Bluerider ART is pleased to announce a compelling group exhibition titled “Hope is the thing with feathers – Post-80s Chinese Youth Artist Open Call Exhibition”, which will be on shown at our Shanghai·The Bund gallery from August 24 to October 20, 2024. This exhibition will showcase 48 outstanding and diverse works from 25 young Chinese artists born after 1985, selected from 2,000 submissions by 500 competitors. The exhibition includes a range of mediums such as painting, ink, sculpture, and kinetic installations. The purpose of this open call exhibition is to discover and highlight exceptional local young artists, encourage bold innovation, explore creative perspectives of different generations, and provide an important professional display and social interaction platform. It aims to foster learning and growth through the exhibition process, enhance professional artistic skills, and ensure that the artists’ works gain wider recognition, support, and visibility in their future careers.
In the poem “Hope is the thing with feathers,” poet Emily Dickinson described hope as a bird with feathers, singing from the deepest part of its soul, unwavering in the fiercest storms. Young artists, in their early careers, embody the fearless spirit of Dickinson’s bird. In spite of facing challenges and setbacks, they strive to present distinctive personal styles and innovative ideas, exploring various possibilities of life, society, and the future.
The symbols of hope and feathers have rich symbolic meanings and expressions across Eastern and Western art history, literature, and philosophy, representing humanity’s aspirations for the future, struggles with adversity, and inner emotions. In ancient Egyptian art, feathers symbolize truth and justice. The flying celestial maidens and divine bird feather patterns in the Mogao Caves’ murals represent the sacred and the transcendent. In Eastern Jin, Gu Kaizhi’s “Luoshen Fu” depicts the Luoshen’s feathered garments and cranes’ feathers, symbolizing the elevation to the divine realm. In the Renaissance, Raphael’s “Sistine Madonna” features angelic wings that tenderly protect the future. Picasso’s “Dove of Peace” signifies peace and hope. In Zhuangzi’s “Xiaoyaoyou”, the great roc’s outspread wings allude to freedom and transcendence. Existentialist philosophers Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus discuss how hope serves as an individual’s struggle against absurdity and a testament to existence. Philosopher Ernst Bloch argues that hope drives human historical progress and serves as the impetus toward utopia.
“Hope is the Thing with Feathers,” curated by Bluerider ART, encompasses 25 emerging artists from Generations Y and Z, aged 21 to 39. The exhibition focuses on spiritual dialogue, unique perspectives, and innovative thinking, featuring 48 diverse works in various sizes and media, including oil painting, ink, acrylic, sculpture, paper embroidery, and kinetic installations. Among these works, many metaphorically allude to the themes of hope and feathers. Lu Jusong’s acrylic painting “What is She Eating?” depicts leaping noodles and exaggerated eating expressions, exploring the contrast between self-perception and external views. Bay Tang Jiaxin’s “Paper Embroidery: Piece Five” uses needlework to create textures on paper, with each puncture and stitch revealing the delicate interplay of space and time. Bai Shiqi’s new ink work “Impossible Dream” features crowds wearing winged masks, bouncing between the realms of reality and illusion. Wang Minghui’s oil painting “The Heartbroken” presents deep emotional layers through heavy brushstrokes and exaggerated facial expressions. Shaw’s kinetic installation “IX-0” uses mechanical control of lighting and colour to navigate the intersection between two-dimensional paintings and three-dimensional bird sculptures. Li Cong’s ink and colour work “Dream No. 2” shows a blindfolded figure about to step down a damaged ladder, searching for a hidden self amidst subconscious dangers. Hong Kai’s oil painting “Death and Spirit Eternal on the Grassland” features winged mountain landscapes and white flowers, evoking a moment of sudden emotional stir. PEI’s silk ink piece “Desiring Flower 4” anthropomorphizes each flower and plant, exploring the spread of desire from the heart.
Young artists explore the spectrum from personal inner selves to broader social realities through their artistic creations, transforming these reflections into visual language and becoming pioneers of innovation and experimentation. Growing up in the internet-driven Y and Z generations, these artists come from diverse cultural backgrounds, and their varied perspectives infuse their works with freshness and resonate emotionally with the younger generation. This exhibition of Chinese post-85s young artists is not only a showcase of outstanding artistic works but also an opportunity to explore the spirit of the times and reflect on contemporary social conditions, carrying multiple layers of social significance. Through the works of these young artists, we can witness the diversity and infinite possibilities of hope, awakening our anticipation for the future and our passion for life. We welcome you to bring along your own feather of hope.