An Atlas of the Difficult World

2024.03.24—06.30

Artist: Mimosa Echard, Leelee Chan, Chen Wei, David Douard, Feng Zhixuan, Gong Jian, Jiang Pengyi, Liao Fei, Liao Guohe, Antoni Muntadas, Shao Chun, Sydney Shen, Vivian Suter, Wolfgang Tillmans, Inga Svala Thórsdóttir & Wu Shanzhuan, Yang Jian, Wu Tsang, Patty Chang & David Kelley.

The Macalline Center of Art is pleased to present the spring exhibition, An Atlas of the Difficult World, on view from March 24th through June 30th, 2024. Showcasing videos, paintings, installations, sculptures and other art forms, this exhibition will feature works across various mediums by 20 artists of different nationalities and spanning multiple generations. The title alludes to the poignant collection of poems by American feminist poet Adrienne Rich (1929-2012). The exhibition is a tentative response to the tumultuous and unfathomable conditions of today’s world, illustrating the deep-seated conflicts and anxieties of the times we live in while at the same time, summoning a hope sparked by individual activism and creativity.

Rich’s collection of poems vividly charts the genesis of a world rife with unsettling visions. Amidst that “fissured, cracked terrain”* lies the “wreckage, dreck and waste,”** and yet these ruins become, paradoxically and suitably, the very “materials” for her poetry. Like Rich, the artists of An Atlas of the Difficult World share a fascination with the ruins of reality they find in their surroundings. Whether pertaining to the body, emotion, technology, or nature, these fragments are snipped from diverse histories and marked by disparate textures and structures; nevertheless, as “materials” for artistic creation, they are extracted, refined, and reshaped into something new. An Atlas of the Difficult World prophecies an unstable poetics—a superimposed and polyphonic consciousness that allows the energy of art to cling to the images that refract light off one another: a segment of animal skeleton rendered in metal, a group of Filipina maids playing card games, a submarine that is incapable of sinking...Each carries remnants of the world’s secrets.

An Atlas of the Difficult World is a micro-universe that mirrors reality. Within this miniature world, the fragile, vulnerable, and insignificant find resonance with the solemn, grand, magnificent. Each work harbors a hidden narrative, an ever developing illusion, and a specific moment both indescribable and profound. During the exhibition, MACA’s gallery space will temporarily transform into a work-in-progress, inviting the audience to step into a time-space where rupture and connection coexist. Here, they are encouraged to lean into a certain deliberate sense of “loss” and “discomfort”, and when they are unsure of where to go next to turn their gaze inward to contemplate their own existence, allowing themselves to experience the revelatory power of art.

The works exhibited in An Atlas of the Difficult World are all from the collections of MACA and its founder, Che Xuanqiao. The exhibition is jointly curated by Yang Beichen (Director of MACA), Huang Wenlong (Curator at MACA), and Wang Jianan (Assistant Curator at MACA).

*and** are excerpted from the first part of the collection’s titular poem, An Atlas of the Difficult World.

Download Brochure

Exhibition Photos

An Atlas of the Difficult World, installation view, Macalline Center of Art, 2024. Photo: Yang Hao

Feng Zhixuan, Wind Chimes - Sousa Chinensis, 2024, aluminum, steel, dimension variable. Commissoned by Macalline Center of Art. Image courtesy of Macalline Art Center

Wu Tsang, We Hold Where Study, 2017, two-channel HD video, color, stereo sound, 19 min. Choreographers: boychild, Josh Johnson, Ligia Lewis, Jonathan Gonzalez. Music: Bendik Giske. Image courtesy of Macalline Art Center

Wolfgang Tillmans, Playing Cards, 2018, inkjet print on paper, 212.1×145.1×6 cm. Image courtesy of Macalline Art Center

Vivian Suter, Untitled, undated, mixed media on canvas, 238.8×177.8 cm. Image courtesy of Macalline Art Center

Vivian Suter, Untitled, undated, mixed media on canvas, 233.7×195.6 cm. Image courtesy of Macalline Art Center

Liao Fei, A Straight Line Extended, 2015, marble, steel plate, concrete base, 275×70×160 cm. Image courtesy of Macalline Art Center

Inga Svala Thórsdóttir & Wu Shanzhuan, Bracketed Spiral and Its Three Layers of Personality, 2011, acrylic on canvas, 200×200 cm. Image courtesy of Macalline Art Center

Sydney Shen, Moi Même Moitié Le Momo, 2021, iron, wood, 33×200×4 cm. Image courtesy of Macalline Art Center

Yang Jian, 170160, 2021, Acrylic on linen, fire hose, 170×160 cm. Image courtesy of Macalline Art Center

Liao Guohe, X Work Hard Steadfastly Ingeniously (Slave Ship), 2019, acrylic on canvas, 168×247 cm. Image courtesy of Macalline Art Center

Chen Wei, Lost Hotel, 2016, archival inkjet print, 150×187.5 cm. Image courtesy of Macalline Art Center

Leelee Chan, Navel, 2018, scavenged polystyrene packaging, cosmetic container, found seashell, jesmonite, fiberglass, resin, pigment, epoxy putty, 151×30×30 cm. Image courtesy of Macalline Art Center

Patty Chang & David Kelley, Flotsam Jetsam, 2007, single-channel video, color, sound, 30 min. Image courtesy of Macalline Art Center

Antoni Muntadas, On Translation: Himnes, 2016, single-channel HD video, color, sound, 5 min 55 sec. Image courtesy of Macalline Art Center

Gong Jian, Goddess No. 4, 2015, acrylic on canvas, 220×165 cm. Image courtesy of Macalline Art Center

Mimosa Echard, Sap (iDeath), 2020, glass beads, light bulbs, bracelets, chain, fabric, latex glove, silver necklace, gourd plant, electrical wiring, 298×12×12 cm. Image courtesy of Macalline Art Center

Wu Tsang, Untitled (Window #3), 2017, stained glass, light box, 200×150×40 cm. Image courtesy of Macalline Art Center

Shao Chun, The Drowning – The Windy Part, 2022, silicone fabrics, epoxy resins, synthetic hairs, pearls, beauty supplies, mini fans, 200×150×90 cm. Commissioned by UCCA Edge. Image courtesy of Macalline Art Center

Jiang Pengyi, Sun! Sun! No. 8, 2019, archival inkjet print, 184×148×5 cm. Image courtesy of Macalline Art Center

Sydney Shen, Gunne Sax, 2021, wood, metal hardware, 95×30.5×5 cm. Image courtesy of Macalline Art Center

←

→