Solo exhibition by ZHAO ZHAO
20 September – 20 October 2019
Opening Reception: Friday, 20 September 2019, 7pm – 9pm
Mizuma Gallery is pleased to announce Control, the solo exhibition of Chinese artist Zhao Zhao – his first solo presentation in Southeast Asia. Featuring new sculpture and embroidery works, the exhibition will showcase two of Zhao Zhao’s iconic series: his Control series and Constellations series.
Manifest in the works of Zhao Zhao is a persistent interest in Chinese history, tradition, craft, culture and a keen observation of life. Juxtaposing the speed (and ferocity) of industry and technology with the deliberateness and delicateness of craft, the two series presented in the exhibition, Control (2015–) and Constellations (2008–), are evocative of forms of desistance from the conditions of living in a “modern” capitalised world of conformity.”
We witness in the artist’s Control series, an exploration on the theme of control specifically focused on the collective consciousness of people. In the exhibition, this theme is projected through several gourd-shaped sculptures; 4 new marble pieces and a large stainless steel one resting on a rosewood pedestal, the centrepiece anchor of this presentation. As Chinese culture and society go through drastic transformations in the modern era, the usages and metaphorical meanings of gourd became oriented towards reality and blessings, and people projected more secular desires onto gourd, the plant of a unique natural symmetry in itself.
In pursuit of perfection, the growth of gourds have been intervened by man by having them grow in man-made moulds, forcing them to grow into desired shapes. When we look at this series’ overarching idea, life on both individual and collective levels have become deeply controlled by power. Human beings are also placed under the covert and especially effective manipulation of all kinds of ‘power installations’. Just as young gourds encapsulated into moulds, life, as it grows, grad