Current MFA Photography Students Huang Guaier + Wang Runzhong Curate Group Exhibition “The Reconfigured Selfhood”

Geraldine Kang, Qiu Tianyu, Tan Tian, Huang Guaier + Wang Runzhong, Yang Kaihang, Wai Ying Zhao, Lang Zhang, and Zheng Xuan

Curated by Huang Guaier + Wang Runzhong, and Wai Ying Zhao

The Reconfigured Selfhood is a group exhibition curated by the collaborative Huang Guaier + Wang Runzhong, and Wai Ying Zhao. The exhibition features works by Geraldine Kang, Qiu Tianyu, Tan Tian, Huang Guaier + Wang Runzhong, Yang Kaihang, Wai Ying Zhao, Lang Zhang, and Zheng Xuan.

These eight young Asian artists/groups, constitute dialogues around how “self-identity” has changed and transformed in contemporary life and artmaking, while intending to create a departure from symbolized narratives of identity-politics. By unfolding their own complex identities, they epitomize the multitudinal examinations of young contemporary artists. At the same time, they consider art as a “writing of tactility,” to provide a cure and reflection on complications of globalization.

The curation of the works in the space is based on various invisible narrative cues, in order to convey a multidimensional conversation among the works. Tan Tian and Yang Kaihang discuss the relationship between artists and the art world in the highly capitalized condition and question what else can artists do about it. Lang Zhang’s and Geraldine Kang’s works start from different perspectives, but their thoughts simultaneously land on the fragmentation of the cities in this digital era. Zheng Xuan and Qiu Tianyu challenge contemporary perceptions of nature and society, complicating our understanding of life and the self. Wai Ying Zhao and art collaborative Huang Guaier + Wang Runzhong both reflect on their anecdotal experience, ponder upon the failure of language in particular contexts, and examine the influence of language as the landscape of knowledge on individuals and communities.

The works of these artists collectively echo with each other. Their distinctive ideologies behind their art forge conversations to resonate the anxiety, fragility and turmoil in the fast-paced evolution of current global circumstances.