Peili – Greater New York

Klein Sun Gallery is pleased to announce “Greater New York,” a solo show of multimedia works by Beijing-based artist Peili.

To Peili, it matters less who the artist is than who the viewer is. A previous work, “Artist Should be Beautiful,” regurgitates the iconic 1975 Marina Abramovic video piece “Art Must be Beautiful, Artist Must be Beautiful”. Here, Peili undergoes jaw reconstruction surgery to realize the oddly appealing ideals of artistic and aesthetic beauty mired in suffering and pain. Another performance piece, “Ms Lonely,” sees the artist poetically recreating Vincent Van Gogh’s painting “Irises” in arcs of graffiti across flat boards similar to theater backdrops. The performance is insular and isolated, visible only to those who care or dare to enter the four walls where Peili is painting. Those who are busy, or indifferently walking past, miss the performance altogether.

For her first solo show in the United States, Peili presents sound installations, video pieces and oil paintings on aluminum. Her sound installations, collectively titled “Long and Short Pavilion,” are muted works. Peili recorded acquaintances’ stories on tape, and then placed these recordings within vacuum metal balls filled with silky-black Chinese ink. When the tape plays, the muffled voices reverberate through the layers of metal and ink. Meanwhile, her paintings hint at the title of the show, which is taken from the mammoth MoMA PS1 series. Although Peili has expressly stated her dislike of that series, she admits that the title embodies her wider interest in free will. Thus, the paintings render portions of the city’s skylines and landmarks in simple, monochromatic strokes, imbued with Peili’s romanticized views of New York.

Two videos are also shown. “The Moles,” screened during the day, reveals Peili’s lapses into depression; she describes her companionship with her therapy dog, Max, who visually narrates the video through a camera attached to his back. The second video takes the form of a televised advertisement, enticing viewers to come visit the show. Peili is seen wearing a dog mask – partially due to shyness and partially due to the absurdity of celebrity artists – as she advertises the prices of the artworks on view. Mysteriously, the video only loops at night, lighting up a deserted West 22nd Street. The work overlaps with Peili’s own internal wish – to walk alone at night, and to be welcomed by a bright light from an art gallery: a source of solace on a quiet and empty street.

Peili has exhibited in group shows at global museums and institutions worldwide, including “The 2nd ‘CAFAM Future’ Exhibition,” Beijing, China (2015); “Future Returns: Contemporary Art from China,” Eli and Edythe Broad Museum Art Museum, Michigan, MI (2014); “Remix,” Bury Art Museum, Manchester, England (2014); “All That is Solid Melts Into Air,” Kabuso Art Museum, Øystese, Norway (2013); “Taikang Gallery 15 Years Collection,” National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China (2011); “Fat Art – Hive,” Today Art Museum, Beijing, China (2011), and “Eye of the Dream: Video Art from China exhibition,” Customs House, Sydney, Australia (2011).

凯尚画廊荣幸地宣布于2016年6月30日至8月19日推出北京艺术家裴丽的的多媒体作品个展《大纽约》。

对裴丽而言，观众是谁比艺术家是谁更为重要。裴丽在她早前的作品《艺术家应该漂亮》对玛丽娜·阿布拉莫维奇的1975年经典影像《艺术必须是美丽的, 艺术家必须是美丽的》进行了一次反刍式的创作。在这件作品中，经历了下颌整形手术的裴丽意识到艺术与美学之美相结合的想法有着一种奇怪的吸引力，并带来着苦难与疼痛。在另一件行为艺术《寂寞小姐》中，裴丽诗意化地在一块平板上涂鸦再创作了文森特·梵高的《鸢尾花》，整件作品呈现出剧场背景般的效果。这件行为艺术作品过程独立且分离，只有那些真正想走进或敢走进艺术家创作其绘画的四面墙的观众，才能真正看到这件作品。那些忙碌的或漠不关心地走过这件作品的观众都会完全错过裴丽的行为艺术。

作为裴丽在美国的首个个展，她将呈现声音装置，影像及在不锈钢上创作的油画。题为《长短亭》的作品是一组无声的声音装置。裴丽把熟人的故事录进磁带里，之后把这些录音放置在充满墨汁的密封球体中。当播放录音时，其中含糊的声音回响在层叠的金属和墨汁中。同时，裴丽的绘画也揭示着本次展览的题目——取题自现代艺术博物馆PS1的大规模系列展览。尽管裴丽明确表达了自己对PS1这个系列展览的不喜之情，但她承认这个题目表达了她对自由意志这一主题的兴趣。以这样的概念为基，裴丽用简单及单色的笔画，描绘了纽约的部分天际线以及这座城市的标志性建筑，作品中充满了艺术家对纽约的浪漫化的见解。

这次展览还包括其他两个影像作品。在白天放映的《痣》展现了裴丽陷入抑郁的一段时期。在这件作品中，艺术家描述了自己与其治疗犬大麦间的友谊，大麦的身后连接着一个摄影机，他的一举一动生动地记录完成了这件作品。另一件影像作品以电视广告的方式呈现，吸引着观众前来观看这次展览。裴丽在这件作品中戴着一个狗的面具，这既是由于艺术家自身害羞的原因，也是对明星艺术家这一身份的荒诞讽刺。神秘的是这件影像作品只在夜晚循环播放，由此照亮了夜晚空旷的西二十二街。同时这件作品也与裴丽的个人愿望相重合——她所期望的能够在夜晚里独自行走，被来自一间画廊的明亮灯光所欢迎，以及一种来自一条安静且空旷的街道的安慰。

裴丽的作品被选入多个国际美术馆及艺术机构的群展中，其中包括《第二届CAFAM未来展》，北京（2015）；《未来的回归：来自中国的当代艺术》，密歇根州立大学布罗德美术馆，东兰辛, 美国（2014）； 《ReMix》，伯里艺术博物馆及雕塑中心，曼彻斯特（2014）；《一切坚固的东西都烟消云散了》, 卡布索美术馆，卑尔根，挪威（2013）；《图像·历史·存在——泰康人寿15周年艺术品收藏展》，中国美术馆，北京（2011）；《FAT ART》，今日美术馆，北京，（2011）,以及《梦眼：来自中国的影像》，海关大楼，悉尼（2011）。

Gallery hours Mon-Sat 10 am – 6 pm

www.kleinsungallery.com

Location:
Klein Sun Gallery
525 W. 22nd Street
10011 New York, NY
United States