Luo Brothers

Zhou Chunya

Zhang Dali

Sui Jianguo

Wu Junyong

Huang Yan

Zhao Bo, Luo Brothers, Zhou Chunya, Zhang Dali, Sui Jianguo, Wu Junyong, Huang Yan

July 14 through August 18, 2007
Opening: Saturday July 14  – 11am to 5pm

Just like a lot of people, we are curious about what is happening in the Chinese contemporary art market. Over the last few years much has been written about it; how it’s prompted by the creation of enormous amounts of wealth and new freedoms in China, key collections are increasing their holdings of the work and most recently it is being included in the major international contemporary art auctions. So what’s happening in China now?

McClain Gallery is pleased to announce the exhibition !China Now!, a group exhibition of contemporary Chinese artists. This is a survey exhibition that highlights some of the better known contemporary Chinese artists, all of whom are also featured in the Museum of Fine Arts exhibition, Red Hot, Asian Art from the Chaney Family Collection.

Zhao Bo – Zhao Bo is from a group of young artists called New Realists. "New" not only because the work differs from realism in the classical sense but also because it differs considerably in approach from the artists ten to twenty years older. Growing up in what has been called China’s post political society the New Realists look toward the materialism and decline of moral standards in everyday life for inspiration.

Luo Brothers – The three Luo Brothers, Luo Wei Dong, Luo Wei Bing and Luo Wei Guo, make riotous creations of kitsch. These works come from the side of the oriental nature that loves the bright lights and red lanterns that adorn every Chinese festival, that loves the peasant handicrafts containing masses of multicolored flowers, that loves the fat babies meant to bring prosperity and success. Given this as their starting point, the three brothers have added the symbols of the new consumerism now omnipresent in their country as well as the symbols of the communist revolution into which they were born.

Zhou Chunya – For over a decade Zhou Chunya has painted his dog, a dearly loved German Shepherd. He has always painted him green with a red belly and red tongue. These works show not only the deep understanding that existed between Zhou Chunya and his friend but the immense talent of the artist to convey every emotion and state of being, applicable to humans and animals alike.

Zhang Dali – Zhang Dali's intention throughout his body of work is to call attention to the changes taking place in Chinese society primarily due to the destruction of long standing communities. He wants to enter into a dialogue with his compatriots whom he sees as becoming increasingly estranged as the drive towards modernization continues. His early graffiti work can still be seen all over the Chinese capital. His signature outline of a human head was found, among other places, on traditional courtyard houses marked for demolition. The artist called this graffiti work "Dialogue" and “Demolition” which he documented using photography.

Sui Jianguo – Sui Jianguo´s Made in China series are some of the most celebrated icons in today´s Chinese Pop movement. The Made in China series is based upon mass-produced toys. While playful, Jianguo’s art as well as most contemporary Chinese art, cannot be taken at face value; often politics lay just beneath the surface. The dinosaur can also be understood as personifying the unruly economic power China now commands over world markets.

Wu Junyong – Wu Junyong's animation DVD works are among the most exciting creations to come from the younger generation of contemporary Chinese artists. The combination of image, sound and text combine to give a pulsating vision of newly rich, urban Chinese society. His most recent work, the Opera series, is a satirical commentary on politics and self promotion exposing the human frailty of current situations.

Huang Yan – In 1999, when Huang Yan began a series of paintings-photographs entitled Chinese Landscapes – landscapes painted on the skin of a human body. Very few artists, in expressing the encounter between Chinese traditional culture and the contemporary world, have succeeded in simultaneously capturing the fusion and the paradox that this encounter generates. Huang Yan’s work makes reference to a Chinese cultural heritage that is innate to every Chinese person.