Mythos by Sun Xun (b. 1980, Fuxin, China), part of There is no ‘I’ in Team, a unique opportunity to see the work of an extraordinary and vibrant new generation of Chinese artists (mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau), working in moving image, sound and installation art, arguably the most prolific and strongest type of work being created in China at the time.
One of the most distinguished contemporary artists of his generation, Sun Xun deploys traditional Chinese ink painting and printing techniques to create ink paintings, charcoal drawings, woodcuts, animated films and installations of ambitious scale. Xun references Chinese mythology, European art traditions, literary classics and contemporary events. His thought-provoking works expose historical and current-day consumption, exploitation and political corruption. Hand-made films that use combinations of image, sound and text to raise questions about what we perceive as truth and explore memory, history, culture and politics.
The exhibition at The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, and across several off-site exhibition spaces, marked the first major group exhibition of Chinese contemporary art in the North East of England. The exhibition was conceptualized as a platform to introduce audiences to the burgeoning contemporary art scene of China. At a time when China’s global influence was ascending, the exhibition offered a rare glimpse into the diverse and complex narratives shaping Chinese society and its artistic expressions. The exhibition showcased the dynamism of Chinese contemporary art but also marked a significant moment in cultural exchange and artistic dialogue.
The film is a collage created with reference to personal memories as well as collective experiences. In the strange spatiotemporal image, the history has been cut into pieces. It seems that everyone is a king, everyone is a magician, and numberless chairs are there waiting while billows of flame are sweeping the brown old photos. The animation is a montage of history, and Mythos’ dictionary is, thus, a code full of questions. The form and visual language of woodblock prints in his animated works highlighting the incongruities between authorised histories and personal recollections. Interrogating the differences between official narratives presented by public agencies, politicians and the media — and more marginalised accounts that stem from ordinary people’s experiences.
Visitors to the exhibition were invited to explore the interplay of art and space, contemplate the narratives and themes presented, and engage in a cultural dialogue that transcended geographical boundaries. Bringing Chinese contemporary art to the forefront, highlighting its growing importance to the global art scene to new audiences. The exhibition’s success led to a broader recognition and appreciation of Chinese artists, many of whom have since gained international acclaim. Bridging cultures and opening dialogues. It was not only a celebration of Chinese contemporary art but also a testament to the power of art in connecting worlds and expanding horizons. The exhibiting artists offered a speculative commentary on changes in China. Reflecting on the substantial differences in individualist and collectivist cultural orientations and explore complex regional contexts and conditions, history, tradition and modernity derived from their personal experiences while critically reflecting on and simultaneously traversing their world of China now. Capturing a distinct vision of contemporary China whilst also reflecting on how artists’ lives and practices have developed and been informed by they’re rapidly changing social and cultural surroundings.
Sun Xun has been granted several prestigious awards including the 2010 CCAA Best Young Artists award, Taiwan Contemporary Art Link Young Art Award (2010) and the Civitella Ranieri Visual Arts Fellowship (2011/2012). He has held multiple solo exhibitions around the world, most notably at the MCA, Sydney; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Kunsthaus Baselland, Basel and Yuz Museum, Shanghai. He has participated in numerous group exhibitions including The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Chinese Art Initiative at the Guggenheim, New York; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Kunsthalle Bern, Bern and Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei among other locations. In 2016 he was awarded the Audemars Piguet art commission, a project that toured from Miami Beach and Hong Kong to New York Times Square. Furthermore, his video work has been widely exhibited at film festivals around the world, from Germany and Austria, to Sweden, South Korea, Brazil and Iran. Furthermore, his film has been nominated by the Berlinale Shorts 2012 jury at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival and was presented at the Venice Film Festival in 2010. Sun Xun’s work is permanently held in the collections of the Guggenheim, Hammer Museum, Astrup Fearnley Museum, amongst others.
There is No ‘I’ in Team was curated by Keith Whittle, Keri Elmsly (UK), Pauline Doutreluingne (Germany), Jian Jiang (China). It was generously supported by Culture 10, The British Council China and presented in partnership with ISIS Arts in cooperation with Newcastle City Council. Part of CHINA NOW, the largest festival of Chinese culture ever in the UK, and EAST’08, a world-class celebration of contemporary Asian culture in Newcastle-Gateshead. The exhibition subsequently toured the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, London and Program E.V. Berlin, Germany.
