One Year 一年 presents a new collection of paintings by Chinese-born artist Zhang Rui 张瑞. Having moved to Sydney one year ago, the body of work in One Year portrays Rui’s development of a visual language working across the context of her experiences of China and Australia. Faced with new physical and psychological environments, the artist’s new work draws on a vast array of images – usually sourced from the internet – as a means of reading or engaging with her surroundings. The results are dense and at times visually cryptic paintings that subtly combine the autobiographical with political threads and interweave personal and social worlds.

The conceptual development of Rui’s works indicate a broad cultural practice that encompasses an education in Western oil painting, an ongoing interest in the Wumen School 吳門學校 painters of China and a broader interest in how to express a sense of humanism through painting. Rui’s practice reveals the complexity of translating meaning across cultural and geographical distances despite the expanding reach of technology. Presented as a series of constellations the works in One Year produce a sense of meaning through a cumulative reading of the language and imagery embedded in the canvases.

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Access the Media Release here.

MEDIA COVERAGE

Andrew Frost, The Art Life, 12 July 2013

Luise Guest, Daily Serving, 2 August 2013

VIDEO INTERVIEWS

PUBLIC PROGRAM

Saturday 29 June 2013

In celebration of the exhibition Zhang Rui: One Year, 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art and
Musica Viva have teamed up and are pleased to present an afternoon of public programs
on Saturday 29 June 2013. Join us for lively talks and drinks.

1PM   Artist talk with Zhang Rui
Join us for a brief tour of One Year led by the artist followed by…

2PM   Cellist Jian Wang in conversation with Dominic Knight

Cellist Jian Wang first came to international attention as a child prodigy in the 1980s documentary From Mao to Mozart. Since then his career has taken off around the globe and Musica Viva now brings him to Australia to perform with pianist Bernadette Harvey. Jian Wang will be in conversation with Dominic Knight relating his experience growing up in the Cultural Revolution to his current international career highlighting themes in Zhang Rui’s One Year that resonate with him.

Dominic Knight is Evenings presenter on 702 ABC Sydney, co-founder of the Chaser and novelist.

Presented by Musica Viva, Jian Wang and Bernadette Harvey will be touring Australia in July.  At the event 4A will have two double passes to give away to the Sydney shows.