March 11th - April 22nd, 2010
18Gallery is proud to host famous Ma Liang (also known as Maleonn, born in 1972 in Shanghai) solo show. This show is an unique work in progress show, a never ending intense project, never seen on the Shanghaiese art scene. The show will be a gwing show during all its duration. At the opening one will only see the seeds of an amazing work in progress.
As the artist puts it himself, this solo show is very special to him. It is about a place witha lot of memories as well as his own commitment as an artist.
« I see the Bund as the most interesting space in Shanghai, I live in this city, I have to cover it by my art. To display my private logic and philosophy in this place, using my rags, paper, fulfilled red lines, fantastic reading voice, abundant small nails, poems written on the wall…
My old love letter, mails between anonymous as well as various collections of old photos about private life will be in this show including some my photography work. When being displayed like this, they are not only photographs, but partly the recording of my past emotion. » says Maleonn.
He adds « I want to open the process of set up to the public, the show will be growing for one month. »Everyone will be able to see the evolution of the art. « Like the flower being carefully fed, Watching her flourishing, Slowly becoming fragrant, Then fading, Vanishing… »
In this project Maleonn also wants the public to see what it takes to do art. « I also want to go on a hunger strike. In that month I won’t eat anything but liquid. I will take myself pictures. From the first day, to the end. One picture for one day. Slimmer and slimmer. More and more losing something. Except the weight, also the memories »
Maleonn is one of the most talented Shanghai photographer who has gained a kind of cult following because of his fable like photographs. His images, in color and black and white, are often created with props, actors and a strange mix of hues, colors and theatrical sets. Maleonn’s protagonists are captured in quite distinct poses that they take up in settings orchestrated to the smallest detail. The symbol-laden face painting, the emotive gestures and the sumptuous costumes he uses in his works are clearly inspired by Chinese stage plays and the Beijing opera. “My father was a director at a theater in Shanghai”, he says, “and my mother was an actress. I grew up in this artificial world.”
February 2nd - March 2nd, 2010
18Gallery is proud to host famous Zhang Dali solo show with a very intense project (born in 1963 in Harbin, China and based in Beijing). As the visitor comes into the show he is facing Zhang Dali’s gigantic, almost four meters high, painted portraits.
When asked why AK-47 written all over the paintings. One will discover that this was Zhang Dali’s tag back in the days. « It comes from a gang's name. I use this to stand for the violence. This sort of violence doesn't just mean one person hits another person. »
Zhang Dali's work actively engages with the rapidly changing environment in China. Zhang started working in portraiture as one of Beijing's first graffiti artists, spraying and carving heads into the walls of the hundreds of buildings scheduled for destruction. Working across a wide variety of media - from urban art, to archiving photographs of Mao, and large scale installations - Zhang's portraits document a contemporary social history of a culture in radical development and flux.
Zhang trained at the Beijing Central Academy of Art & Design. After studying painting in China, he went to Italy, where he discovered graffiti art. He was the only graffiti artist in Beijing throughout the early 1990s, and is the first artist since Keith Haring and Jackson Pollock to be given the cover of Time magazine.
From 1995 to 1998 he spray-painted over 2000 giant profiles of his own bald head on buildings throughout Beijing, placing the images alongside 'chai' characters painted by the city authorities to indicate that a building is scheduled for demolition. The appearance of these images became the subject of media debate in Beijing in 1998.
He has shown work internationally in many exhibitions including the International Center for Photography in New York, Courtyard Gallery in Beijing, Institute of Contemporary Art in London, Kunstnernes Hus in Oslo and the 2006 Gwangju Biennale in Korea. He is represented by Kiang Gallery in Atlanta, Eli Klein Fine Art in New York and Base Gallery in Tokyo.
FROM STYLE WRITING TO ART STREET ART GROUP SHOW
December 24th, 2009 – January 21st, 2010
October 15th, 2009 - November 12th, 2009
(in collaboration with Outlook Magazine)
With : 多宝/Duo Bao (China), 元媛/Yuan Yuan (China), 高孝午/Gao Xiao Wu (China), Hiroshi Kobayashi (Japan), 胡昀/Hu Yun (China), 梁玥/Liang Yue (China), 顾磊/Gu Lei (China), Zhang Kai (China), Dai Guangyu (China), Botto e Bruno (Italy), Gosia Galas (Poland), Christian Gonzenbach (Switzerland), JonOne (France + USA), Blek Le Rat (France), P. Nicolas Ledoux (France), Guillaume Linard (France), Laurina Paperina (Italy), Quick (USA), Mathias Schauwecker (Switzerland), Françoise Pétrovitch (France), Ariadhitya Pramuhendra (Indonesia), Miss Van (Spain), Jeanne Verdoux (USA), Kosta Kulundzic (Serbia), Jean Luc Lemaire (France), Yunmee Kyong (USA), Vuk Vidor (Serbia), Anne-Laure Sacriste (France), Jeanne Susplugas (France), Damien Beguet (France), Armand Behar (France), Pierre Belouïn (France), Michela Muserra (Italy + USA), Gael Davrinche (France), Yohan Beliard (France), Guillaume Mary (France), 胡子/Huzi (China), 烟囱/Yancong (China), 于晓/Yuxiao (China), 彭撼/Peng Han (China), and many others…
The Drawing Hand exhibition will last from October 15th, 2008 to November 12th, 2009 at the 18gallery, Shanghai
Press Preview : Thursday October 15th, 2009 from 4 to 6 PM
Opening : Thursday October 15th, 2009 from 6 to 9PM
Venue : 18Gallery, 18 Zhongshan East Road (E1), 4F, Shanghai
18gallery is pleased to present an exhibition entirely dedicated to drawings. A very original exhibition that mixes artists from all over the world, from China to Italy via Indonesia for example. The show opens the debate, at this strange age of the “all-internet”, about what drawings is really about.
This overflowing exhibition completely dedicated to drawing, which invade the complete floor of the gallery, temporarily transforming it into a cabinet of curiosities, a clandestine production workshop, an official and unofficial showcase of contemporary drawings. The show is though as a treasure hunt, a game that all can enjoy, from the artists to the visitors. Following the established protocol, each artist carefully chosen and invited presents one or more guests, another artist that is hence also invited, illustrating Sol LeWitt’s quote with generosity and ferocious acuity : “Drawing is first and foremost a mental practise”. With its amazing space 18gallery intends to fill in the space with hundreds of drawing one can get lost when admiring them all.
The exhibition was fostered by the will to create a tangle of works, ideas, achievements but also a very special association of artists and their guests. For that’s the idea behind it : different gallery artists chose to invite another fellow artist in order for him/her to show his/her work. The visitors are then faced with the questions : who invited who ? why ? … which results in a sort of affinity and respect labyrinth that spreads on the walls of the gallery. Surprises are around the corner, with, hidden somewhere, even some special unexpected guests from the fashion world for instance.
Icon Tada - digital painting
August 6th - September 3rd, 2009
June 25th - July 30th, 2009
