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麦扬个展

A solo exhibition byYang Mai: 
!(SAY-SO)
 

4.01-4.30, 2023
Opening Reception: 4.01, 3-6pm
Artist talk: 4.01, 3:30-4:10pm
三影堂|北京
Three Shadows Art Centre, Beijing

Press

"商品之外,服装还能是什么?", 磁器CIQI, May 30th, 2023.
"雅昌专稿 | 麦扬:重构制服——观察机制的固定模式", Artron 雅昌艺术网/艺术头条, May 4th, 2023.
"麦扬北京个展《好!Say-so》在三影堂摄影艺术中心开幕", VOGUE CHINA, April 23rd, 2023.

"Yang Mai: 好!(SAY-SO)", MutualArt.
"YANG MAI - SAY-SO (solo)", ARTLINKART.

Press Release

​新闻稿

 

Three Shadows Photography Art Centre 3.0space is pleased to present 好!(Say-so), a solo exhibition by Yang Mai, curated by Yanru Li. The exhibition opened on April 1st and has been extended until April 30th. The exhibition features Mai's body of work and explores the relationship between apparel and wearer. In his works, clothing transcends its mundane function or commercial value and assumes a profound symbolic significance, evoking diverse physical forms and social expressions. This reveals the universality and diversity of individuals in group living and prompts a reimagination and renegotiation of the "好" in our shaped and repeated forms of life.

“好”(Hao, a Chinese character that has multiple meanings, it can be referred to “Yes”, “Good”, “OK” or used as an adjective to describe something as "fine" or "satisfactory". It can be also used ironically in response to a situation where one's freedom of expression is restricted.)

 

Since 2019, Mai has created two ongoing series of works: Shhh! (嘘!) and Untitled (无题). In the Shhh! (嘘!) series, garments are stitched together at the openings of the sleeves and threaded through one another to form a closed loop, which is then painted on the surface. The Untitled (无题) series consists of individual stuffed clothing of different colors and styles. By recreating various forms of garments, the artist reflects on the restrictions and control that clothing can impose on the wearer. In both works, the clothing is separated from its utilitarian function, transformed into outrageous assemblages, and presented in new body-like forms, allowing the works to assume a more liberated and independent stance.

 

怀抱 (Hold Me in Your Arms) was created in 2021 by Mai in response to the collective experience of conforming to societal norms. The artist used 100 identical school uniforms to create a hanging structure through filling, connecting, and stitching. The work symbolically reflects the fragility of our society and stages the paradoxical coexistence of conformity and rebellion that we are living in.

 

UpRise (站起来) uses mass-produced clothing as its medium, stacked and layered with other elements such as chairs, branches, balls, and fences, implying a sense of resistance and insecurity. Inspired by the artist's emotional outburst, these works not only represent a creative output but also serve as documentation of his entire artistic process.

 

Many garments begin a new life within Mai's reimagining operations, which are not limited by physical constraints. This exhibition continues Yang Mai's commitment to proposing aesthetics as a means towards radical freedom and creating an "unbodied society."

三影堂摄影艺术中心3.0space于4月1日至4月30日举办麦扬个展《好!Say-so》。本次展览由李燕茹策展,展出麦扬多个装置系列代表作品。展览将探讨服装与穿着者之间的关系。在麦扬的作品中,服装将不再只被视为具有其原本功能性和商业价值的物品,而是将被赋予更多的象征意义,呈现出不同的身体形态和社会特性。这一形式展现了群体生活中不同个体之间的普遍性和差异性,并引起对机械性重复生活中的“好”的重新思考和定义。

 

《Shhh!(嘘!)》和《Untitled(无题)》是麦扬自2019年以来长期创作的两个系列作品。其中,《Shhh!(嘘!)》系列作品是在填充服装的袖口处缝合连接,形成一个闭环,并在表面上喷涂油漆。《Untitled(无题)》则是由不同的颜色、不同款式的单个填充服装组成。艺术家通过观察不同着装来思考服装对穿着者的限制和掌控。在这两组作品中,服装脱离了原本的功能,变成了膨胀的形体,并以“身体”的形式呈现,让作品获得了更加自由的姿态和独立性。

