Gao Mingyan and Wang Yiquan
Faith, Courage, Three Pounds of Flax
1–19 July 2015
Special opening: 16 July, 6pm
Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai
People’s Park Gate7 MoCA Pavilion
231 Nanjing West Road
Shanghai, 200003
China
Hours: Daily 10am–9pm
A monk asked: “What is Buddha?”
Dongshan Shouchu replied: “Three pounds of flax.”
–Dongshan Shouchu (910–990), Master of Chinese Zen Buddhism
MoCA Pavilion, the new experimental space of Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, presents: Faith, Courage, Three Pounds of Flax, a conceptualist exhibition realized through a collaboration between artists Gao Mingyan and Wang Yiquan. Taking performance art as its point of departure, the artists have worked in various ways, individually and collectively conducting artistic interventions, performative actions and group interviews in order to explore a core question: “What is the most cherished attribute for an artist in his or her day to day life?”
Faith, Courage, Three Pounds of Flax is a koan-esque artistic creation, mapping the thinking and practice of the two conceptual artists, Gao Mingyan and Wang Yiquan, who view contemporary art as constantly revisited ideas rather than merely fine crafted objects. Throughout its duration, the exhibition Faith, Courage, Three Pounds of Flax will grow as well, transforming the MoCA Pavilion’s physical space into a testing ground for conceptual art. The exhibition is accompanied by a number of events and live performances, featuring Gao Mingyan and Wang Yiquan’s creative input, including: Contemporary Boxing, Artist Visa Service, Still Life with Fruit Dish,The Art of Elevator Pitch, People‘s Park Shuttle and other well-planned events. For more information and event appointment, please visit our website.
Gao Mingyan, born in 1983 in Shanghai, lives and works in Shanghai. He graduated from Shanghai Art & Design Academy with a BA in Exhibition Design (2005). His solo exhibitions include Life Roles (Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, 2013), What Else Can I Do? (Goethe Institute, Shanghai, 2012), and Intervene (A4 Contemporary Art Centre, Chengdu, 2011); in 2009, he was exhibited at the10th Baltic Trienial in Lithuania as a member of COMFORTABLE project. He has curated many exhibitions, including Vanishing (DDM Warehouse, 2009), Gray Fertilizer Is Gray (Shanghai No.17 Plastic Factory, 2008), and One Ninth (BizArt Art Center, Shanghai, 2006).
Wang Yiquan, born in 1987 in Beijing, now lives and works in Shanghai. He graduated from Beijing International Studies University with a BA in Journalism (2010) and then studied MA Narrative Environments at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London (2012). His works have been exhibited in the 2nd CAFAM Future Exhibition (CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, 2015), Closing Ceremony (Basement 6 Collective, Shanghai, 2014), the 5th Nanluoguxiang Performing Arts Festival (Penghao Theatre, Beijing, 2014), and The Performance Night (am art space Shanghai, 2013). His work will be exhibited in the 3rd Ural Industrial Biennial this year in September.
MoCA Pavilion is a brand new art space of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Shanghai, which opened to public in March 2015. Its aim is to show a series of extensive art projects to support young artists, focusing on new trends in the arts field in order to encourage contemporary art in a variety of experimentation and innovation. At the same time, we strive to create a unique and open environment in which the audience can freely explore and understand contemporary artists and their works.
Faith, Courage, Three Pounds of Flax is organized by MoCA’s curatorial department: Wang Weiwei, Sharon Huang and Natalie Yu, and Iris Zhang from education department. It is also supported by 1933 Contemporary, Shanghai.
About MoCA Shanghai
Since the opening in 2005, MoCA Shanghai has been promoting contemporary art home and abroad, hoping to bring culture and artistic atmosphere for Shanghai citizens and become a platform providing basic artistic education.
Media contact
Natalie Yu: T +6327 9900 112 / M +1302 3216 929 / natalie [at] mocashanghai.org
