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Globe and Mail
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Globe and Mail
A Dreamlike Collaboration: Curated by Yuan Hong, Artist Yanran Chen's Debut Solo Show in China Opens as the Inaugural Exhibition of 'Art Focus'
Curated by Yuan Hong, the Exhibition Marks the Launch of the 2025 'Art Focus' and 798 Gallery Week Beijing - May 23, 2025 - This May, the city of Beijing has been electrified by a flurry of major art events, with ART021 BEIJING, the Beijing Contemporary Art Expo, and 798 Gallery Week all taking place simultaneously. The convergence of artists, industry professionals, media, and celebrities has ignited a wave of enthusiasm for contemporary art across the capital. Among the many highlights, Yanran Chen ' s debut solo exhibition in China, ' Neon Dreamland, ' curated by Yuan Hong, stands out as a centerpiece of the cultural season. As the inaugural show of ' Art Focus ' and the official opening exhibition of the 2025 798 Gallery Week, it is a landmark event that art lovers won't want to miss. "Neon Dreamland" A Must-See Highlight of Beijing Art Season Opening on May 23 and running through July 6, Neon Dreamland marks the first major solo exhibition in China for emerging artist Chen Yanran. The show takes place at Art Focus, the newly launched art space under the renowned Tang Contemporary Art Center. Curated by Yuan Hong —actor and founder of the cultural platform 'Art Naoke'—the exhibition offers the public a deeply immersive journey through the artist's diverse creative universe, featuring recent original paintings, sculptures, and more. Immersive Experience, Multidimensional Works In an era shaped by the rise of female voices, AI, and biotech reshaping human perception, Chen Yanran's work responds with nuance and urgency. Her art interrogates the evolving relationships between identity, technology, nature, and the body. Often building imaginative spaces centered around corporeal forms, her creations reflect how Gen Z navigates the tension between body and soul, life and machine. In Neon Dreamland, vibrant installations and immersive visual storytelling reveal Chen's distinctive voice and forward-thinking spirit. The term 'Neon Dream' evokes the saturated palette of digital painting and a surreal sense of wonder, conjuring dreamscapes where time is fragmented by distorted clock hands, and mechanical gears hum with a lifelike rhythm. Her artworks offer more than escapism—they are sanctuaries, buffer zones amid hyper-connectivity, inviting reflection on what 'real,' 'companionship,' and 'selfhood' mean in an increasingly mediated world. Artist ' s Statement: Dream, Time, and the Owl 'My inspiration often returns to the image of the owl,' says Yanran Chen. 'In my imagination, owls are always surrounded by clocks, alarms, and gears—objects that seem to bend time. I love that strangeness, as if they can travel through dimensions, or even reverse time. Maybe this comes from my dreams, or maybe from deep unconscious connections I can't name but can't let go.' Her dreamscapes offer a gateway between the real and surreal, a dialogue between Zhuangzi and the butterfly, between Kafka's beetle and Proust's drowsy reverie. In these layered metaphors, Chen builds rich worlds that reflect both whimsical and profound imaginings. Her work also addresses one of today's most pressing dilemmas: the fear of losing control over our own creations. Whether smartphones or AI, technological tools are quietly reshaping our lives—and with that comes a new existential anxiety: fear of the things we ourselves have made. Exhibition Layout: From Studio Immersion to Sci-Fi Spectacle The exhibition unfolds across two distinct zones. On the first floor, visitors are welcomed into a reimagined version of the artist's personal studio. From large worktables to intimate details like paintbrushes and figurines, the space immerses guests in her creative process. Dozens of original paintings and sculptures form a surreal visual journey through Chen's one-of-a-kind imagination. Upstairs, the second floor features Chen's ' WaarWorld: Players Series, ' a crossover collection of collectible sculptures and Q-version figures inspired by Liu Cixin ' s debut sci-fi novel The Supernova Era. As a collaboration between sci-fi and street culture, WaarWorld made headlines with two appearances at ComplexCon, drawing widespread acclaim. Now