Diverse works of art are on exhibit at Art within Reach II

"Art within Reach II" is on display at APSMUSUEM through May 24.

The exhibition, which is curated by Xu Zidong, a leading literary expert in China, features 21 works of art by 20 artists, including well-known figures like Zhan Wang, Richard Long, Damien Hirst, and Zhou Xiaohu.

"Art Within Reach I focused more on interior environments, while Art Within Reach II is a step forward, searching for the connection between interior and exterior spaces, between family and nature," Xu said.

The exhibits include artificial rocks, a red-capped mushroom replica, framed insect fragments, a pot-belly-shaped vase, and footprints in the desert.

"Four broad categories — beautiful, sublime, parodic, and ugly — are frequently used in college textbooks to categorize aesthetic standards from ancient times to the present.

"Traditional art tends to focus more on the sublime and the beautiful, but the ludicrous and the ugly are more accepted in contemporary art.

"At least in this exhibition, we attempted to ask the question, 'Can contemporary art not be beautiful at the same time that it is abstract, challenging, and subversive?"'

A good example of this is the artificial rocks by Zhan Wang, a prominent Chinese modern artist.

The series began in 1995. Zhan created stainless steel copies of "scholar's rocks," which were typically seen on the desks or in the gardens of Chinese intellectuals. The artist's mirrored stainless surfaces address the merging of human and environmental history, as well as our relationship to urban and natural settings.

One of the highlights is Giovanni Ozzola's daunting canvas titled "Trino."

Ozzola was born in Florence in 1982 but lives and works in the Canary Islands. He is a multidisciplinary artist who works with photography, video, and more traditional mediums like engraving on slate or sculpture casting.

Obsessed with the traces of life in time, he wants to communicate the existence and nothingness embodied in these traces through literary means.

Rather than depicting the borders between humans and nature, the artist excels at creating a frozen moment.

Visitors watching his art tend to avoid the rush and bustle of reality. His work has become a portal to what is happening beneath the world, deep in the water, high above the sky, or deep within the soul.

Another noteworthy piece is "In Extremis No.11" by Chinese artist Zhao Zhao.

The piece depicts a flat, gilded cat sleeping on the ground. The artist creates a tranquil and pious atmosphere in the work that deals with the themes of life and death.

Zhao once saw a cat get hit by a car while driving on the road. Cats, in his opinion, are mysterious animals who roam the streets and neighborhoods looking for food.

But they have no notion, especially when confronted with metropolitan perils. However, the standards for norms and freedom, possibilities and dangers, acknowledgment, and indifference all shift along the way.

The exhibition includes several amusing pieces. Zhanna Kadyrova, a Ukrainian artist, created the bubble-sleeve garment. The adaptability and symbolism of urban building materials are influences on her work. As a result, her art features tiles, glass, stone, and concrete.

In this piece, the artist uses second-hand, colorful ceramic tiles that were previously utilized in businesses and cafes in Brazil.

Chihiro Nakahara's "Vegetable Head-Andrei" mirrors this piece. The sculpture was created based on the persona shown in the artist's paintings. Andrei, a teenager, has a reddish face covered in veggies. Andrei, who has always been a vegetarian, cultivates veggies slowly and carefully, watering them with lake water so that he can eat them all year.

Exhibit Info:

Date: Through May 24, 10am-10pm

Venue: APSMUSEUM

Address: 301, 3/F, 899 Pudong Rd S.

浦东南路899号3楼301