Time Gravity ──2023 Chengdu Biennale

Curator | Wang Shaoqiang
Venues | Chengdu Art Museum, Tian Fu Art Park
Dates | July 16 to November, 2023

The 2023 Chengdu Biennale opened at the Chengdu Art Museum and Tian Fu Art Park under the title “Time Gravity” on July 16th. The exhibition is divided into nine thematic sections, including “Instant Eternity, The Sight of Stars Makes Me Dream (Van Gogh), Sensing the Unknown, Spatial Perception, A thought in a Gaze, Future Archaeology, Echoes of the Earth, Where the Heart Goes, and Constellations.” A total of 476 works by 235 artists representing 22 countries and regions are exhibited.

As the only sculptor from Taiwan who has been invited to participate in the Biennale, Li Chen’s work “Eclipse · Twilight Breeze” is showcased at the outdoor plaza between the two buildings of Chengdu Art Museum with a scenic lake as backdrop. The reflections from the waters and light in all weathers create diverse aura which vary in different times of the day.

Dr. Xia Kejun commented: “The concrete representation of ‘Eclipse · Twilight Breeze,’ in which ethereal clouds received a heavier black substantive form but exist in a state of lightness and floating on the wind. Among these golden ethereal clouds one of the shapes resembles a solitary wild beast surging out of the chaos of the cosmos, while another is in the shape of powerful animal limbs, the upper part resembling the sudden coming together of clouds in the sky, the lower part more akin to a rolling landscape. The sun represented by the golden part of the work is hidden and the nighttime or black part of the piece takes the lead. This is the moment in time when day hands over to night, when Heaven and Earth exchange places, the point at which the soul frees itself from physical constraints with Heaven and Earth in a state of flux. This is a solitary living organism flying in the vastness of the cosmos, while also casting an eye over this mortal coil.”

 

Eclipse · Twilight Breeze, 2016. Bronze