Internationally renowned artist Xu Bing will be debuting his latest monumental installation work Phoenix－2015 at the 56th Venice Biennale of Art. The work will carry a profound Chinese spirit to the city of water, and will be exhibited within the space of The 56th International Art Exhibition with a ceiling 10 meters high.

Tracing back to the birth of Phoenix, one can observe that the concept aims to reveal the multi-faceted implications of labor, social status, capitalism and politics, simultaneously expressing a genuine reflection of the complexity rooted in current Chinese society. When inquired about his latest creation 7 years after the idea was first conceived, Xu Bing stated that“my first pair of Phoenix articulates more of compassion for the underprivileged, carrying the vicissitude of burdens and mournful scars; while Phoenix－2015 is propelled with intense energy as well as a sense of vulnerability, engaging in a direct dialogue with the world we live in.”

Okwui Enwezor, the director and curator of the 56th International Art Exhibition, recognizes the significance of Phoenix－2015, a brilliant addition the understanding of the title of the exhibition－All the World’s Futures. Just like Paul Klee’s Angelus Novus that Walter Benjamin describes in his “Theses on the Philosophy of History”－the giant and scarred body of the phoenix striving to soar not only exposes the bitter “progress” of China, but further communicates a collective heaviness and rebellious emotions of humans in the context of irresistible globalization. Xu Bing considers Enwezor’s words as exceptional praise for his works.

The 56th International Art Exhibition of Venice Biennale

May 9th, 2015－November 22nd