the nature of things
DESCRIPTION
This exhibition brings French artist Gael Davrinche and Chinese artist Zhang Dali together for the first time. They came from different cultures, but grew up in the same time periods. From two independent views, the artist discussed a shared wonder about the essence of nature and humanity. The Nature of Things somehow stands for a checkpoint to the both.TRANSCRIPT
THE NATURE OF THINGS事物的本质
ZHANG DALI 张大力
GAËL DAVRINCHE 加尔
THE NATURE OF THINGS事物的本质
ZHANG DALI 张大力
GAËL DAVRINCHE 加尔
事物的本质张大力 + 加尔
本展首次把法国艺术家DAVRINCHE与中国艺术家张大力结合到一起。他们来自于两种地域文化，却在同一历史时期里成长。两位艺术家的作品从不同的角度，共同探讨着自然与人类文明的本质。从某种角度来说，这个展览分别标志着两位艺术家在艺术生涯上的一个截点——两位都带来了与以往作品风格不同的新系列。然而，我们仍然能看到前期作品对艺术家本人留下的微妙烙印。
THE NATURE OF THINGS ZHANG DALI + GAEL DAVRINCHE
This exhibition brings French artist Gael Davrinche and Chinese artist Zhang Dali together for the first time. They came from different cultures, but grew up in the same time periods. From two independent views, the artist discussed a shared wonder about the essence of nature and humanity. The nature of things somehow stands for a checkpoint to the both---the two artists will present their new series, running beyond the very recognizable motifs that they established in earlier works. Though, we could still observe the delicate impacts that the earlier works had left on the artists.
张大力 ZHANG DALI
人与动物 PEOPLE AND ANIMALS
张大力
追溯到1990年代，张大力是中国第一个出名的街头艺术家（涂鸦艺术家）。从北京中央工艺美院毕业后，他曾在意大利居住数年，又于1999年回到背景。受到成长经历中两种文化背景的影响，张大力的艺术心态里往往涵盖了多种文化视角。
成长于高速发展的中国的，张大千时常思考着关于人们自我认知的问题。在城市化的压力下，人们的个人意识被淡化了。这些思考成就了张大力作品的中心主题。与此同时，西方文化的影响教会他一直最具时效性的艺术表现方式——在墙壁上、城市的脸上涂鸦。选择投身街头艺术不仅是选择了一种艺术表现形式，更是选择了观众。他的作品立意于展示给北京这个城市，以及生活在这里的人们。他在北京的各个角落，那些即将被拆的房子上，涂鸦着一张张侧脸的轮廓。这些脸被喷绘、雕刻、镂空在水泥墙壁上，代替在这些地方居住过的居民，陪伴着他们曾经的家。
除了涂鸦以外，张大力的作品也通过绘画，摄影及雕塑的形式表现。对于作品媒介的不同选择并不限制他的艺术思维。他近期的作品仍旧以解读人类的身份为中心，并进一步涉及了社会等级、及自然世界食物链的课题。
Zhang Dali
Zhang Dali is known as the very first known street artist in China back in the 1990s. Graduated from Beijing Central Academy of Arts and Design, he then lived in Italy for a few years before coming back to Beijing again in 1995. Trained and influenced by two different cultures, Zhang had established an artistic mind that embraces ideas that connects multiple perspectives.
Zhang’s experience of growing up in a fast-developing China made him concern about people’ individual identities, which had seemed largely taken away by the force of urbanization. It later became a central statement of Zhang’s works. His work is a statement to the city Beijing, and to the local residences. These faces got spray-painted, carved in, and sometimes hollowed out of the concrete walls, stayed with the ruined remains for the neighborhood that were expelled from their old homes.
Zhang is also famous through painting, photography, and sculpture as well. The switch of the medium doesn’t constraint the artist’s thoughts. He continues identifying people in his more recent work. Beyond the idea of identification, he had also included topics from social hierarchy to the essence of food web.
