Timed to celebrate the centenary of CAFA, Beyond Boundaries highlights the historic contribution these two great organisations have made in nurturing artistic vision, arts education and the role of artists as educators.
The exhibition features recent work, ranging from painting to sculpture and to new digital media, by leading names in British and Chinese art; including Liu Xiaodong, Phyllida Barlow, Sui Jianguo, Dryden Goodwin, Xu Bing and Lisa Milroy. Co-curated by CAFA’s Guo Xiaohui and Andrew Stahl, Professor of Fine Art at the Slade, with artistic direction by Zhang Zikang, Director of the CAFA Art Museum, Beyond Boundaries is a dynamic sample of current artistic practice in China and the UK.
The arts have traditionally played a vital part in cross-cultural exchange and during a time when the art discourse is evermore international. Beyond Boundaries focuses on the work of leading artists who have played a fundamental role as educators in both China and the UK and this exhibition opens up this process up to a wider audience.
Making full use of the atmospheric spaces of Somerset House, sculpture and installation is represented in the work of artists including, Sui Jianguo, Enrico David Zhan Wang and Phyllida Barlow. Barlow, as well as being an internationally renowned artist, is widely recognised for her important influence on a whole generation of artists through her teaching at the Slade, including former students, Rachel Whiteread and Angela de la Cruz.
New, time-based and experimental digital media – and the intersection between these and more traditional forms – is used by several of the artists in Beyond Boundaries. Dryden Goodwin’s installations begin with intricate observational drawing which he then ‘layers’ with the use of photography and video.
Beyond Boundaries will be accompanied by an exhibition catalogue and an educational programme including talks and tours by the curators.
