Cao Fei

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Whose Autonomy?

by Edward Sanderson
Rigo 23, Guy Ben-Ner, Abraham Cruzvillegas, Cao Fei, Claire Fontaine, Zheng Guogu, Yang Jiechang, Kimsooja, Cinthia Marcelle and Tiago Mata Machato, Xijing Men, Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba, HO TZU NYEN, Sriwhana Spong, Nasan Tur, Richard T. Walker, Lin Yilin at Times Museum January 20th - March 17th
Posted 3/1/13

As one of the more visible providers of a critique of the centre/periphery model of cultural development in the early 2000’s, a new exhibition by curator Hou Hanru is highly anticipated. ZiZhiQu: Autonomous Regions at the Times Museum in Guangzhou can perhaps be seen to develop this model as it applies to the cultural self-formation of individuals and groups, placing that development in contrast to a globalised institutionalisation of culture. Autonomy, then, moves across all scales in its realisat... [more]

Reality Check

by Kate Skelly
Seung Woo Back, ZOE BELOFF, Thomas Demand, Mark Dion, Leandro Erlich, Omer Fast, Cao Fei, John Gerrard, Johan Grimonprez, Iris Haussler, Jonn Herschend, Pierre Huyghe, Bertrand Lavier, An-My Lê, Joel Lederer, Sharon Lockhart, Inigo Manglano-Ovalle, Eva and Franco Mattes, Yes Me, Jonathan Monk, Vik Muniz, Trevor Paglen, Walid Raad, Dario Robleto, Eve Sussman, Mary Temple, Ai Weiwei at SITE Santa Fe July 8th, 2012 - January 6th
Posted 8/15/12

From the flash and swagger of Vegas, to the manicured, lamppost-lined Main Street of Disneyland, we are proffered up a regular cultural diet of distorted, exaggerated versions of reality. The hyperreal seeps into even the most mundane crannies of our existence: our newspapers, breakfast cereal, tennis shoes, and coupon-clippings. Everywhere you turn there is something to buy, sniff, gnaw on, or run your finger along the sides of that has that certain smack of the real, that kind of chewy, overripe... [more]

The Dark Side of Play

by Lee Ann Norman
Cao Fei at Lombard Freid Gallery May 18th, 2011 - June 25th, 2011
Posted 5/22/11

Beijing-based artist Cao Fei critiques notions of fantasy and reality in “Play Time,” her latest exhibition at Lombard-Freid Projects. Rather than focus on its child-like aspects, she seems much more interested in exploring play’s ambiguities. Her photographs, installations, and films are lighthearted on the surface, but never deny the darkness that lurks in the background. The ten-minute video Shadow Life relays three children’s stories that refer to a Chinese Spring Festival Gala that was o... [more]

What the FRAC?

by Abraham Ritchie
Lida Abdul, Élisabeth Ballet, Yves Bélorgey, Jeff Carter, Jordi Colomer, François Dallegret, herman de vries, Peter Downsbrough, Philippe Durand, Jimmie Durham, Simon Faithfull, Didier Fuiza Faustino, Cao Fei, Robert Filliou, Elise Florenty, Yona Friedman, Dora Garcia, Ben Hall, Séverine Hubard, Stefan Kern, Bertrand Lamarche, Vincent Lamouroux, Mark Leckey, Didier Marcel, François Morellet, Sarah Morris, Juan Muñoz, Stéphanie Nava, Berdaguer & Péjus, Philippe Ramette, Sara Schnadt, Kristina Solomoukha, Tatiana Trouvé, Hui-Min Tsen, Marie Voignier, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Stephen Wetzel, Raphaël Zarka at Hyde Park Art Center May 23rd, 2010 - August 8th, 2010
Posted 7/12/10

While the United States continues to debate how art should be publicly funded, or as so often the case is, not funded or de-funded, France has no such confusion. “Spatial City: An Architecture of Idealism” at the Hyde Park Art Center (HPAC) draws on the FRAC Collections, FRAC standing for French Regional Contemporary Art Collections, which are essentially contemporary art collections owned and purchased by certain regions of France. The focus here is on artists working in France... [more]

