantime, please enjoy this photo documentation on my blurry camera of all the paintings, musical instruments, books, brushes and miscellaneous collected odds and ends that are part of my life as a creative in this city.
I love this chair so much.
above image lothar spree documenting the move for a short film of his. also special thanks to good friend and fellow artist, konstantin bayer, for his help with the move.
somehow it all fit into two dazhong taxi trucks.
goodbye 111, you will be missed.
excited to share images of the new studio on south shaanxi lu soon.
artists: make it happen in shanghai | epws discussion panel
i’m very happy to be included on the epws discussion panel this month for ARTISTS: HOW TO MAKE IT HAPPEN IN SHANGHAI, along with fellow creatives susanne junker, rachel marsden, and lisa juen.
rsvp to info@epws.org if you would like to join the evening on 22 may.
VERLOREN IN SCHANGHAI | neue zürcher zeitung
feature in swiss publication, neue zürcher zeitung, mentioning my work alongside interviews with good friends eddie mu, linda yu and jean daptiste dumas - specifically regarding our take on modern shanghai.
read the full article by journalist Philipp Mattheis on the neue zürcher zeitung website.
Artists' Dinner
first artists’ dinner at the swatch art peace hotel. thanks for all of the artists who cooked and special thanks to all our friends that came to eat and enjoy the night.
fellow artist-in-residence, xepo w.s., managed to somehow take photos in between cooking his delicious pasta and organizing music.
very thankful for my stay here. looking forward to the work to come from these next few months of focused concentration.
THE END | 696 Weihai Lu
and to top the list [or close to the top] of reasons why we may actually be living in the end times – 696 weihai lu’s artists are officially farewell-ing off into the sunset with a last group exhibition/party/blowout-celebration this saturday, 30 april, 2011.
the flyer, as it was sent to me, is just below but will be posting more details as they arrive.
Surprises
paint spill outside my studio, on corner of Shaanxi nan lu and Shaoxing lu.
sadly can’t take any credit for it.