H-Space, bldg. 18, 50 Moganshan Rd., Shanghai, China

April 18th-May 15th, 2008 , opening time: 1pm-6pm (Monday closed)

Zhou Zixi’s new compelling series of paintings 1946-1949 (created in 2007/2008) evoke complex metaphors of history and nostalgia. In these, Zhou Zixi exploits the power of nostalgia to create images that reflect the artist’s memory of a childhood flooded by depictions of China’s civil war between the nationalists and the victorious communists (1946-1949). His work moves with startling ease between contemporary interpretations of these past classic icons in bright primary colors to dark scenes that allude to the menacing weight of history.

The common strand that runs through these two extremes is a powerful ideology that equalizes all subjects. His aim is to trigger an unframed, unexpected visual encounter. The effect is not imposed on the spectator; on the contrary, the work offers a willfully ambivalent approach, open to a variety of interpretations.

Zhou Zixi’s recent paintings oscillate between high art and kitsch, integrating a visual language that is particularly crude due to the banality of nostalgia. What we see in these pictures are spaces filled with anachronistic images of distant historical realities. Rather than a calming notion of history, these paintings depict the external manifestation of China’s chaotic development. While his paintings might be a serious take on many of society’s less attractive features, some images also pay surprising tribute to the power and fascination of history, a practice that also underscores the sentiment that contemporary art is integral to the logic of the past.

Zhou Zixi was born in Jiangxi province in 1970. He graduated in 1989 with a degree in literature. He currently lives and works in Shanghai. Recent exhibitions include China Power Station: Part II, Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art (Oslo, 2007), Energy, Today Art Museum (Beijing, 2007), Individual Positions I, ShnghART H-Space (Shanghai, 2007), Future Landscapes, Duolun Museum of Modern Art (Shanghai, 2006),  Interiors – Zhou Zixi, Büro Friedrich (Berlin, 2006), Under the Blue Sky, Grace Li Gallery (Zürich, 2006) and Under the Skin, Universal Studios (Beijing, 2006), Happy Life, BizArt (Shanghai, 2005),.

Related Exhibitions: