Breath and Crystal

Axel Vervoordt Gallery is pleased to present a large-scale group exhibition, Breath and Crystal, by Shanghai-based curator Dr. Shen Qilan. The exhibition occupies two floors of the Hong Kong gallery and creates a dialogue between five Chinese artists — Chen Yan, Liang Shaoji, Shen Chen, Shi Zhiying, and Zhang Jian-Jun. In line with the gallery’s vision to bridge artistic expressions from the East and West, the exhibition will evolve and travel to the gallery’s European location at Kanaal in Belgium next year with an extended list of artists from the gallery’s international roster.

In April, listen to the breath of silkworms

The wind stirs the new leaves.

In September, listen to the breath of the sea

The sound of the cello tells of the lightness and heaviness of life.

The exhibition, Breath and Crystal, invites five contemporary Chinese artists to explore the essence of art and life. Each artist presents their understanding of the flow of life through sincere creation. For them, art is both breath and crystal. The exhibition is divided into five rooms, each featuring a distinct theme corresponding to different rhythms of breath, allowing the artists' works to engage in meaningful dialogue. The five themes are: Breath, Seasons, A Day and Eternity, Tides, and Crystal. The breath of the sea is the tide. The breath of time is crystal. Poetry, in German, is Gedicht (the woven object). Creative works are thus Das Gedichtete — crystallised objects.

Everything has its breath and within these artworks lies the essence of sincere spirit. The artists in front of the canvas immerse themselves repeatedly in the sea of brushstrokes, like the daily ebb and flow of tides, like silkworms tirelessly spinning their silk. Simultaneously, what condenses and dissipates is the consciousness within time, the breaths of you and me, and the life found within crystallisation.

Shi Zhiying’s (b. 1979, Shanghai) latest “Sea” series reflects her understanding of worldly matters. In shifting times and varying lights, the sea mirrors the ceaseless transformations of existence, yet, in its depths, finds a serene stillness. For Shi, painting is not merely about creating visual images; it breathes and flows through the interaction between the audience and artwork. She condenses herself and the world onto the canvas, translating her unique understanding and feelings into her work, forming an existence in consciousness. Her paintings possess a tangible body, a tactile quality, and a materiality that connects with the audience through this shared breath. In Latin, “breath" is “spiritus" — the breath of wind and whisper of the divine. The word “spirit" also derives from this breath of life. The sea in Shi's painting follows the dance of breath and the hidden rhythms of the cosmos. It reveals a secret shared between the boundless ocean and the humble silkworms, a delicate harmony of existence.

Liang Shaoji (b. 1945, Shanghai) is renowned for his unique medium: silkworms. Time and life are the eternal themes of his practice. As silkworms spin their threads on leaves, the soft rustling creates a symphony of nature's destiny. The silk — delicate as clouds — writes the poetry of nature (in the work “Black", 2022). The silk, also like a gentle whisper, envelops history and ruins — “Broken Landscape" (2013) engages in a dialogue with traditional landscape painting while offering a profound reflection on modernity. In the rustling sound of silkworms, life breathes and flows, with fate alternating between joy and sorrow. The universe is vast, and the void is infinite, yet an invisible order provides hope within the emptiness.

Shen Chen's painting process (b. 1955, Shanghai) resembles Zen meditation. Each stroke engages in a dialogue with the previous one, altering the overall sensation of the canvas as if constructing an infinitely vast space with nothingness itself. On the canvas, Shen embodies both tranquility and passion, crystallising life through immense patience and the passage of time. This process defines the essence of his artistic creation. Like the silk-spinning process of the silkworms in an "∞" form, Shen resolutely masters each stroke on the canvas, until colour and spirit simultaneously dissolve into the void. In that moment, he reaches the essence of order, or rather, the order becomes him.

Chen Yan (b. 1970, Hangzhou)’s strikes and sweeping movements on silver gelatin film carve traces of life in the darkness. Her love for hiking allows her to measure the historical dimensions of her body, engage in dialogues with landscapes and historical figures, and capture these unique experiences within her works. Her silver gelatin pieces merge physical action with painting techniques, fusing her acute sensations from traversing the mountains with her deep artistic foundation. In the exhibition space, her work resonates with Liang Shaoji's silk, echoing “traces of life." These traces manifest as white voids etched on black film and as black marks formed on white cloth. Time is irreversible; the silk spun cannot be retracted, and the scratches on the film are memorable. Time and life intertwine in the rhythm of breath, in the expanse of emptiness, and in the connection between thought and thread — each step leaves its mark.

