Co-organised by Oriental Poly's Time Museum and Cultarture (curator) and supported by Europe-China Culture and Economy Commission EUCNC, exhibition titled Josh Hadar: Beyond Contemporary Art will open on October 12th in Time Museum in Beijing. We are proud to present the renowned American Neo-Futurist sculptor Josh Hadar's inaugural exhibition in China. The artist will bring the two Cultarture-commissioned solar-powered sculptures to China for the first time. Inspired by Chinese town tree and flowers, the contemporary artworks which are set against the traditional Chinese architecture will display an unequivocal harmony between East and West, Old and New.
JOSH HADAR: BEYOND CONTEMPORARY ART
From New York to Beijing Where Art Liberates Technology
12 October - 1 December 2017
Oriental Poly Time Museum
No. 298 Gulou East Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing
The exhibition draws inspiration from the book titled Beyond Contemporary Art, written by Etan J. Ilfeld. It consists of works from over ninety artists from the past decade questions whether if we have moved beyond Contemporary Art. Following the Industrial Revolution and rapid technology development, the omnipresent digitalisation of society and daily life have inspired a group of artists to think beyond traditional medium and methods. Their works have shed light to a new breed of art form that blurs the line between art and design, aestheticism and functionality. It is an art form that transcends popular culture by bringing art closer to people than ever before.
In the early twentieth century, art was reshaped by the Italian Futurist art movement who celebrated advanced technology and modernity. Its founding father Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, an Italian poet published "The Founding and Manifesto of Futurisum" on Le Figaro on February 20th, 1909. Futurism emphasised on youth, speed, power, technology and the industrial city. Although now extinct, the Futurist movement gave rise to a new generation of artists and influenced art movements like Art Deco, Surrealism, Dadaism, Neo-Futurism and other major art movements of the twentieth century.
A new group of creative collectives ranging from artists, architects, designers named themselves Neo-Futurists. While preserving the legacy of the now-extinct Futurist art movement, the Neo-Futurists believe in "cities releasing emotions, driven by eco-sustainability, ethical values and implementing new materials and new technologies to provide a better quality of life for its city-dwellers”, according to Christian Narkiewicz-Laine, the Founding President of the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design. Renowned Neo-Futurists include thought leader Hal Foster, architect Zaha Hadid, British artist Olivia Peake, to name a few.
Neo-Futurist sculptor Josh Hadar creates a series of solar-powered sculptures which investigates the relationship between art, technology and environment. For more than a decade of experimentation, Hadar's sculptures challenge the boundary between art and technology and its impact on the environment. His solar-powered sculptures aim to evoke thoughts on urban re-intervention by combining art and technology.
The exhibition seeks to contextualise contemporary art in a society that has a growing obsession on technology. How does art become an integral part of the society? More importantly, how art and technology can shape the art of today and how the ‘new art (Neo-Futurism)’ can transform our society? Josh Hadar: Contemporary Art will be the artist's first solo exhibition in China.
Text by Henrietta Y. Xie
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