OUT OF THE CENTRE – POIS KESKUKSESTA, Kiinalaista nykytaidetta

PRESS RELEASE (in Finnish)

The exhibition of contemporary Chinese art curated by the Pori Art Museum highlights avant-garde art that emerged in China during the 1980s, deviating from the country’s official cultural policies. Most of the artists featured in the exhibition now reside outside of China—”the Middle Kingdom”—primarily in France. In recent years, extensive exhibitions of contemporary Chinese art have been held across Europe. Unlike these large-scale presentations, the exhibition organized by the Pori Art Museum aims to focus on individuals, particularly Chinese artists active in the international contemporary art scene. Their works cannot be defined solely by nationality or cultural traits, nor by appealing to Eastern exoticism or foreignness. The artworks in this exhibition were created in Pori, where the artists visited early in 1994 to familiarize themselves with the exhibition space and the character of the locale. During the early weeks of June, the artists worked at the art museum and the local art school to produce their works.

Yang Jie Chang (b. 1956, Foshan) creates in his work Brutstätte—which translates as “place of infection” or “disease hotspot”—a dark and damp field that viewers must dare to walk across. The work incorporates photographs of various stinging insects, hypodermic needles, and acupuncture needles, referencing both the spreading and curing of diseases, as well as the ways nature and humans propagate or defend against illnesses. In previous works, Yang Jie Chang has used other materials that are physically or symbolically hazardous, such as fire, electrical currents, his own blood, and medicinal herbs mixed with ink. The color black recurs in his works, symbolizing emptiness and fullness, reflecting his study of Zen Buddhism.

Chen Zhen (b. 1955, Shanghai) explores the relationships between humans, nature, and technology in his works. For the Pori Art Museum, Chen Zhen has designed a piece titled +37 Degrees—the temperature of the human body. This dimly lit indoor installation represents a state of balance, the constant temperature of a healthy human body, a shared universal denominator of humanity. According to Chen Zhen, temperature significantly influences the development of culture, politics, and human nature, particularly in a northern country like Finland. The installation equates the museum space—where steady temperature and ventilation are crucial—with the functioning of the human body. The chamber is connected to ventilation ducts, whose “breathing” integrates the work into the building’s organic and mechanical operations.

Zhang Peili (b. 1960, Shanghai) is the only artist in the exhibition who still resides and works in his home country. His video installation Best Before 19.6.–28.8.1994 meticulously documents, with excruciating precision and deliberate slowness, the various stages of preparing a chicken for a meal and consuming it. From this everyday subject, Zhang creates a drama where a routine, life-sustaining activity takes on grotesque and even pornographic dimensions. The work tests the viewer’s tolerance by presenting multiple simultaneous sensory stimuli that are both compelling and disturbing.

Huang Yong Ping’s (b. 1954, Xiamen) piece Out of the Centre? occupies the far end of the exhibition space, from where it dominates the entire room and extends beyond, even into the Lobby. Ropes emanating from a net structure weave their way across the exhibition area, both connecting and unifying the space while simultaneously intruding as a disruptive presence into other artists’ works. The piece functions as a metaphorical “net” that potentially engulfs the entire space—a structure both inviting and threatening in its scope.

Yan Pei Ming (b. 1960, Shanghai) presents massive portraits of human faces in his paintings, which seem to watch over and guard the exhibition space. In his triptych Wanted Heads, Ming portrays three faces, partially from memory and partially based on photographs. These paintings occupy a liminal space between figurative and abstract, serving as records of the artist’s bold and aggressive painting style. One recurring subject in Ming’s work is Chairman Mao. For the Pori Art Museum exhibition, Ming has created a semi-profile portrait of Mao, where the smooth-faced, almost superhuman figure of propaganda imagery is rendered with painterly detail, fading partially into a black background.

Publication:
ISBN 951-9355-42-1 Out of the Centre
Pori Art Museum 19.6.-28.8.1994
Editing: Jari-Pekka Vanhala
Photographer: Erkki Valli-Jaakola
Translations: Susanne Lehtinen, Virpi Vainikainen
Lay-out: Jari-Pekka Vanhala and artists
With co-operation: K.T.Tähtinen Oy, Pori, Satakunnan Lukkoasennus Oy, Pori, T:mi Matti Leppänen, Pori Art School
Painohäme Oy, Ylöjärvi 1994
Pori Art Publications 25

Translated with ChatGPT