Is the artist's studio that mysterious?

Artists' studios are often hidden behind their works and not seen by the public. But it is precisely in this space of their own that they spend most of their creative time thinking, being alone and imagining.

The studio hides the artist's truest self and the most primitive artistic fantasy. If we can face his studio directly, the artist's unique artistic style and personality will become tangible.

Qiao space scene map

How do artists view their own studios? From September 8, 20 16 to June 8, 20 10, a group exhibition of "Studio" was held in Qiao Space on the west coast of Shanghai with a special perspective. Yi Ding, Jia Aili, Liu Kai, Liu Xiaodong, Xu Zhen, Yang Fudong, Yan Peiming, Zhang, etc. 12 important contemporary China artists participated in this exhibition, showing their studios and working conditions from their own perspectives.

Qiao space scene map

Yi Ding

"Painting allows me to be alone, and the studio is a place for personal thinking and experience."

Dingyi studio

Yi Ding is regarded as the pioneer of abstract painters in China. Since the end of 1980s, Ding Yi has used the word "X" and its variant "X" as the main visual symbols to construct pictures, forming its iconic style. He regards this meaningless formal symbol as the representative of structure and rationality, which reflects the essence of things, and the context is the urban environment under the pace of industrialization in China. Interestingly, Ding Yi's studio is separated from the exhibition site "Joe Space" by a wall. In this exhibition, through a small hole in the wall for viewing, the audience can "peek" at the artist's daily life and creation.

Jia Aili

"Art work is like a shaman walking alone in the wilderness. Three worlds without destruction without awakening ... "

Jia Aili is unnamed, 20 16, photography, 180×240 cm.

Jia Aili, painter, graduated from Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts. His paintings are used to being presented in a huge way, mostly in a gray-blue narrative style, and scenes of eschatological ruins often appear in his works. For the studio, he described it this way: "Art is the light of the soul, illuminating the dust of thought."

Jianhua Liu

"The studio is the magnetic field of art, a port, a gathering place and a place where imagination is generated. This is an incredible container ... "

Liu Jianhua untitled, 20 12-20 16, photography, 30×40 cm×30.

Liu Jianhua white paper, 20 12-20 16, porcelain,120× 90× 0.5cm.

Liu Jianhua, a sculpture and installation artist, uses ceramics and composite materials as the main media. In recent years, Liu Jianhua's focus has gradually shifted from social issues to deep exploration, and his works tend to be concise and Zen. In the studio, he showed the audience the completion process of the work "White Paper", which is also the process of the artist's inner experience and perception of things. "People write different psychological feelings with their hearts when facing seemingly blank and traceless forms ..."

Mr Liu

"The studio used to be a realistic place for me. The works in it are the residue of thinking and the natural landscape."

Liu Wei, exhibition site

Liu Kai's works involve different media such as painting, video, installation and sculpture. This is an artist who is difficult to define simply. There are both radical chaos closely related to the city and calm communication with history. During the ten years from 2006, Liu Kai's studio was located near the Ring Railway Art Zone, a typical urban-rural junction. "It is also our real reality that people at the bottom of society live here." Recently, Wei Liu moved to a new studio, and this exhibition is also a farewell.

liu xiaodong

"Use scaffolding and canvas to build a shed of 10 square meters, draw pictures in it and tear it down. This is my studio. "

Liu Xiaodong, "Palette, 2007, Inkjet Printing, 120×80 cm.

Liu Xiaodong Studio, 2007, inkjet printing, 80× 120 cm.

Since 2004, painter Liu Xiaodong has carried out large-scale field sketch projects in many countries and regions. "In the past few years, painting outside, the studio in the city has basically become a warehouse for rest." In the wilderness, on the street corner and by the water in the ravine, Liu Xiaodong can ask local workers to build a sheltered place to paint. After painting, "tear down the shed and restore it to its original appearance, as if nothing had happened."

Mao Yan

"I like the light in the studio/the light projected on the canvas/the unfinished works/even and delicate/outstanding light/also projected behind these works-/a hidden and invisible void/and/they seem to be more powerful."

Mao Yan, one of the studio scenes, 20 16, spray painting, 1 10×75 cm.

Mao Yan, Studio Scene 3, 20 16, inkjet printing, 1 10×75 cm.

The painter Mao Yan began to write poems two years ago. There are many shoes and empty wine bottles in the studio, and there is a doll in a conspicuous position. Of course, there are his portraits that have been seen and discussed. Mao Yan said, "That doll was bought abroad. It doesn't move, so it is very important. "

Xu Zhen

"The place where we go the most is the studio."

Xu Zhen, Summary of Frequently Asked Questions in Works Production, 20 16, photo, color printing, variable size, produced by an indefinite company.

Xu Zhen is not only an artist, but also the curator and founder of Wuding Company, a contemporary art creation company. Different from other artists, Xu Zhen's company is his studio. The photos of the exhibition originated from the common problems and solutions summarized by the production department of Wuding Company in the process of making the series of "Tianxia". Xu Zhen chose this group of works to exhibit, in order to show the working state in the studio more truly.