Leo Gallery is pleased to present “Hong Kong: Cinematic Set & Viewing Platform”, Wu Jiannan’s first solo exhibition with us in Hong Kong on 19 September 2024. The exhibition will showcase the artist’s various series of sculptures and the development of his creative practice in a cross-cultural context. 

Wu Jiannan's Micro Dictionary

To understand an artist's work, one must return to their life context and historical background. Wu Jiannan was born in 1990 in northeastern China, later entering the Sculpture Department of the China Academy of Art. He then went to study at the New York Academy of Art, and upon graduation, he started teaching there. Wu is an active Chinese artist on the global stage, living in a long-term cross-cultural context as a multicultural experiencer, observer, and creator. From this brief introduction, it is not difficult to understand why Wu embodies a blend of global influences and local cultural experiences. This long-term cultural experience in the "in-between" space is reflected in his work, making Wu and his pieces a mixture of reflection of the world and self-dreams.

In recent years, Wu’s work consists mainly of two types: one is the recreation and transformation of collective memory public images, and the other is the representation of feelings and perceptions formed from personal life experiences. The former is related to social contexts, where the events and scenes described in the works can be traced back through media image dissemination. The latter is fictional, resembling a dreamlike creation, with no public images to trace back to. To understand Wu and his works fully and systematically, we might consider approaching his art through "keywords" or a micro-level "dictionary" format.

In-Between

Wu has always been in a state of "in-between". He grew up in a northeastern cultural background and pursued his studies at the China Academy of Art, immersing himself in the Jiangnan cultural environment. The transition from Northeast to Jiangnan is particularly significant even within China's multicultural background. In Wu’s early works, one can see the influence of his northeastern cultural roots. Later, as he studied and worked in New York, his perspective shifted to a more globalized view. Thus, it is evident that Wu exists in a cultural identity that is "in-between".

A Mixture

It is precisely because of Wu’s "in-between" state that his works become a mixture: a blend of reality and surrealism, global and local influences, private and public lives, as well as the fusion of learning from realist sculpture and later encounters with conceptual art during his voyages. Ultimately, what is presented is a mixed entity that resembles a world theater.

Scene

Wu delights in presenting different layers of "settings" in his works. These include not only the sites of public events that have already occurred, such as news events and sports competitions, but also entirely fictional sites, like the surreal accident scene created in his work "The Death of Dragon". Additionally, there are sites derived from popular culture, such as the narrative scenes taken from the series "Country Love". Furthermore, there are sites drawn from the artist's personal experiences, reflected in his visual encounters with New York. These various sites draw the audience from reality into the theatrical scenes directed by Wu.

Digital Life 

As an artist born in the early 1990s in China, Wu entered his childhood during the millennium, a time when the internet in China was rapidly developing. His generation experienced the formation and transformation of digital life in Chinese society. They are immersed in a rich digital life filled with internet games, news, screen visual experiences, social networks, and e-commerce, making them “natives” of the digital world. Therefore, we can easily perceive why Wu’s works reflect this experience of digital life, such as the visual characteristics of game models and screen images, as well as images of public events and features with virtual attributes. Additionally, his work reveals a fondness for figurines and models, which are products of today's popular culture, digital gaming, toy consumption and social networks, undoubtedly closely related to the digital lives of his generation.

Virtual

In Wu’s creative process, the pathway from the virtual world to material representation is through data. He first conceptualizes sketches of his works, then completes spatial modeling of the sculptures on the computer, and subsequently produces the models for manual creation. Thus, his work exhibits semi-automated or semi-manual characteristics, which is one of the features of contemporary artists in the digital age. The use of electronic data as a creative method accomplishes the transition from the virtual to the material. In Wu’s view, the subsequent creations possess a painting attribute. His approach to rendering the works reflects the aesthetic qualities of the internet's virtual world, such as the use of gradient colors and electronic hues. In the piece "Gen Z", Wu fictionalizes the image of a post-2000s girl. This work was developed and adjusted through data before being finalized in sculptural and painting forms. The virtual approach undoubtedly enhances the fictional quality of the piece.

The above is a summary of Wu’s micro dictionary. Clearly, this is not the entirety of Wu and his works; his micro dictionary is continuously evolving. Just as an exhibition cannot fully convey an artist's essence, in the exhibition "Hong Kong: Cinematic Set & Viewing Platform", Wu presents works created over the past three years. The city of Hong Kong, much like the artist, possesses several characteristics. Both exist in a state of "in-between" where different cultures intertwine, encompassing historical and modern timelines, as well as spatial interactions between East and West, and the blend of elite culture and popular culture. Here at Wu’s debut exhibition in Hong Kong, the way his works are presented offers the audience a perspective akin to that of a theater or viewing platform, which is similarly reflective of the viewpoints found in Hong Kong's popular culture.

Duan Shaofeng, curator

3 September 2024