Ink Media #4, 2011-2013, Chen Shaoxiong, Ink painting on rice paper, 18 x 28 in. © Chen Shaoxiong, Photo courtesy of Pékin Fine Arts.

Chen Shaoxiong‘s solo exhibition “Ink. History. Media.” has started at Asian Art Museum, Seattle Art Museum.

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He (born 1962) was a founding member of the “Big Tail Elephant Group” of conceptual artists in Guangzhou in the 1990’s. Today, he works both independently and collaboratively as a member of an Asian artist collective called “Xijing Men” as well as another Chinese artist collective, “Project without Space.” His art crosses mediums, including painting, photography, collage, and conceptual art.

This exhibition presents Chen’s two recent video works—Ink History and Ink Media—as well as their companion ink drawings. For Ink History, Chen created over 150 ink drawings of historic photos of major events in China from 1909 to 2009. He then turned the drawings into a three-minute video of modern Chinese history as the clock ticks in the musical score.

For his most recent work, Ink Media, Chen downloaded news photos of protests around the world from the Internet, and then re-enacted these scenes with ink drawings. Although not in any chronological or spatial order, the video shows protest—both strong and vulnerable—as a universal political expression.

Chen Shaoxiong "Ink. History. Media."
Date: July 19th – December 7th, 2014
Open: 10:00 – 17:00 (Thursday till 21:00)
Closed on Monday & Tuesday
Place: Asian Art Museum (Seattle Art Museum)
Address: Volunteer Park, 1400 East Prospect Street, Seattle, WA 98112
Tel: ＋1 206 654 3100
https://www.seattleartmuseum.org