张大力
系列：人与动物悱2007155 x 200 x 85 cm雕塑, 铜Ed. /5
ZHANG DALI
People and animalsSpeechless 2007155 x 200 x 85 cmBronze sculpture and copperEd. /5
张大力
系列：人与动物悸2007165 x 130 x 100 cm雕塑, 铜Ed. /5
ZHANG DALI
People and animalsDistress 2007165 x 130 x 100 cm Bronze sculpture and copperEd. /5
张大力
系列：人与动物惊
2007120 x 95 x 100 cm
雕塑, 铜Ed. /5
ZHANG DALI
People and animalsShock
2007120 x 95 x 100 cm
Bronze sculpture and copperEd. /5
张大力
系列：人与动物惘
2007180 x 145 x 45 cm
雕塑, 铜Ed. /5
ZHANG DALI
People and animalsDesolate
2007180 x 145 x 45 cm
Bronze sculpture and copperEd. /5
张大力
系列：人与动物悚
2007220 x 290 x 75 cm
雕塑, 铜Ed. /5
ZHANG DALI
People and animalsPanic2007
220 x 290 x 75 cmBronze sculpture and copper
Ed. /5
张大力
系列：人与动物悒
2007230 x 285 x 100 cm
雕塑, 铜Ed. /5
ZHANG DALI
People and animalsGloom
2007230 x 285 x 100 cm
Bronze sculpture and copperEd. /5
张大力
系列：人与动物惶 2007170 x 100 x 60 cm雕塑, 铜Ed. /5
ZHANG DALI
People and animalsAnguish2007170 x 100 x 60 cmBronze sculpture and copperEd. /5
张大力
系列：人与动物傲
2007155 x 136 x 80 cm
雕塑, 铜Ed. /5
ZHANG DALI
People and animalsProud 2007
155 x 136 x 80 cmBronze sculpture and copper
Ed. /5
张大力
系列：人与动物怆
2007165 x 100 x 65 cm
雕塑, 铜Ed. /5
ZHANG DALI
People and animalsGrief 2007
165 x 100 x 65 cmBronze sculpture and copper
Ed. /5
张大力
系列：人与动物怙 2007156 x 120 x 82 cm雕塑, 铜Ed. /5
ZHANG DALI
People and animalsPresume 2007156 x 120 x 82 cmBronze sculpture and copperEd. /5
加尔 GAËL DAVRINCHE
GAEL DAVRINCHE
艺术家Gael Davrinche自2000年以来活跃于法国巴黎。他是业界内一位非常大胆的油画家，乐于重新刻画西方艺术运动产物中出现过的重要人物写真。从蒙娜•丽莎（Mona Lisa）到阿尔诺芬妮夫妇（the Arnolfini’s）；从弗里达•卡罗（Frida Kahlo）到乔治•华盛顿（George Washington），Davrinche的作品解构着他们的身份。我们时常能看到历史人物及艺术风格的交错呈现。而他极具玩味的色彩运用和绘画技巧也显得那么生动、自由。
Davrinche专注于改造人物。他仿佛闯了象征着过去的作品里，舀出人物，又重新扣在自己的新画布上。也许，写下那些故事的并非是他，而他为我们制作了成群的滤镜。透过滤镜，故事被印象化、立体化，被放大、亦或是被重叠着。当你看着作品里的人物的时候，他们身上的历史痕迹也以同样的方式看着你。当你从这些辛辣的描绘中看到了讽刺，说明你相信了历史的真实性。
Davrinche的作品温柔地干扰着我们对艺术历史的常规解读。干扰，却不令人失望。
Active in Paris since early 2000s, Gael Davrinche is known as a furious painter who likes renewing portraits that were seen as milestone pieces throughout the ever-evoking western cultural movements. From Mona Lisa to the Arnolfini’s; from Frida Kahlo to George Washington, Davrinche deconstructs their known identities. In his paintings, we often see mixed-up uses of characters and artistic styles referring to various historical ranges. His playful use of colors and painting techniques is freed, as well.
Davrinche focalizes on transforming figures. He scooped out subjects from the past, and smashed them onto his new canvas. He was never the story maker, but he offered batches of filters, through where storied got impressionalized or cubilized, exaggerated or overlapped. When you’re staring at these figures, they stare back at you with layers and layers of heritages. The acrimonious depictions might seem distorted and ironic, only if you’ve believed the history is telling you the truth.
Davrinche’s works gently disturb our conventional understandings of recognizable past. Disturb, but not disappoint.
加尔
与龙虾的自画像2012
200 x 160 cm布上油画
唯一
GAËL DAVRINCHE
Self portrait with lobster2012
200 x 160 cmOil on canvasUnique piece
加尔
亚特兰特 （希腊承重建筑之神）
2013320 x 200 cm布上油画
唯一
GAËL DAVRINCHE
Atlante2013
320 x 200 cmOil on canvasUnique piece
加尔
拳击手2012
200 x 160 cm布上油画
唯一
GAËL DAVRINCHE
Boxer2012
200 x 160 cmOil on canvasUnique piece
加尔
人固有一死系列2012 -13
212 x 292cm布上油画
唯一
GAËL DAVRINCHE
Memento mori series201213-
212 x 292cmOil on canvasUnique piece
加尔
人固有一死系列2012 -13
212 x 292cm布上油画
唯一
GAËL DAVRINCHE
Memento mori series201213-
212 x 292cmOil on canvasUnique piece
加尔
人固有一死系列2012
216 x 76.5cm纸上油画
唯一
GAËL DAVRINCHE
Memento mori series2012
216 x 76.5cmOil sticks on paper
Unique piece
加尔
人固有一死系列2012
216 x 76.5cm纸上油画
唯一
GAËL DAVRINCHE
Memento mori series2012
216 x 76.5cmOil sticks on paper
Unique piece
All Rights ReseRved. this book, oR pARts theReof, mAy not be RepRoduced in Any foRm without
wRitten peRmission of the publisheR. pRinted in the pRc.
Published by : MD Editions
The nature of things is a limited edition catalogue published by magda danysz gallery (paris / shanghai)
& md editionson the occasion of the artist’ show in shanghai at md gallery
2013
