Tamsin Roberts

A friend from Time Out Beijing asked me to review the Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art’s new Show.

The attention to detail and quality demanded by UCCA is evident in this show. It is a collection of some of the best work from major shows of the past; like Yang Zhenzhang’s 922 Rice Corns and the media overload that is Wang Du’s Space-Time Tunnel, and newer work; like Cao Fei’s RMB City, a delightful digital video tour of a futuristic China.
‘Our Future’ is a vast array of clever, enticing, thought provoking work. 2 fairly dominant works in the show come from Yin Xiuzhen. The first, a huge tyre made from stretched black clothes, covered in random protruding inside-out sleeve stumps. And the second, the ‘Introspective Cavity’. A very pink and very large cave also made from stretched clothes and dotted with the same sleeve stump peepholes. Inside of which is pink wonderland you are encouraged to sink into.
Ji Zhou’s In Situ photographs play on the ability to contort a viewers perception of space using mirrors. The content is of contrived but fairly mundane scenes, often elaborated by the subject’s colourful face paints. Beautifully curated by Wang Du over two rooms, there is a central dressing room ‘mirror’ which, ironically, is a hole into the next room – leaving your reflection up to the person looking back at you.
Practically every name on the top 20 Chinese contemporary artists list is present in this show. However, where there is such dynamic creation, the placement of these big names feels a little like an afterthought to add weight where it is not necessary. A vast Zhang Xiaogang hangs high above anyone’s natural sight level, and a beautiful Cai Guoqiang is nearly concealed by a vast broken, yet beautiful brick wall. While the intentions of this escape me, they do not distract from the multi media treat that is presented to us. It is not often you get to see so much quality in one place, which is encouraging considering recent debates over the direction of 798’s development. ‘Our Future’ sets a wonderful example to the future of Contemporary Chinese Art.