Zhang Yibei @TAG Art Museum, Qingdao, China

BANK is pleased to announce that the participation of artist Zhang Yibei in "The 2nd TAG New Contemporary: Seaward" at TAG Art Museum with her works "When Spring Comes, the First Ray of Sunlight Belongs to Me", "Old Lesions", and "Vase". 

 

The exploration and extension of the material itself is reflected in many of Zhang Yibei's sculptures. Through the artist's destruction and transformation, the original functional properties of these materials and readymade products are suspended, reshaped, and combined. The work "When Spring Comes, the First Ray of Sunlight Belongs to Me" borrows a line from Puccini's opera The Artist's Life from a character named Mimi. The three quilts suggest a comfortable, open state of mind, just as the occupants of the shabby attic in the opera remain hopeful about life. The work "Vase", first shown in Zhang Yibei's solo exhibition at BANK in 2019. In this show, the artist transformed various objects into vases through the act of "chiseling". "Old Lesions" consists of three pressure cookers with exaggerated deformation are engraved with the pathological term "calcification foci", which contrasts with the power of the small ceramic objects attached to them, and the internalized pressure and external vulnerability maps out the psychological state that the artist intends to express.

 

The 2nd TAG-New Contemporary took the form of a nomination process, with 10 finalists selected by an academic committee. From their individual experiences and distinctive perspectives, the artists have undertaken an exploration through the transformations and evolution of organisms, human collectives, and tangible as well as virtual spaces in the context of the post-human era. Through diverse art forms encompassing painting, video, installation, and new media, collectively presenting to the public the innovative thinking and aesthetic concepts of the emerging artists.

December 24, 2023