Zhong Wei - 易变 ░ 耦态°∶Nёメㄒ 乚ěVéし

ZHONG WEI

易变 ░ 耦态° ∶Nёメㄒ 乚ěVéし

ZHONG WEI 易变 ░ 耦态° ∶Nёメㄒ 乚ěVéし

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de Sarthe is pleased to present the Beijing-based contemporary artist Zhong Wei’s first solo exhibition titled, 易变 ░ 耦态°∶Nёメㄒ 乚ěVéし.

Featuring a new series of paintings and an immersive installation, the exhibition explores the ripples of the information explosion and the consequential loss of existential substance, a side effect of our indulgence of modern advancements. 易变 ░ 耦态°∶Nёメㄒ 乚ěVéし opens on September 28 and runs through November 16.

Our current informational environment has grown beyond the perceptive capabilities of humans. Images, videos, and graphics are now inherently embedded within every corner of an expanding online universe, the amount of which is seemingly endless. As both contributors and users, our individual roles are infinitesimal in its macro overview, and we could spend countless hours attempting to discover its entire extent. Yet, through the motion of what the artist describes as “coupling”, it is our very interaction with these innumerable factors — in all their unpredictable variations — that generates the energy that drives its exponential evolution.

Comprised of appropriated imagery digitally compounded with organic forms, Zhong Wei’s paintings barely remain within the confines of their surface. As popular Internet icons manifest left and right, the uninhibited and near apocalyptic chaos portrayed within each composition consumes its canvas with monstrous momentum. The artist’s vivid use of color fills the surrounding environment with vitality and

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tingling anticipation. Paradoxically, the artworks evoke both excitement and anxiety and through this Zhong comments on the human fascination of pursuing the infinite despite getting lost within it.

The volatile and contingent nature of his subject means that Zhong Wei works across various mediums. In Zhong’s installation Heap, two lines of PVC curtains form a bubble within the gallery space. In contrast with the clean, clinical exterior of the curtains, the obscured interior houses a mound of scattered wires, concrete, plastic and miscellaneous electrical components with Zhong’s paintings piled amongst them. Borrowing the raw and industrial overtones of the basic building blocks that constitute most man-made creations, Heap illumines the fundamental source and root of technological and information civilization. By elucidating its origin, Zhong hopes to raise questions regarding its end.

The development of technology and the Internet has become selfdriven and is rapidly accelerating. Its newfound metabolism is achieved though the perpetual replacement of itself, opting for accumulation over refinement. In 易变 ░ 耦态°∶Nёメㄒ 乚ěVéし, Zhong speculates the metaphysical implications of the technological era and our hand in its making. By recording the shapes and textures of man-made visual phenomena, he attempts to capture the scenery of our current digital-cultural landscape.

Hong Kong | Beijing www.desarthe.com

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德薩畫廊榮幸地呈獻駐北京當代藝術家鍾慰的首次個人展覽—— 《易變 ░ 耦態°∶Nёメㄒ 乚ěVéし》。展覽將展出藝術家最新創作的一系列繪畫 以及沉浸式裝置作品。此次展覽將深入探討由當代社會巨變而引起的信息爆炸 以及存在主義的虛無體驗。展覽《易變 ░ 耦態°∶Nёメㄒ 乚ěVéし》將於9月28日 至11月16日之間舉行。 當下的信息環境已超出人類的認知耐受。無窮無盡的意象、視頻與圖形嵌入廣闊 無垠的網絡世界的每一個角落。作為既是貢獻者亦是使用者的我們，在宏觀圖景 中如此渺茫，揮霍著數不盡的分分秒秒去探究其全貌。然而經過藝術家所說的 「耦合配對」過程，正是在這不可捉摸的瞬息萬變之中，我們與無數的因子交互， 催生了激髮指數級進化的能量。 鍾慰將挪用的圖像與有機形態進行混搭，使其畫作近乎脫離平面的製約。畫作中 網絡文化的流行符號比目皆是，所描繪的完全失控、宛若末日的混沌場面以驚人 的勢頭吞噬著畫布。而藝術家對色彩的生動運用又讓周圍充滿活力與期許。作品 所調動的情緒既有興奮，亦有不安。鍾慰由此批判人類對追尋無限的沉溺以及在 自我的喪失中的不斷求索。 作品主題中的「易變」和「偶態」指向鍾慰的跨媒體實踐。在裝置作品《堆》中， 兩列PVC塑膠幕簾在畫廊空間內構成一個虛幻空間。被幕簾所包圍的內部空間模 糊迷離，成堆散落著的廢舊電線、混凝土、塑料和混雜的電子元件，與乾淨透亮 的幕簾形成劇烈的反差，而鍾慰的畫作亦堆放其間。

