Not letting any grass grow under his feet, Zhong Biao is moving from a Biennale-related exhibition in Venice to a solo show at the Suzhou Art Museum 苏州美术馆. Above note appears on Sichuan Art Web , and carries English title “Tailoring Clouds.” In Chinese, 裁云剪水, trimming clouds, cutting water. Or is that the ‘nip and tuck’ idea?
The contents of this exhibition are in part retrospective, 20 paintings drawn from his work extending back decades. In addition, more new-fangled experiments, in this case using a 3-D printer and to reproduce counterfeit antique statues. Counterfeit counterfeits, a not very Zhong Biao maneuver, whose work is more typically marked by a literal astronomical earnestness (near constant contemplation of universe-level phenomena and beyond). I will be traveling to opening and discussion of his work over the weekend, hopefully reporting more detail thereafter. I’ll be looking to see in particular whether this is a true stylistic shift or small detour into another area of plastic art expression. At any rate, the fact that he could put this together while his Venice show is still up (opened May 31, runs through October) is no mean feat, and perhaps part of the reason he’s talking about taking a break from art-making for the time being. Seems I’ve heard this before, namely at his 2005 Xin Dong exhibition in Beijing. That hiatus turned out to be no more than a mere few weeks. I’m guessing this will be the same, but we will see.