Group exhibition PRESENTE REVELADO – PRESENT REVEALED Expressions in Contemporary China Art

Barcelona, the beating heart of Catalonia, a unique city with visionary architecture thanks to the master Antoni Gaudí, rich in history and tradition, and described by visitors as an open-air museum, has established itself in recent decades as a metropolis at the forefront of technology and innovation, forging a strong and indissoluble bond between the treasures of the past and their reinterpretations for the future, thanks to its contemporary art centers, along with numerous technology hubs and research startups. The Madeinartgallery exhibition space is known for its dynamic and ongoing journey through the artistic expressions of the Far East, carefully following the evolution and achievements of each individual artist step by step. In a constant challenge to keep pace with the times. Now, for the first time, this fascinating destination, a crossroads of peoples and cultures, features the works of some of the most significant Chinese artists, engaging residents and all those interested in the international scene, especially those experiencing continuous and rapid expansion. China's rapid development could not fail to impact the world of fine arts. Indeed, among the most striking phenomena in the field, straddling the 20th and 21st centuries, is the contemporary art of the so-called "middle country." A remote, hidden, and mysterious country until recently, in the last few decades—less than fifty years—it has achieved a surprising global position in every respect: economic, technological, cultural, and artistic. And it is precisely art that bears witness to this process of transformation, a neutral ground that nevertheless expresses each artist's interpretations of life, society, and the evolution of history. With pictorial, sculptural, and multimedia skill, they recount their personal projections of a highly stratified, decidedly diverse, and contrasting world. Above all, they offer the opportunity to approach a millennia-old culture that expresses itself in a truly contemporary way, blending the past with the present and the future. Because while artistic expressions are projected into the future, they are, at the same time, profoundly connected to their roots and traditions. An understanding of this world, so distant and now so close, has been realized thanks to the constant and passionate research we have been pursuing for a decade, with the fundamental contribution of the artists themselves and their curators. At the HUB/ART space, located in the vibrant Poblenou neighborhood, Madeinartgallery exhibits a curated selection of works by contemporary Chinese artists, diverse in style, technique, and artistic vision. Their work, without contradiction, is harmoniously interwoven, enhancing the richness and diversity of China's contemporary art scene. Song Yongping's works, depicting symbols, myths, and allegories of our time, are acclaimed as provocative. His reflections on social issues fueled the new avant-garde movements before and after 1989. Zhang Hong Mei, a multifaceted figure prominent on the Asian art scene for the depth of her colors and the historical significance of her works, with her participation in the Venice Art Biennale in 2015 and in the 2021 edition of the Architecture Biennale, revisits the age-old art of paper cutouts, mixed with fragments of recolored fabrics, creating a visual language that celebrates and reinterprets the culture of her country. Xu De Qi, a supporter of the new, joyful and playful Chinese pop art, through the figures and faces of the "China Girls" and "Fish Girls" and the famous "Underglaze Blue Girls," represents the face of the new China, young and captivating as a symbolic image of the new generation, which looks to the future through glasses, a distinctive element of his works, where the skylines of Chinese metropolises overlap with the blurry, monochrome landscapes typical of the iconography of ancient Qing porcelain. In 2015, he participated in the Friendship project with the Republic of San Marino at the Venice Biennale and then in 2019, again in Venice, at the 58th Biennale with the "The Beauty and the Beast" series at Palazzo Bollani. Among the artists of the latest generations but already present on the international scene, Madeinartgallery has been collaborating with Ren Zhe since 2023, exhibiting part of his installation "The Enlightened Ones," consisting of twelve mirrored steel sculptures symbolizing the twelve years of the infinitely repeating cycle of the Chinese zodiac signs. Each year is represented by an animal, each with a different temperament, highlighting the importance of the philosophical thought of uniting nature and humanity. Qian Wu, an ultra-contemporary artist known for projects linked to important collaborations, such as the presentation of the first cabin with Xiamen Airlines with his artistic theme of "Blue Series" and the recent exhibition at the Mart Museum in Rovereto, part of "Global Painting. New Chinese Painting," curated by Lü Peng and Paolo De Grandis. A sense of peace rediscovered in the many shades of blue, with which Qian Wu paints labyrinthine skies, metaphors of a strong, inherent emotion. The exhibition also features Chen Wenling's emblematic sculpture from the "Happy Life" series, an allegorical work that expresses his personal vision of magical realist art. Rare and poetic atmospheres distinguish Zang Peng's minimal works, permeated by a suspended and fragmented inner poetry, lending a breath of eternity to emotions. With a vibrant international background, the young artist Jing Yu, a native of Shanghai, stands out. She won the "Emerging Artist Award" in Venice with her painting "Metro System Ornament." She brings to this exhibition some works from her "Ideal City" series, where "cities" are often observed and dissected from above like a living, growing and ever-evolving body. The project is an invitation to discover the creativity, stories, and cultural expressions shaping China's current artistic landscape. This exploration is “revealed” through the unique visual language of some of its leading artists.

（https://madeinartgallery.com/eng/exhibition/group-exhibition-presente-revelado-present-revealed-expressions-in-contemporary-china-art/）