Exhibition

The M+ Sigg Collection: Chinese art from the 1970s to now

1 Jul 2015 – 20 Sep 2015

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The Whitworth

Manchester
Greater Manchester, United Kingdom

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Exhibition opens Wednesday 1 July, and a special tour of the exhibition with Lars Nittve takes place at 12pm-1pm, details below. Eighty works, four decades of fast-moving art, one of the world’s finest collections of Chinese art – and the only chance to see it in the UK

About

The M+ Sigg Collection is an extraordinary exhibition drawn from an extraordinary collection, one put together by the Swiss collector Uli Sigg and now recognised as the largest and most comprehensive of its kind in the world. The collection will form the backbone of the new M+ museum for visual culture in Hong Kong (due to open to the public in 2019) and the exhibition here at the Whitworth, put together in collaboration with our curators and colleagues from the M+ Sigg Collection, will be its only UK showing.

Spanning forty years and bringing together works by artists such as Ai Weiwei, Cao Fei and Zhang Peili, this is an exhibition that charts the emergence of contemporary art in China, from early subversive works and events on Tiananmen Square in 1989 to the vibrant art scene of today. Highlights include Family Tree (2000) by Zhang Huan, one of the most influential and provocative contemporary artists working today. This photographic work is the result of a single day’s performance where nine calligraphy painters took turns to write lyrics on the face of the artist, gradually obscuring his features with a mass of ink. Weng Fen’s On the Wall series (2002), meanwhile, captures China in the throes of rapid urbanisation. Often featuring teenagers sitting on a wall, these striking photographs present the personal transition that mirrors China’s own accelerated economic, political and social change. Cao Fei’s Whose Utopia (2006) is an emotive film that presents the secret dreams of workers in a regimented light bulb factory. The Whitworth will also show Ai Weiwei’s installation, Still Life (1995-2000), a mass-display of thousands of Stone Age axe heads and an iconoclastic gesture designed to offset the value and importance of these ancient objects.

Other artists in this exhibition include: Chi Xiaoning, Feng Guodong, Geng Jianyi, Hai Bo, Huang Rui, Huang Yong Ping, Kan Xuan, Liang Yuanwei, Lin Yilin, Liu Heung-Shing Liu Wei, Song Dong, Wang Guangyi, Wang Jin, Wang Keping, Wang Peng, Weng Fen, Xing Danwen, Yang Fudong, Yangjiang Group, Yin Xiuzhen, Zhang Peili, Zhan Wang, Zhang Wei, Zhang Xiaogang and Zheng Guogu.

曼彻斯特全新的Whitworth将于2015年7月1日隆重呈献《M+希克藏品:1970年至今的中国艺术》展览。此次展览由知名的M+希克藏品所策展的首个英国展览。展览中的80件亮点作品均来自首屈一指的中国当代艺术家,其中包括艾未未、曹斐与张培力。旨在探讨艺术将如何提出质疑、面对挑战与鼓舞人心。

 

Exhibition tour: Lars Nittve on The M+ Sigg Collection
Wednesday 1 July, 12pm-1pm

Free, no booking required. Click here for more information

Zhang Huan, Family Tree, 2000. The M+ Sigg Collection

Read essays relating to our exhibitions and collection

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