Beijing trip 2013
Visited Shen Shaomin's studio
Wednesday, 24 July 2013
Monday, 4 February 2013
Snake 蛇 A Celebration of Asian Australian Art, Sydney
蛇 rắn 뱀 A Celebration of Asian Australian Art – Sydney Town Hall
January 11 · 
We
are delighted to announce the 45 artists who have been selected from
150 entries to participate in the 2013 Sydney Chinese New Year Festival Exhibition. They include (in alphabetical order):
Alex Ma, Chonggang Du, Cindy Chen, Cyrus Tang, Darren Xianhe Kong, Dhyani Hendranto, Dong Wang, Garry Trinh, Graham Kuo, Greg Leong, Guan Wei, Guo Jian, Hu Ming, Hui Haixie, Jason Wing, Jayanto Damanik, Jelong Iklae, Juma Adi, Jun Chen, Kaye Mahoney, Khue Nguyen, Laurens Tan, Li Baoying, Lindy Lee, Min Wong, Min-Woo Bang, Muzi Li, My Le Thi, Mylyn Nguyen, Pamela See, Pei Pei He, Phaptawan Suwannakudt, Pia Johnson, Richard Wu, Roslyn Yeung, Sandra Hill, Shuk-Wah Chung, Somchai Charoen, Song Ling, Tianli Zu, Vernon Ah-Kee, William Yang, Xu Wang, You Meng-Shu
This extraordinarily eclectic group of emerging and established artists reside in all States and Territories of Australia and represent communities with Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Taiwanese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Singaporean, Thai and Indigenous heritage
Alex Ma, Chonggang Du, Cindy Chen, Cyrus Tang, Darren Xianhe Kong, Dhyani Hendranto, Dong Wang, Garry Trinh, Graham Kuo, Greg Leong, Guan Wei, Guo Jian, Hu Ming, Hui Haixie, Jason Wing, Jayanto Damanik, Jelong Iklae, Juma Adi, Jun Chen, Kaye Mahoney, Khue Nguyen, Laurens Tan, Li Baoying, Lindy Lee, Min Wong, Min-Woo Bang, Muzi Li, My Le Thi, Mylyn Nguyen, Pamela See, Pei Pei He, Phaptawan Suwannakudt, Pia Johnson, Richard Wu, Roslyn Yeung, Sandra Hill, Shuk-Wah Chung, Somchai Charoen, Song Ling, Tianli Zu, Vernon Ah-Kee, William Yang, Xu Wang, You Meng-Shu
This extraordinarily eclectic group of emerging and established artists reside in all States and Territories of Australia and represent communities with Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Taiwanese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Singaporean, Thai and Indigenous heritage
Click on 蛇 rắn 뱀 A Celebration of Asian Australian Art – Sydney Town Hall to see the photo album of artwork
Wednesday, 23 January 2013
Small Sculpture Fair 2013, McClelland Sculpture Park + Gallery, Melbourne
Click the website below to see the exhibition catalogue:
http://www.
Wednesday, 17 October 2012
JMA Artevent a success
Wednesday 17/10/12
About the Art event at http://www.artevent.com.au/about.html
Wednesday, 3 October 2012
Monday, 1 October 2012
Chonggang Du: Uncertain Location: Ausin Tung Gallery, Prahran Exhibition Dates: Wednesday 12/09/12 - Saturday 20/10/12 Opening: Wednesday 19th September 6-8pm Artists: Chonggang Du In this new body of work a crumpled sheet of newspaper is a metaphor for the contorted messages sent to us by the media which has pervasive control over the whole of society.
Chonggang Du was born in China in 1963. He received a Bachelor of Fine
Art from Shan Dong University and went on to teach at Jinan Craft Arts
School and Shan Dong Arts Academy for 18 years before moving to
Australia in 2003. In 2009, Du completed a Master of Fine Art at Monash
University. As an academic artist, Du expresses both theoretical and
artistic concerns through his work, actively engaging with issues of
culture, power and politics.
The current body of work looks specifically at the power of the media and how it exerts a pervasive control not only over individuals, but also over government. We just need to look at the knee-jerk reactions politicians have to the latest negative polling result, for a complete turn around on policies, if indeed there were any there at all. Just who holds the real power in society is not always obvious anymore.