presented in full for the first time in China, the series features cinematic-scale installations and unveils the universe behind this epic IP and its rich speculative world-building. Star-Powered Collaboration: Yanran Chen × Yuan Hong Curated by actor and cultural curator Yuan Hong, Neon Dreamland marks the second creative collaboration between the two. Their partnership began in 2023, when Yuan interviewed Chen for Art Knock, offering the public an intimate look at her artistic world. In 2025, they reunite in the physical space of an exhibition, pushing their dialogue to new depths. The result is a powerful fusion of star power and artistic vision, elevating the exhibition's anticipation and impact. A New Chapter for Tang Contemporary: ' Art Focus ' Neon Dreamland is also the inaugural exhibition at Art Focus, the latest initiative from Tang Contemporary Art Center. Established in Bangkok in 1997, Tang Contemporary now operates eight spaces across Beijing, Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Seoul. Known for groundbreaking exhibitions and long-standing collaborations with both international and emerging artists, Tang is one of Asia's most progressive galleries. The collaboration between Art Focus and Chen Yanran reflects growing recognition of her unique voice and signals the shared aspiration of China's new generation of artists: rooted in local experience, yet deeply engaged with global dialogues. As the official opening exhibition of 798 Gallery Week, Neon Dreamland is a pillar of May's 'Beijing Art Season.' Launched by ART021 BEIJING, the Beijing Contemporary Art Expo, and Beijing Gallery Week, the citywide program introduces a new model of 'curatorial alliances and cross-regional collaboration,' reimagining the urban art ecology. Through a dynamic blend of contemporary art, experimental design, and street culture, Beijing Art Season is transforming the capital into a global art destination. This 10-day festival of creativity invites audiences into a rich dialogue of 'breaking boundaries' and 'symbiotic imagination.' About the Artist: Yanran Chen Chen Yanran's practice is rooted in deep introspection and critical engagement with the world around her. Combining the aesthetics of Japanese manga and French experimental cinema, her finely detailed and slightly grotesque visual language explores themes of memory, embodiment, and transformation. Beloved by the international fashion world for her unique artistic style, Chen has collaborated with GUCCI (Bamboo World), served as Germany's Lighthouse Brand Ambassador in China, and partnered with trendsetting names like ROBBi, Balenciaga, Yamamoto, R13, and publications including Num é ro, ARTnews, Modern Weekly, and LOHAS. In 2023, she held her first solo show 'NOWHERE' at SOMSOC Gallery in Tokyo. She went on to exhibit at the Budapest Art Fair, Art Amoy, and ART021 Shanghai, before founding her own studio ACCRO STUDIO —named after the French word for 'endless'—symbolizing her ongoing exploration of art without limits. Her sci-fi toy IP 'WaarWorld,' co-developed with Liu Cixin, debuted at ComplexCon twice and continues to gain global recognition. Exhibition Details Exhibition Title: Neon Dreamland Curator: Yuan Hong Artist: Yanran Chen Venue: ART FOCUS, Tang Contemporary Art Center, 798 Art District, Beijing Media Preview: May 21, 2025 VIP Preview: May 22, 2025 Public Exhibition: May 23 – July 6, 2025 Media Contact Company Name: Tang Contemporary Art Contact Person: Julie Wang Email: Send Email Country: China Website:
Straits Times
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Arts Picks: Ursula Palla and Wifredo Lam solos, Mr Lim's Shop Of Visual Treasures exhibition
Thousands 2 by Ursula Palla documents the eating of money notes by a colony of ants. PHOTO: TANG CONTEMPORARY ART Threshold Lives: On Presence Without Recognition Swiss artist Ursula Palla has an eclectic solo at Tang Contemporary Art, inserting scenes of nature into the Delfi Orchard gallery more accustomed to showing commercial paintings. In overseas shows, she incorporated unconventional materials such as moulded sugar, coal dust and snow, but the ones chosen for this tropical clime are decidedly more durable. In the show curated by Sue Oh, gun metal is melted down and sculpted into tall stalks of fireweed. Some 3,200 fish hooks are painstakingly cleaned and hung from the ceiling to evoke an undulating landscape. This