 

《怀抱(Hold Me in Your Arms)》创作于2021年,此作品是麦扬对校园集体生活的回应。艺术家使用100件同款校服进行填充、连接和缝合,形成一种相互穿插、从上到下的垂挂形态。作品展现了个体被剥夺特性后与同化的群体之间微妙交织的关系,既有服从又有叛逆,既有交缠又有间隙。

 

《UpRise(站起来)》系列作品以批量生产的服装为素材,看似有序地进行堆积与叠加,同时穿插其他元素(如椅子、木棍、球、护栏等),组合之间暗示着一种抗争力和不稳定性。该系列作品的灵感来自艺术家麦扬的情绪爆发,作品的诞生不仅是一种结果产物,也记录了麦扬的整个行为和创作过程。

 

当艺术不再局限于平面,而是以立体形式呈现在展览空间中;当艺术家通过再次创造来赋予物体思想;当作品的材料来源于生活,打破艺术与生活之间的界限;此时,美学将成为一种追求自由和激进的手段:从必须依靠身体填充的限制与约束中解放出来,成为“Unbodied Society”。

Exhibition preface

​前言

 

"好!(Say-so)" is a solo exhibition by Yang Mai currently on view at Three Shadows Photography Art Centre 3.0space. Curated by Yanru Li, the exhibition features Mai's body of work that addresses issues of conformity and systemic inequities in our social structures by using playful and exaggerated elements to reconstruct clothing as a medium. Through his work, Mai reveals the imbalanced relationship between deindividuation and group polarization, which invites viewers to engage in discussions around the contradictory and ambiguous forms he presents.

 

"怀抱 (Hold Me in Your Arms)" is exhibited in the center and is composed of numerous school uniforms stuffed and connected at the cuffs, forming a chain-like configuration that ascends from the floor to the ceiling. The artist created this work in response to the experience of school life in China, highlighting the erasure of individual identity that often results from group living. "怀抱 (Hold Me in Your Arms)" is part of a larger dialogue with "Shhh!(嘘!)", which emphasizes the struggle of individuals to maintain their identity and the silencing of their voices within a group. The exhibition also features works that reject their intended functions, eschewing commercialized and conformist forms. As the show progresses, other works defy their original forms and expand into unconventional shapes. By unleashing the expressive potential of the "body", the works gain newfound independence and liberation.

 

Yang Mai's work critiques the authority of clothing by exposing its limitations on the wearer. Through satire and experimentation, Mai frees the body from its constraints, envisioning an unbodied society.

麦扬个展《好!Say-so》在三影堂摄影艺术中心3.0space展出,展览呈现麦扬的装置系列代表作品,由李燕茹策划。麦扬的作品通过重构制服来观察机制的固定格式,共同探讨当下高度统一的个体与群体之间失衡的关系,并将之以矛盾和暧昧的形态展示在观众视野里。

 

怀抱(Hold Me in Your Arms)位于展览中心,批量的校服被填充起来,在其缝合的袖口处手手相连,再以从上而下的锁链形式堆积而成。其作品是麦扬对校园生活的回应,也是对集体生活剥夺个体特征的讽刺。怀抱(Hold Me in Your Arms)与空间中单个装置系列Shhh! (嘘!)构成对话,强调个体在群体中寻求认同感却主动失去话语权的处境。展览中其他作品不断深入对话,膨胀的形体拒绝其原本被定义的功能、拒绝参与商业性行为;当“身体”的意识出现时,作品以更加自由的姿态获得了独立性。

 

麦扬的装置作品呈现了服装对穿着者施加的定性和限制,通过反思其被赋予的权威性,以荒诞而夸张的形态对系统性⾏为和服从概念发出挑衅,并尝试以一种戏谑实验性的激进方式,将身体从服装的限制中解放出来,从而实现自身的“Unbodied Society”。

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