Zhang Jianjun (b. 1955, Shanghai) tirelessly pursues the eternal dialogue between “existence" and “trace." For him, rubbing is not just a creative method; it is the essence of creation itself. At the seaside, he captures the void through time in the work “Rubbing Sun” (2011). As the sun rises and falls, he rubs fire with water, making the impossible possible. In the “Rubbing Planet" series, he reveals the mysteries of the human mind through the infinite sky. In “Rubbing Rain", he captures the fleeting moments on canvas and cotton, capturing the essence of transience. What captivates him are those intangible elements — the very nature of life and time. The act of rubbing becomes a deeply meaningful endeavour, embodying the artist’s repeated moments of enlightenment, where joy and sorrow converge in profound reflection.

About the curator

Dr. Shen Qilan is an art critic, curator, cultural scholar, and writer. She received her PhD in philosophy from the University of Münster, Germany. She was the editorial director of Art World magazine and editor-in-chief of the art department at Insight Media publishing house. She is also an editorial board member of Book Town magazine. She is a guest professor at East China Normal University. Shen Qilan focusses on the ongoing dialogue between art and philosophy, and she has curated several internationally influential exhibitions and forums with domestic and international art institutions, including "Aura of Poetry," "A. R. Penck: Will Sign Become Reality?", and “Detour: A Dialogue between Art and Philosophy" forum for the Shanghai Biennale. Since 2022, she has been artistic advisor and curator for the “Porsche Young Chinese Artist of the Year Award”. Shen Qilan has contributed to many international art media and catalogues for international art institutions, including Financial Times, Artnet, The Thinker Weekly, Life, Noblesse, T Magazine, Uffizi Museum, Shanghai Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Skira Press in Italy, amongst others.

About the artists

Liang Shaoji (b. 1945, Shanghai) studied soft sculpture under Maryn Varbanov at the China Academy of Art and has dedicated over thirty years to interdisciplinary creation, blending art with biology, installation and sculpture, as well as new media and textiles. Liang's works have been featured in numerous prestigious exhibitions, including the Power Station of Art, Shanghai; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Biennale d'Art Contemporain de Lyon; the 48^th Venice Biennale, and the Shanghai Biennale. He has received major awards such as the Chinese Contemporary Art Awards (CCAA) in 2002 and the Prince Claus Awards in 2009.

Chen Yan (b. 1970, Hangzhou) received her BA (1993), MA (2002), and PhD (2009) in Oil Painting from the China Academy of Art. She was awarded the Oil Painting Young Talent Award in 2000 and studied at the Repin Academy of Fine Arts in Russia. Her works have been featured in national art exhibitions and internationally, earning nominations at the 12^th National Art Exhibition. Currently, she is a professor and chairperson of the Department of Mixed Media Painting at the China Academy of Art, as well as a deputy director of the National Committee of Mixed Media Painting of the China Artists Association.

Zhang Jian-Jun (b. 1955, Shanghai) graduated from the Shanghai Theatre Academy’s Department of Fine Arts in 1978 and moved to the United States in 1989. His recent shows include prestigious venues such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum in New York, the San Francisco Asian Art Museum, and the Venice Biennale. He served as an art professor at NYU in New York and Shanghai from 1997 to 2022, and has received numerous honours, including First Prize at the First Shanghai Youth Art Exhibition and fellowships from the Asia Cultural Council and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation. Zhang also held the position of Assistant Director and Head of the Art Research Department at the Shanghai Art Museum from 1986 to 1989.

Shi Zhiying (b. 1979, Shanghai) has worked at the Shanghai Oil Painting & Sculpture Institute (SPSI) since graduating with MA degree in Oil Painting from the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, Shanghai University, in 2005. Shi has held solo exhibitions at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, Los Angeles Orange County Museum of Art, and most recently Yuz Museum in Shanghai. Her works are also featured in group exhibitions at a variety of international institutions, including LACMA, Los Angeles, and Power Station of Art, Shanghai.

Shen Chen (b. 1955, Shanghai) earned his BFA from the Shanghai Theatre Academy in 1982, before moving to Beijing, and in 1988, to the United States. He was awarded an MFA from Boston University in 1991, having also undertaken study at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (1988) and the New York Studio School of Painting and Sculpture (1989). He played a significant role in the Shanghai Experimental Art Movement, which marked a critical transition to contemporary art in China. He has had solo museum shows in China and the United States. His work has also been shown in group exhibitions across the globe, including National Art Museum of China, White Rabbit Museum Australia, Bochum Museum, and Queens Museum of Art New York.