rehabilitation of man-made materials extends to found natural objects. Branches from the Singapore Botanic Gardens have been rustled together to create nests for digitally projected owls, in a floor-level installation that recalls Singapore Venice Biennale representative Robert Zhao's oeuvre. Palla, who grew up in the Swiss mountains, says her recontextualisation of nature in art is driven by her concerns of bio-extinction. Sculpting natural objects with materials such as bronze is her way of problematising what people see as valuable. On 12 monitors on the floor, this tension is given literal representation as a colony of ants gobbles up currency, a work inspired by a Japanese woman who stored her money under her eventually bug-ridden bed. Palla says her next obsession is water – and dragonflies. 'This is one of the biggest problems we have on earth – fresh and clean water. If you see dragonflies, you know there's clean water around because they are so sensitive.' On how she searches for new ideas, she adds: 'I work with a lot of scientists. My husband studied agriculture and my son does geography. I'm surrounded by experts.' Remains – Nested, featuring branches from the Singapore Botanic Gardens. PHOTO: TANG CONTEMPORARY ART Where: Tang Contemporary Art, 06-01/02 Delfi Orchard, 402 Orchard Road MRT: Orchard/Orchard Boulevard When: Till May 31, 11am to 7pm (Tuesday to Sunday); closed on Monday Admission: Free Info: Wifredo Lam: Outside In Wifredo Lam's paper works continue the hybrid imagination of his paintings. PHOTO: STPI Singapore will host the late Cuban artist Wifredo Lam's first solo exhibition in South-east Asia, before the modernist painter's major retrospective at New York's Museum of Modern Art in November. Known primarily for his surrealist Afro-Cuban paintings closely associated with the innovations of Spanish maestro Pablo Picasso, Lam's presentation at print and paper gallery STPI focuses on his printmaking practice. More than 60 of his paper works , many developed in his later years from 1963 to 1982, have been gathered, consistent with his fascination with hybrid figures that are part animal, part human and even part vegetal – fecund in their humour, perversity and gothic imagination. The title refers to Lam's outsider status as an artist of Chinese descent who spent most of his years in Europe. Sidelined in art history, he has in recent years been rehabilitated to become one of the most important figures of 20th-century art. Some selected works are prints drawn from his livres d'artiste, or artist books, that he collaborated on with poets such as Aime Cesaire and Gherasim Luca, telling of a precocious interest in juxtaposing image and the written word. There are also special treats from what is called Lam's Centennial Edition that were published posthumously between 1997 and 2002. These are drawn from unpublished plates he had worked on during his lifetime. Wifredo Lam's half-animal, half-human figures are fecund in their gothic imagination. PHOTO: STPI Where: STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery, 41 Robertson Quay MRT: Fort Canning When: May 24 to July 13, 10am to 7pm (Mondays to Saturdays), 11am to 5pm (Sundays) Admission: Free Info: Over The Top Over The Top at Mr Lim's Shop Of Visual Treasures is gloriously haphazard. PHOTO: LIM CHIAO WOON This 'gloriously haphazard, ever evolving' sprawl of works cramped into Mr Lim's Shop Of Visual Treasures is part of an exhibition officially opens only on June 3, but is already open for early-bird visitors to peruse. With loose coordination by gallery founder Lim Chiao Woon, it places art by new artists and icons including Ai Weiwei and Shepard Fairey in horizontal conversation. The eventual configuration will feature 50 works, with 30 already in place. Later additions will include works by regional veterans such as Singapore's Tang Da Wu and Jeremy Hiah, Thailand's Vasan Sitthiket and Indonesia's Melati Suryodarmo. Mr Lim says there will also be a surprise offering by Singapore's pioneer conceptual artist Cheo Chai-Hiang. The exhibition shares its title with Cheo's latest work, the form of which remains a mystery even to Mr Lim. Where: Mr Lim's Shop Of Visual Treasures, 02-01, 8 Haji Lane MRT: Bugis/Nicoll Highway When: Till June 30, 12.30 to 7pm (Tuesdays to Saturdays); closed on Sundays and Mondays Admission: Free Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
