Saturday, June 17, 2017

Unauthorized SFMOMA Solo Show


DSCN9003 _ "Unauthorized Exhibition" at SFMOMA

DSCN9004 _ "Unauthorized Exhibition" at SFMOMA

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is presenting an "Unauthorized SFMOMA Show", which allows people to upload images of artworks to SFMOMA website, and "all works are immediately accepted, each submission automatically constituting an Unauthorized SFMOMA Solo Show on view at SFMOMA via the same website ( http://sfmoma.show ). Each exhibition starts when a work is submitted and ends when a new work is submitted."

At the moment, to view the "solo shows", visitors need "to be physically present at SFMOMA and have access to a device that can connect to the Internet. Once there, go to http://sfmoma.show to see the show (please, allow location access to Unauthorized SFMOMA Show in order to confirm your location). Note that public spaces at SFMOMA don't require ticket and thus Unauthorized SFMOMA Shows are free to visit." This show is not being displayed on any public device in SFMOMA.

Furthermore, the catalogue will be published this summer.

Naturally, I wanted to be part of this wonderful enterprise. The pieces for my entries were three multimedia installations, as they fit best the spirit and image of SFMOMA. I uploaded those three pieces on a May day when I visited SFMOMA and I also carefully chose the place I viewed and photographed my works on my mobile device, so as to display and record my works near similar works or inspiration by masters.

The first piece I "exhibited" at SFMOMA was a 2016 piece, titled Wilting Flowers, spurred by my continued fascination with paper material – delicate, malleable, and transitory, characteristics well suited for hinting at, versus representing, a world of fragility and vulnerability, constantly under threat of total destruction. The location of "my display" featured the great sculpture of Richard Serra's Sequence.

Wilting Flowers / 凋萎的花卉 / Wilting Blumen

DSCN8938 - Unauthorized Exhibition at SFMOMA

DSCN8941 _ "Unauthorized Exhibition" at SFMOMA

My second piece Niobe was about this mythological princess and mother of fourteen children, seven sons and seven daughters (the Niobids), whose boast of her large family and jeer at goddess Leto, who had only two children, the powerful twins Apollo and Artemis, resulted in unbearable tragedy. I used two shades of origami dresses to represent the male and female figures of the queen and her slaughtered sons and daughters.

Niobe / 尼俄柏 / Niobe

The gallery for my display featured works by one of my greatest heroes, Anselm Kiefer, who also employed unconventional auxiliary media, and often concerned human suffering and struggle, often through retelling of ancient myths.

DSCN8952 - Unauthorized Exhibition at SFMOMA

DSCN8963 - Margarethe, 1981, Anselm Kiefer, SFMOMA
Margarethe, 1981, Anselm Kiefer

DSCN8947 - Unauthorized Exhibition at SFMOMA

DSCN8961 - Wölundlied [Wayland's Song], Anselm Kiefer, 1982, SFMOMA
Wölundlied (Wayland's Song) 1982, Anselm Kiefer

DSCN8958 _ "Unauthorized Exhibition" at SFMOMA

DSCN8966 - Wege_ märkischer Sand (Ways_ March Sand), 1980, Anselm Kiefer, SFMOMA
Wege: märkischer Sand (Ways: March Sand), 1980, Anselm Kiefer

DSCN8955 _ "Unauthorized Exhibition" at SFMOMA

DSCN8955 _ "Unauthorized Exhibition" at SFMOMA (detail)

The last piece I posted in that May day was Stringed White Dresses — an Installation, the very first piece in my continuing series of installation or assemblage employing paper as main medium.

Using some rather square and unyielding origami white dresses, pasted onto twine, which was in turn attached to a wooden frame, I created a subtle contrast between order and disarray, manifested in the rather random formation of the white dresses. To enhance the contrast and drama, I affixed to the frame an abstract ink drawing - mostly in black, with dashes of muted red. 

Stringed White Dresses - An Installation / 紮起來的白色連衣裙 - 一個組裝 / Streich Weiße Kleider - Ein Installation

The location for my viewing was in the lobby, overlooking Alexander Calder's 1963 installation, Untitled, which also featuring a series of similar objects on wire or strings.

DSCN8984 - Unauthorized Exhibition at SFMOMA (m)

DSCN8989 - Unauthorized Exhibition at SFMOMA (m)

DSCN8983 - Unauthorized Exhibition at SFMOMA

DSCN8990 _ "Unauthorized Exhibition" at SFMOMA

DSCN8990 _ "Unauthorized Exhibition" at SFMOMA (detail)


A couple weeks later, I uploaded two oil paintings - my main endeavors, to be included in the upcoming catalogue. 

Grandma / 祖母 / Oma
Grandma, Oil on Canvas, 40"x30", 2003

Liberation Road / 解放路 / Befreiungstraße
Liberation Road, Oil on Canvas, 18"x24", 2010

Thank you, SFMOMA!


Other Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst:
- More Sculptures at Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University
- Introduction to Fisher Collection and the 75th Anniversary Exhibit at SFMOMA
- "The Political Line" - Keith Haring Exhibition at De Young Museum
- "Fresh Works VII" Juried Exhibition in Pleasanton
- "Golden Ages" Opening at Expressions Gallery, Berkeley 
- Featured Installation - Wilting Flowers
 

Saturday, June 3, 2017

Tomás Saraceno at SFMOMA

Visiting the recently closed exhibition of works by Tomás Saraceno at San Francisco MOMA was a uniquely fun experience. SFMOMA described his work as "visually arresting spaces that challenge viewers’ relationship to the built world. ... In this exhibition, visitors wind their way through and below an array of cloud-like, geometrically complex cities, suspended in the air by tethers connecting the structures to the gallery walls, floor, and ceiling."

Visitors were encouraged to discover our inner child, while wandering around the maze. Quite often, viewers became under a trance while contemplating the intricately constructed and mesmerizing web of wires, mirrors, and balloons. Observing the reactions from other visitors were also fascinating.

IMG_2455 - Tomás Saraceno at SFMOMA

IMG_2456 - Tomás Saraceno at SFMOMA

DSCN8976 - Tomás Saraceno at SFMOMA

IMG_2454 - Tomás Saraceno at SFMOMA

DSCN8974 - Tomás Saraceno at SFMOMA IMG_2450 - Tomás Saraceno at SFMOMA



Besides the main installation, the exhibition also included several very interested small pieces, which complemented the exhibition, and our understanding and appreciation of the artist, particularly "drawings" and "sculptures" incorporating spider silk.

DSCN8972 - Tomás Saraceno at SFMOMA

DSCN8979 - Tomás Saraceno at SFMOMA

DSCN8973 - Tomás Saraceno at SFMOMA IMG_2453 - Tomás Saraceno at SFMOMA


Other Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst:
- More Sculptures at Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University
- Rodin and Richard Serra in Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University
- Introduction to Fisher Collection and the 75th Anniversary Exhibit at SFMOMA
- "The Political Line" - Keith Haring Exhibition at De Young Museum
- Andy Goldsworthy's Stone River in a Lush Setting
- Featured Installation - Wilting Flowers