I excitedly attended the media preview yesterday of White Rabbit Gallery‘s 10th Exhibition – ‘Reformation‘, and was not disappointed. White Rabbit Gallery is renowned for curating and presenting the boldest and edgiest contemporary Chinese art. ‘Reformation’ is their milestone 10th show and it pushes the boundaries, wow’s and even shocks the viewer with over 50 pieces – paintings, drawings, photographs, videos, installations and sculpture – many of which have never before been seen in Australia.
The most challenging piece in the Exhibition ‘One Metre of Democracy’ is a photo and video record of performance artist He Yunchang’s flesh being sliced open from shoulder to calf with an audience of more and more horrified responsible spectators. The impact is immediately and intense. This gruesome piece is hard to watch yet compelling, one not to miss!
Reformation opens today, with the launch party (which is open to the public) from 6 – 8pm tonight at White Rabbit Gallery, 30 Balfour St, Chippendale NSW. The exhibition runs from 6 March – 3 August.
Take a look at some of my favourite pieces from ‘Reformation’ below.
Reformation’s launch is part of Art Month Sydney‘s ‘Art at Night‘ which features a number of fabulous galleries in the Chippendale/Redfern areas, whom open their doors and invite in the public to “gallery crawl” the area and finally meet for drinks and socialise at a designed “Art Bar”. I will be there tonight and hope to see many of you at White Rabbit Gallery from 6, then onto the other wonderful galleries in the area, finally to meet up at Art Bar at L3 Central for drinks.
Madeln Company, ‘Play 201301’, 2013
“A mind-boggling take on sex, death and faith in the form of a cathedral squeezed into black S&M leather,
draped in chains, and suspended from the ceiling by ropes’ ~ White Rabbit Gallery
Dong Wensheng, ‘The Convert, series 1 – 6’, 2010
Digital archival prints on paper, 60 x 50cm each
The hands are sculpted, then presented in dark monk robes and photographed.
“The artist says he is fascinated by wounds and scares and “broken things”, and by the role of tradition in a society that is modernising at breakneck speed.”
Zhao Bo, ‘Circulation’, 2010
Oil on canvas
Chen Chunmu, ‘Untitled No. 1’, 2015
Acrylic and ink on canvas, 200 x 160 cm
Wang Zhiylan, ‘Close to Warm’, 2013
Light bulb, wire, paper, stickers.
Yang Song, ‘Dust to Dusty – Girl with Smile’, 2013
Gypsum coated unfired clay.
Hu Weiyi, ’14 Minutes’, 2013
Digital Prints x 20
Don Yuan, ‘Repeated Illusion, series 1 & 5’, 2010.
Acrylic painting installation
Sun Hongbin, ‘Fat Lady’, 2010
Oil on canvas, 25 x 18 cm.