A sheet of newspaper is crumpled and twisted, symbolizing the contorted messages sent to us by the media. In some works, the paper seems to take on the form of a bird, hovering uncertainly in an ominous sky full or storm clouds. Is it about to fly off to freedom, or plummet to earth like a bomb?
The artist has made many of these paper bird bombs from both local and Chinese newspapers. The newspaper might contain stories of great inspiration, bravery and courage, yet it is presented to us as crushed and worthless, unreadable and unworthy. But still the artist has found an appealing abstraction in the various forms of balled paper. Some have been loosely painted with broad brush strokes, while others show more detail and tonal technique.
The sculptures in the exhibition also use newspaper as a medium. In The red cage no. 1, the public – represented by the naked dolls – is contained within a phallus shaped cage, carefully reshaped by the artist from an existing metal birdcage and stuffed with more crumpled newspaper. The commentary here could also be about gender issues, and the historic oppression of women through both physical and psychological means.
In The red cage no. 2, the painted red birdcage is again a symbol of a totalitarian regime, and the control it has over the minds of the people through the distribution of selective knowledge.
They say that the pen is mightier than the sword, and so the printed word can be more powerful than an army, however, if this knowledge is not used for good, then the result can be devastating. Brainwashing is an assault made upon the general population on a daily basis by media in all forms. We are bombarded by advertising at every turn: print, online, advertising, magazines, books and smart phones. The topics may not always be about politics, but they are invariably about money, and about how those in power can get more of it by manipulating us to buy this, wear that, eat this, not look like that. Our cultural diversity and even our individuality are being stripped from us, as we are encouraged to conform to the media’s idea of normal. And in the process, mankind is losing touch with the natural world, plundering resources rather than working with nature to protect the environment. Somehow, this very important message must get through before it is too late.
- exhibition catalogue text by Gina Lee
The current body of work looks specifically at the power of the media and how it exerts a pervasive control not only over individuals, but also over government. We just need to look at the knee-jerk reactions politicians have to the latest negative polling result, for a complete turn around on policies, if indeed there were any there at all. Just who holds the real power in society is not always obvious anymore.
A sheet of newspaper is crumpled and twisted, symbolizing the contorted messages sent to us by the media. In some works, the paper seems to take on the form of a bird, hovering uncertainly in an ominous sky full or storm clouds. Is it about to fly off to freedom, or plummet to earth like a bomb?
The artist has made many of these paper bird bombs from both local and Chinese newspapers. The newspaper might contain stories of great inspiration, bravery and courage, yet it is presented to us as crushed and worthless, unreadable and unworthy. But still the artist has found an appealing abstraction in the various forms of balled paper. Some have been loosely painted with broad brush strokes, while others show more detail and tonal technique.
The sculptures in the exhibition also use newspaper as a medium. In The red cage no. 1, the public – represented by the naked dolls – is contained within a phallus shaped cage, carefully reshaped by the artist from an existing metal birdcage and stuffed with more crumpled newspaper. The commentary here could also be about gender issues, and the historic oppression of women through both physical and psychological means.
In The red cage no. 2, the painted red birdcage is again a symbol of a totalitarian regime, and the control it has over the minds of the people through the distribution of selective knowledge.
They say that the pen is mightier than the sword, and so the printed word can be more powerful than an army, however, if this knowledge is not used for good, then the result can be devastating. Brainwashing is an assault made upon the general population on a daily basis by media in all forms. We are bombarded by advertising at every turn: print, online, advertising, magazines, books and smart phones. The topics may not always be about politics, but they are invariably about money, and about how those in power can get more of it by manipulating us to buy this, wear that, eat this, not look like that. Our cultural diversity and even our individuality are being stripped from us, as we are encouraged to conform to the media’s idea of normal. And in the process, mankind is losing touch with the natural world, plundering resources rather than working with nature to protect the environment. Somehow, this very important message must get through before it is too late.
- exhibition catalogue text by Gina Lee
http://ausintunggallery.com/exhibitions/du_chonggang
http://artreview.com.au/contents/1026941919-chonggang-du-shen-shaomin
http://artreview.com.au/contents/1026941919-chonggang-du-shen-shaomin
Artists: Chonggang Du
Sunday, 30 September 2012
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