{"id":158,"date":"2024-03-16T05:18:32","date_gmt":"2024-03-16T05:18:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/keithwhittle.org\/?p=158"},"modified":"2026-02-03T03:11:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T03:11:42","slug":"counterpoints-lu-chunsheng-jia-aili","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/keithwhittle.org\/?p=158","title":{"rendered":"Jia Aili"},"content":{"rendered":"

Counterpoints<\/em> is a two-person exhibition featuring acclaimed Chinese contemporary artists Lu Chunsheng (b. 1968, Changchun, Jilin, China) and Jia Aili (b. 1979, Liaoning, China), whose works confront themes of industrialisation, post-socialist transformation, and the individual\u2019s psychological and existential struggle within the machinery of modern life.<\/p>\n

Curated in collaboration with Fountain, London, and Platform China Contemporary Art Institute, Beijing, the exhibition presents major new works by both artists, highlighting their distinctive yet interrelated practices. While Lu Chunsheng\u2019s work weaves together fantasy and dystopian theatre in moving image, Jia Aili\u2019s large-scale figurative paintings channel the trauma and alienation of a rapidly changing society.<\/p>\n

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One of China\u2019s most compelling painters of his generation, Jia Aili\u2019s work draws on a complex range of references from both Eastern and Western intellectual and art historical traditions. In Counterpoints<\/em>, he presents monumental new paintings alongside a site-specific installation created for Iniva\u2019s large street-facing window. This work, inspired by Caravaggio\u2019s The Incredulity of Saint Thomas<\/em>, explores faith, doubt, and transformation in a society gripped by uncertainty.<\/p>\n

Jia\u2019s aesthetic\u2014characterised by a restrained, almost ashen palette, expressive brushwork, and layered symbolism\u2014reflects the disorientation of an individual in the face of technological acceleration and moral entropy. His work speaks to philosophical traditions from both Confucianism and Existentialism, while remaining grounded in China\u2019s social reality.<\/p>\n

Watch >> Interview<\/a>
\nPublication >> Publication<\/a><\/p>\n

Jia Aili has held solo exhibitions at CAC M\u00e1laga (Spain), Platform China (Beijing), Hartell Gallery (Cornell University, USA), and He Xiangning Art Museum (Shenzhen), among others. His work is held in international collections and has been featured in major exhibitions at the Mori Art Museum (Tokyo), The Saatchi Gallery (London), and China National Museum (Beijing).<\/p>\n

Lu Chunsheng\u2019s contribution to the exhibition includes the cinematic video work The first man who bought a juicer bought it not for drinking juice<\/em>\u2014a title that encapsulates his surrealist sensibility. Mixing documentary realism with dream-like narrative, the film features both human and robotic characters caught in repetitive and senseless actions\u2014symbols of a society estranged from meaning and selfhood.<\/p>\n

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Created during a residency at Artpace, San Antonio, Texas and commissioned by curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, the work was later presented in Newcastle as part of Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, an international moving image programme produced by CIRCA Contemporary Art Projects.<\/p>\n

A graduate of the China National Academy of Fine Arts, Lu Chunsheng has exhibited internationally at the 27th S\u00e3o Paulo Biennial, Battersea Power Station (London), Museum Boijmans van Beuningen (Rotterdam), P.S.1 MoMA (New York), and De Appel Foundation (Amsterdam), among others. His work merges the visual vocabulary of science fiction with a narrative fragmentation that interrogates memory, industry, and imagination.<\/p>\n

Watch >> Exhibiton<\/a>
\nWatch >> Interview<\/a><\/p>\n

An accompanying catalogue features newly commissioned essays by David Thorp and Keith Whittle, alongside full-colour installation views and artist documentation. Counterpoints<\/em> was produced with support from Arts Council England and marked an important moment in the cross-cultural dialogue between China and the UK\u2019s contemporary art scenes. The exhibition extended Iniva\u2019s legacy of showcasing underrepresented voices in contemporary practice and fostering critical international perspectives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jia Aili (b.1979, Liaoning, China)<\/p>\nRead More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":420,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-projects","col-md-4 col-sm-6"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/keithwhittle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/makebelieveinstallationview_0.jpeg?fit=672%2C448&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/keithwhittle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/keithwhittle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/keithwhittle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keithwhittle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keithwhittle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=158"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/keithwhittle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4396,"href":"https:\/\/keithwhittle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158\/revisions\/4396"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keithwhittle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/keithwhittle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keithwhittle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keithwhittle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}