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《堆》的構想參考了人工造物的基本構件，借鑒了它們原原本本、不加修飾的工 業語彙，以闡釋科技與信息文明的根源所在。在揭示其本源的過程中，鍾慰試圖 追問其終局。 科技與網絡的發展已成為一個自我驅動的主體，並且仍在加速激增。它自有一類 全新的新陳代謝模式，以積累而非精煉的方式完成對自我的永恆替換。展覽《易 變 ░ 耦態°∶Nёメㄒ 乚ěVéし》思索科技時代形而上的啟發以及我們對這一時代 的塑造。鍾慰通過記錄人造視覺現象的形態與紋理，嘗試捕捉我們當下的數碼 文化景觀。

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Zhong Wei Heap 2019 Multi-media installation Dimensions variable

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Zhong Wei Heap 2019 Acrylic on canvas 155 x 200 cm Painting as a component of Heap Hong Kong | Beijing www.desarthe.com

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Zhong Wei Floatation 2019 Acrylic and archival pigment print on canvas 90 x 120 cm

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Zhong Wei Black Eyes 2019 Acrylic on canvas 155 x 200 cm

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Zhong Wei Crush 2019 Acrylic on canvas 120 x 90 cm

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Zhong Wei Big Eyes 2019 Acrylic on canvas 116 x 90 cm

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Zhong Wei Artificiality 2019 Acrylic on canvas 155 x 200 cm

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Zhong Wei Yellow Ego 2019 Acrylic on canvas 155 x 200 cm

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Zhong Wei 002`thing-in-itself 2018 Acrylic on canvas 155 x 200 cm

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Zhong Wei Coupling Flesh and Purple 2019 Acrylic on canvas 155 x 220 cm

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Zhong Wei Hills 2019 Acrylic on canvas 120 x 180 cm

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Zhong Wei Blue Reaction No.2 (Top), Blue Reaction No.3 (Below) 2019 Acrylic and silkscreen on canvas 60 x 80 cm

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Zhong Wei One Screen of distressed 2019 Acrylic on canvas 155 x 200 cm

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Zhong Wei Big Beast 2019 Acrylic on canvas 155 x 200 cm

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Zhong Wei Stretching Form 2019 Acrylic and silkscreen on canvas 155 x 200 cm

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Zhong Wei was born in Beijing, China in 1987.

His work takes form in immersive installations and canvases that speak to China’s vibrant but chaotic Internet-based visual language.

Having compiled a massive database of memes and imagery found online, Zhong uses these ubiquitous images as raw materials for his works. While certain icons in his artworks are widely recognized, they now exist as memorabilia from a specific time in our browser history.

Using his computer, he arranges these materials in countless arrays and variations, building digital sketches before he creates his work on canvas. Much of his early inspiration is drawn from traditional religious art, which is referenced in the innumerable folds seen within many of his works.

To Zhong, the complex shapes conceived from these folds reflect the structure of humanity and culture. Building on this notion, his works comment on the development of civilization by illustrating the shapes and textures of man-made objects.

Zhong Wei currently lives and works in Beijing, China.

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鍾慰於1987年出生於中國北京。 他的作品以沉浸式裝置和布面藝術為主，作品內容則呼應著中國充滿活力卻混亂 的互聯網視覺語言。鍾氏蒐集網路模因和圖像，組成豐富的數據庫，再將這些常 見的影像作為作品的原材料。其用的圖像都眾所周知，卻已淪落為過往瀏覽紀錄 的一份回憶。鍾氏利用電腦將素材整理成不計其數的排列和組合，構成數碼草圖 後，才把作品繪畫在畫布上。他早期的靈感深受傳統宗教藝術的感染，其影響可 從他許多作品中數之不盡的褶皺看見。在他看來，褶皺堆砌而起的複雜形體影射 著人類文明的結構，也由此脈絡，他開始更多的嘗試描繪人造物的質感和輪廓來 表達對文明的進程的感受。 Hong Kong | Beijing www.desarthe.com

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Zhong Wei b. 1987 born in Beijing, China; Currently works and lives in Beijing.

2017

North China University of Technology Academy of Art and Design (dropped out)

Solo Exhibitions 2019

易变 ░ 耦态°∶Nё メㄒ 乚 ěVé し, de Sarthe Gallery, Hong Kong, China

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鐘慰 1987 出生於中國北京，現工作與生活於北京。 2017 北方工業大學，藝術設計系（輟學） 個展 2019

《易变 ░ 耦态°∶Nё メㄒ 乚 ěVé し》, 德薩畫廊，香港, 中國

Hong Kong | Beijing www.desarthe.com

Zhong Wei Solo Exhibition 易变 ░ 耦态°∶Nёメㄒ 乚ěVéし

28th September – 16th November, 2019 Hong Kong

de sarthe 20/F, Global Trade Square, No.21 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Hong Kong Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday 11am – 7pm T: +852 2167 8896 F: +852 2167 8893 E: hongkong@desarthe.com Design and photographs : Vivian Yau All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means in whole or part, without prior written permission from the gallery and the artist.

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