Yangjiang Group, Das Kapital Football (still), 2009, ink on xuan paper calligraphy, action, documentation, installation (two channel video: DV widescreen anamorphic, colour, with sound, ink on xuan paper carpet). Courtesy the artists and Vitamin Creative Space
17 January – 7 March 2015
Launch: 2pm – 4pm, Saturday 17 January
4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney
Actions for Tomorrow is the first solo exhibition of Yangjiang Group, the Chinese artist collective that use the medium of calligraphy as a conceptual springboard into a diverse range of installations and performances. Hailing from Yangjiang, a coastal city in Guangdong province, Yangjiang Group comprised three key members – Zheng Guogu, Chen Zaiyan and Sun Qinglin – as well as a number of collaborators from their hometown.
In Actions for Tomorrow, Yangjiang Group will continue their investigation into the impact of social change on people and communities by addressing the relationship between calligraphy as high culture and it’s everyday use; from personal catchcries to marketing slogan; hand-scrawled gambling receipts to the written rules for sports and games. The exhibition focuses on two distinct bodies of work which will include wax-encased sculpture, kinetic elements, and a specially commissioned large-scale calligraphic mural spanning 10 metres of the gallery walls.
4A and Yangjiang Group will host a Twilight Garden Party at the Chinese Garden of Friendship, Darling Harbour, to celebrate Chinese New Year.
Yangjiang Group are Zheng Guogu (b. 1970, Yangjiang, China), Chen Zaiyan (b. 1971, Yangchun, China) and Sun Qinglin (b. 1974, Yangjiang, China). Founded in 2002 the group name themselves after their home town, a city in Guangdong province, where their principle studio is located. Their work is dedicated to reaching the widest possible audience often through creating ephemeral works. Yangjiang Group have been widely exhibited at prestigious galleries and museums such as the San Diego Museum of Art, USA; Tate Liverpool, UK; Kunthaus Graz, Austria; Mori Art Museum, Japan; and Guangdong Museum of Art and He Xiangning Museum of Art, China. They also participated in Art Basel in 2008, 2010 and 2012; the Venice Biennale in 2003; and the Gwangju Biennale in 2002.
More information: http://www.4a.com.au/actions-for-tomorrow/