Guggenheim’s pick-and-mix Chinese contemporary art show, from a spewing industrial robot to calligraphy with tea
Hong Kong-backed exhibition intended to pique the curiosity of museum-goers, not give them a full picture of art scene in China, curator Xiaoyu Weng says
Visitors to “Tales of Our Time” at the Guggenheim in New York won’t be getting the full picture of Chinese contemporary art. That’s because they’re not supposed to, says Xiaoyu Weng, the museum’s associate curator of Chinese art.
Those who try to place the new works from China on show within the wider context of artistic movements and styles may struggle, she says, as the artists were picked for their individual approaches to art.
“People won’t be able to acquire a total knowledge from these artworks – they won’t be able to work out what’s going in the wider sphere of Chinese art from them,” Weng says. “This show focuses on individuals. It’s a piece of something much bigger which is meant to open people up to ideas. If the exhibition creates a memorable experience and triggers a further inquiry to gain knowledge, then its aim has been fulfilled.”
“Tales of Our Time”, the second show at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum to be supported by the Hong Kong-based Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Chinese Art Initiative, uses a suitably wide and diverse range of artworks to make its point.
The most salient work on show is a giant industrial robot, Can’t Help Myself, by artists Sun Yuan and Peng Yu. Encased behind glass for safety reasons, the neck-like machine whips around viciously and spews a reddish-brown liquid towards viewers.