Shanghai in Chicago

by Abraham Ritchie
OLIVO BARBIERI, Birdhead, Isidro Blasco, Mathieu Borysevicz, Su Chang, David Cotterrell, Cao Fei, Zhu Feng, Yang Fudong, Liu Gang, Shi Guorui, Shu Haolun, Sylvie Levey, Ma Liang, Jin Shan, Speedism, Zhou Xiaohu, Xu Jianrong and Xu Xixian, HU Yang, Lu Yuanming, Xu Zhen at Museum of Contemporary Photography September 25th, 2009 - December 23rd, 2009
Posted 11/30/09

For most of us, the artists working in China have only been accessible across the internet, magazines, or other media. Fortunately, there’s been a subtle wave of exhibitions featuring Chinese art in Chicago this year, the most notable being the sculpture in Millennium Park and the large survey at the Chicago Cultural Center “The Big World: Recent Art from China.” Joining these exhibitions is the Museum of Contemporary Photography’s (MoCP) survey of Shanghai artists, “Reve... [more]

Warehouse District

by Erik Wenzel
Luis Cruz Azaceta, John L. Barnes Jr., Monica Bonvicini, Candice Breitz, Lee Bul, Allora & Calzadilla, Chen Chieh-Hen, Cao Fei, Skylar Fein, Gajin Fujita, Laurent Guttierez, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Isaac Julien, Shawne Major, Nalini Malani, Josephine Meckseper, Julie Mehretu, MAP Office, Valérie Portefaix, Pedro Reyes, Robin Rhode, Jackie Sumel, Fiona Tan, Jannis Varelas, Herman Wallace at Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans November 1st, 2008 - January 18th, 2009
Posted 1/5/09

It is difficult to pull a coherent synopsis out of an event this large. Prospect.1, to the credit of the city of New Orleans and all involved, is a massive undertaking that showcases a vast array of contemporary art, and in so doing, puts this amazing city, in all its glory and decay, on center stage. With the time I spent in New Orleans and at Prospect.1, I feel like I barely got started. I like to dig in and go at my own pace. I did manage to see an incredible amount of incredible work, but spen... [more]

Robert Adanto at Art Basel Miami

by E-Slant Team
Cao Fei, Zhang O, Wang Qingsong, Chen Qiulin, Yang Yong, Xu Zhen at The Miami Beach Cinematheque December 5th, 2008 8:30 PM - 11:30 PM
Posted 12/1/08

Robert Adanto's The Rising Tide, screening this weekend at Art Basel, captures the complex cultural implications of the global art market's insatiable taste for Chinese Contemporary Art.Adanto's documentary, recently screened at the UK's China Now, as part of Constant Stream China08 at the Royal College of Art, addresses China's economic and cultural metamorphosis through the work of the Middle Kingdom's most talented video artists and photographers. China's place as an emerging global superpowe... [more]

Documentary: Robert Adanto's The Rising Tide
by Robert Adanto
and Birdhead, Cao Fei, Zhang O, Wang Qingsong, Chen Qiulin, Yang Yong, Xu Zhen at Pacific Asia Museum October 3rd, 2008 - October 3rd, 2008
Posted 7/27/08

Although artists in rapidly developing China enjoy more freedom than they ever have before, they also face problems they never anticipated. In Robert Adanto's documentary The Rising Tide, performance and video artist Chen Quilin, anime-inspired video artist Cao Fei, conceptual photographer Wang Qingsong, and a wide array of other Chinese artists speak of the spiritual and intellectual dilemmas they face in a society where almost everything is in constant flux. Adanto's surprisingly grim film highli... [more]

New Art World Order by Lisa Leong of APA
by Robert Adanto
Cao Fei, Zhang O, Wang Qingsong, Chen Qiulin, Xu Zhen at Monkey Town March 27th, 2008 7:30 PM - 10:00 PM
Posted 3/1/08

The art world is fascinated with what's going in China, and so is documenter Robert Adanto. His project The Rising Tide attempts to set the scene while showcasing the biggest names in contemporary Chinese art. "They view it as fresh and exotic...They lack the understanding needed to judge Chinese art."Artist Yang Yong makes the above assertion in Robert Adanto's documentary The Rising Tide to critique the growing trendiness of contemporary Chinese art in the international market. The "they" in... [more]