阆风艺术荣幸呈现艺术家张翀个展「一棵柔软的橡树」。本次展览，是张翀自德国回国后的首次个展，将集中呈现他近一年及最新系列的装置作品，共计18组。展览于2024年4月13日展出，持续至2024年7月13日。
“一棵柔软的橡树”源于对观念艺术家迈克尔·克雷格-马丁（Michael Craig-Martin）的作品《一棵橡树》（An Oak Tree）的思考；也是对约瑟夫·博伊斯（Joseph Beuys）和那些在卡塞尔参与种下“七千棵橡树”的人们的致敬。橡树在艺术创作的语境中常被引用作为“观念”的隐喻，也是我曾经在德国波恩的母校周围非常常见的一种树。
一个宁静的下午，我看着从树上落下的橡果，在笔记中记下“树是一种流动得很慢的液体”。现在回想起来，这种理解世界的方式也常体现在我的创作中。
时间、生命、宇宙、人类社会的发展、人与人之间的关系，事物的两面性是我很喜欢探讨的主题。通过现成品的组合，表现出不同的概念和感受。有时候一些日常用品特殊的组合方式意外地会传递出一些容易被我们忽略的情感，我把这些情感像包裹礼物一样包裹进作品中，而观众则是那个撕开礼物的人。“柔软”是一种包裹情感的方式，或者说“情感”本身就是柔软的。
我会把一些日常的、诗意的、矛盾的以及具有精神象征性的东西融合到作品中，其中还包含一些对于历史和文学作品的理解。虽然前人所写的书籍和观看世界的方式有的已经不太符合目前的社会现状以及解决当下人类所面临的问题，但其中的一些历史经验，人文关怀与实验精神却能够超越时间的桎梏，恰如其分地引用到当代社会中，产生出很多符合当下语境的对话。所以“柔软”也是一种交流方式，是对历史和前人创作的多重思考。
因此，本次展览中的“一棵柔软的橡树”，其实也并非只是“一棵橡树”。正如迈克尔·克雷格-马丁在他的作品中所回答的那样，“如果有人告诉我他看到了一棵橡树，我会非常惊讶。”这句话也同样适用于这个展览。
——艺术家张翀自述
Levant Art Gallery is honored to present artist Zhang Chong’s solo exhibition, “A Soft Oak Tree.” This exhibition marks Zhang Chong’s first solo show since returning from Germany. The exhibition will showcase a concentrated selection of his newest installation works over the past year, totaling 18 sets. The exhibition will run from April 13, 2024, to July 13, 2024.
The exhibition “A Soft Oak Tree” stems from a contemplation of “An Oak Tree”, the artworks of conceptual artist Michael Craig-Martin. It is also a tribute to Joseph Beuys and those who participated in planting the “7000 Oaks” in Kassel. In contemporary art, oak trees are often metaphorically referenced as “concepts,” and they were also quite common around my alma mater in Bonn, Germany.
One tranquil afternoon, I watched acorns fall from a tree and jotted down in my notes, “A tree is a liquid that flows very slowly.” Looking back, this world perspective has often manifested itself in my creative process.
Time, life, the universe, the development of human society, the relationships between people, and the duality of matter are all themes that I explore. By combining ready-made objects, I try to express my various concepts and emotions. Sometimes, an unique arrangement of everyday items catches us by surprise and conveys emotions that we might otherwise overlook. Like gifts, I wrap these emotions into my artworks, and the audience becomes the ones unwrapping them. “Softness” becomes a way to envelop emotions, or perhaps “emotion” itself is inherently soft.
I integrate items of daily life; poetic moments; contradictions, and spiritual symbolism, as well as my interpretations of history and literature into my artworks. While the perspectives and the works written by people before us may no longer be aligned with our present social context nor address the pressing issues that face the current humanity, certain historical experiences, human compassion, and experimental spirit can still transcend beyond the constraint of time. When adequately referenced within the context of contemporary society, they bring forth dialogues that resonate with the present. Thus, “softness” becomes a mode of communication—a multifaceted reflection on history and the creativity of those who came before us.
Therefore, the “Soft Oak Tree” in this exhibition is not merely “an oak tree.” The statement that Michael Craig-Martin used in his interview, “ I would be very surprised if anyone told me they saw an oak tree”, applies equally to this exhibition.
