Landscape Topology: The Opening Exhibition of Magee Art Gallery (Beijing)

Artists: Cui Xiuwen, Dong Wensheng, Gao Shiqiang, Jiang Zhi, Li Chao, Li Xiaosong, Ma Qiusha, Tu Hongtao, Wu Guangyu, Zhao Zhao

Curator: Su Wenxiang

Magee Art Gallery (Beijing) is a branch institute of Magee Art Gallery (Madrid). The new space is located in the famous 798 Art District. Choosing this place shows the determination of Magee Art Gallery to enter contemporary Chinese art market. Magee Art Gallery (Madrid) is situated at C/Antonio Maura7-Bajo Izquierda, Madrid, Spain, the museum area of the city, adjoining to the renowned museums, Prado National Museum and Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.

Magee Art Gallery (Beijing|Madrid) is dedicated to the exchange and promotion of Chinese contemporary art in Europe and the world, especially focusing on young emerging artists, with the goal of bringing a broader international vision of Chinese contemporary art, increasing the recognition of Chinese contemporary art among the Western public, and facilitating the spread of Chinese visual culture worldwide.

Magee Art Gallery (Beijing|Madrid), with sincerity and determination, takes full responsibility for the artistic activities it is involved in and for its important linking role between collectors and artists in art field. Magee Art Gallery aims to realize its values by playing an active role in promoting artwork for worldwide attention and recognition through support for and mutual understanding with the artists. Magee Art Gallery takes as its professional ethic to offer the collectors guidance in academic values and reliable information on art market to ensure their maximum interests are met. And the Gallery is committed to the mission of presenting diverse Chinese contemporary art and enhancing the global understanding of Chinese culture through its daily efforts.

Up until now, Magee Art Gallery (Madrid) has organized a series of contemporary Chinese art exhibitions in Spain, inviting Cao Fei, Cui Xiuwen, Dong Wensheng, Gao Shiqiang, Jiangzhi, Li Qing, Li Wei, Qiu Zhijie, Zhang Xiaotao, Han Lei, Wang Yabin and Tu Hongtao, etc, who are young Chinese artists of a new generation. These exhibitions have created a sensation in Spain.

After Magee Art Gallery(Beijing)entered 798 Art District in May, our first exhibition will be opened in October 18 after four months' preparation. The exhibition is named “Landscape Topology” and it invites young artists Cui Xiuwen, Dong Wensheng, Gao Shiqiang, Jiang Zhi, Li Chao, Li Xiaosong, Ma Qiusha, Tu Hongtao, Wu Guangyu and Zhao Zhao to participate. There are 13 works exhibited including painting, photography and video installation. Magee Art Gallery (Beijing) attempts to continue to devote itself to the development of contemporary Chinese art through this exhibition with academic content, unique angle and young energy.

Exhibition Introduction:

Since the beginning of the intentional description (appreciation and aesthetic portray) of history by human beings, landscape/nature has never been ignored. The creation of art in related to landscape later developed into a major category after the classification of art. As a very important part of the basic materials of artists, landscape is described again and again. Because of its abundant linguistic meaning, landscape was once used for metaphorizing social reality. It is often referred as landscape in close relation to people's participation result in a social meaning. In the field of contemporary art where conception is admired, landscape often becomes a metaphor for conservative and inferior force in the eyes of radical artists and is seldom mentioned. Even if it appears in some historical narration, it is usually at the edge of historical analysis.

As the opening exhibition of Magee Art Gallery (Beijing), the landscape discussed by “Landscape Topology” is not a pure and single landscape in an absolute sense. However, landscape/natural environment occupy important length of writing in the structure of these works. What is obvious is that they are not creations with the initial intention to directly interpret “landscape”. Some of these works are creations using natural landscape as media; some discuss how to re-observe the landscape; some directly use traditional and culture metaphorical natural landscape as materials for creation…

“Landscape Topology” does not intend to evaluate every artwork from the angle of sociology or humanist criticism. This exhibition chooses works with visual expression of “landscape/nature” as the center of discussion. In the series of landscapes chosen or re-constructed by the artists, heaven and earth, grass and trees, and clouds and water form a topology picture about landscape. The changes in spatial structure and form and visual differences include many contents of thought history that are often omitted. The discrepancy shown after the collective appearance of these works may help us search for those traces about landscape.