The first Cai Guanshen Foundation Contemporary Art Prize Exhibition
Environnement mon amour: Exhibition of Suzanne Husky and Tong Yixin Unveils
Duration: 2022.05.14 — 2022.07.03
Location: Today Art Museum
On the occasion of the 16thChina-French Cultural Festival the exhibition presents the works of two artists who have been awarded the first Cai Guanshen Foundation Contemporary Art Prize. First created in 2021, the Prize is a contemporary art prize focusing on the interconnection between ecology and contemporary art，founded by the French Embassy and the Cai Guanshen Foundation in collaboration with the Today Art Museum in Beijing and the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. The first Cai Guanshen Foundation Contemporary Art Prize was awarded to French artist Suzanne Husky and Chinese artist Tong Yixin for their interest and efforts in this field.
Enviromental Loveis an ecological manifesto expressed by the two artists through their creating, which intersects and complements each other, becoming alive around a reality over which nature overrides. The artworks created are like fireflies, illuminating a path full of obstacles and gullies in a silent forest. Through words and images, the exhibition resembles a structured and emotionally delicate poem that speaks of love for an environment in ecological crisis and the creatures in it.
The environmental consciousness in Tong Yixin’s work contains a de-anthropocentric peculiarity. The Night Vision series turns the camera on wild nocturnal creatures, showing an unconventional perspective on the mode of existence and survival of life forms. The sense of observe created by the night-vision camera forces the viewers to leave the familiar dominant position of the past and immerse themselves in the primordial madness of the wilderness, and the unexplained fragmented phrases interspersed in the images bring about a reinforcement of consciousness.
Exhibition View ｜The Night Vision series
(Photo Credits Today Art Museum and Artist)
In the Environmental Love Handbook, Tong Yixin transforms the words of inspiration into an artistic form through text and light paintings. These poems, combining imagination and daily amusement, are scattered throughout the exhibition hall, like ramblings floating in some urban space.
Exhibition View ｜TheEnvironmental Love Handbook
(Photo Credits Today Art Museum and Artist)
About the Artist:
Yi Xin Tong was born in Lushan, China in 1988. He received a Bachelor of honor from Simon Fraser University, Vancouver (2012) following two years of study at China University of Geosciences, Beijing from 2005 to 2007. In 2014, he finished his study from the Department of Studio Art at New York University and received his MFA degree. He has won the award of the first Prix de la Fondation Choi pour l’art contemporain.
Tong now lives and works in New York. His recent solo projects include: “World River Atlas”, Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai (2020); “The Attraction Show—Origin of Ripples”, Snarte Space, Nanchang, China (2019); “Going Outside”, Nanhai Art, Millbrae, California, USA (2018).
He also attended the following group exhibitions: “Boomerang – OCAT Biennale 2021”, OCT Art &Design Gallery, Shenzhen, China (2021); “Liquid Ground”, Para Site, Hong Kong, China (2021); “Durational”, Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, China (2021); “Being in the Void”, Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing, China (2021); “From Checkers to Complex Systems”, Times Art Museum, Chengdu, China (2021); “Meditations in an Emergency”, UCCA, Beijing, China (2020) “BRIC Biennial III”, BRIC House, Brooklyn, USA (2019); “Guangzhou Airport Biennale”, Guangzhou, China (2019); “Disaster of Extra Epic Proportions”, curated by Alvin Li, chi K11 art museum, Shanghai, China (2019); “Long March Project: The Deficit Faction”, Long March Space, Beijing, China (2019); “Adrift”, Chambers Fine Art, New York, USA (2019); “Long Day”, Aranya Art Centre, Qinhuangdao, China (2019); “To Speculate, Of Nature”, NanHai Art, Millbrae, USA (2019); “Shadow as a Stain”, ACRE, Chicago, USA (2018); “Yanping Art Harvest in the Village”, Jiulong Village, China (2018); “Practice: in Progress”, NARS Foundation, Brooklyn, USA (2018); “Life and Revolution, Landscape of Huangshan and Lushan”, Taikang Space Beijing China (2018).