—By Artist Zhang Chong
关于艺术家｜About the Artist
张翀，1988年出生于浙江，2018年毕业于德国Alanus艺术学院，获硕士学位及教授Jochen Breme的大师生称号，现工作生活于上海。其作品曾于杜塞尔多夫艺术皇宫美术馆，C.A.R.埃森新媒体艺术博览会以及德国、荷兰、上海，深圳等地展出。
张翀的创作往往基于对立面展开。在德国留学期间，深受华德福教育体系（Waldorf Education）的影响。创作题材涉及自然科学，形态学（Morphology），神秘主义（Mysticism）等领域。他喜欢在一件作品中呈现两个矛盾对立的概念。宏观与微观，真实与非真实，毁灭与重构，生与死都是他经常探讨的主题。
ZHANG Chong, born in Zhejiang in 1988. Graduated with a master’s degree and the title of Professor Jochen Breme’s Meisterschüler from the Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences, Germany, in 2018. Now works and lives in Shanghai. His creation is usually based on opposite sides. During his study in Germany, he was deeply influenced by the Waldorf Education. The themes of his creation involve the fields of natural science, morphology, mysticism and etc. He prefers to present two paradoxical concepts in one piece of work. The macroscopical and the microcosmic, the real and the unreal, destruction and reconstruction, life and death, all these are the themes that he frequently explores. His works have been exhibited in the Treasure Hill of Taipei in 2019, in the Museum Kunstpalast in Dusseldorf in 2018, in the Art Fair Contemporary Art Ruhr (C.A.R.) in 2017, and other art spaces in Shanghai, Germany, The Netherlands and etc.
↓ 滚动查看艺术家完整简历｜Curriculum Vita
2014-2018 德国Alanus艺术学院，师从Jochen Breme教授，获硕士学位及大师生称号
2008-2013 上海视觉艺术学院雕塑系，获学士学位
2019 “归去来兮”，台北宝藏岩艺术村
2018 “拟态-驰念之地”，Edmond Gallery GmbH画廊，柏林
2017 “冰川”，o.N Kunst Zeit Raum，科隆
2023 “穿越空间的方式”，阆风艺术，上海
2022 “荒岛是什么颜色的？”线上展，阆风艺术（http://www.artexb.com/lab/lonelyisland/）
2021 “存在于现实，梦境以及过去和未来的某一刻”，坪山美术馆与亦山品物空间，深圳
2021 “一个人在荒岛-生命延续的另一种形式”，阆风艺术，上海
2020 “海边漫步”，阆风艺术，上海
2020 “但愿月亮落下之后，明天的荒岛是一个晴朗的早晨”，阆风艺术，上海
2019 “盲点”，阆风艺术，上海
2019 宝藏岩地区艺术家工作室开放展，台北
2019 “绘之手”，Danyszgallery 画廊，上海
2019 “如果你发现荒岛，应该就不会孤单”，T画廊，厦门
2019 “沪上青年Shifting 漂移”，FFA当代艺术中心，南京
2018 “共振-中国青年旅德艺术家群展”，Kunstraum Villa Friede，波恩
2018 “跬步” ，Edmond Gallery GmbH画廊，柏林
2018 “Rising Stars”，Kunstbroeders画廊，荷兰
2018 DIE GROSSE 北威州杜塞尔多夫大展，艺术皇宫美术馆
2017 “无量佛”，候鸟空间，柏林
2016 “我们如何生活“ ，UNO Bonn艺术空间，波恩
2016 金融博物馆艺术中心，北京
2015 展览"所有，上升或堕落，旋转与破碎，都将会拥有一个美学的终结" ，波恩
驻地项目
2019 台北宝藏岩艺术家驻地项目
2018 柏林Grabowsee艺术家驻地项目
艺博会
2018 卡尔斯鲁厄艺博会
2018 阿姆斯特丹春季艺博会
2017 埃森媒体与摄影艺术博览会
上海自由贸易试验区高青西路777号前滩31二层02-01单元
02-01, New Bund 31, No.777, West Gaoqing Rd., Shanghai
周二至周日 Tuesday-Sunday 10:00-18:00
021-52135366
www.levantartgallery.com
info@levantartgallery.com
小红书/LEVANTART阆风艺术画廊
Instagram/levantart
