SMAK

Evelyn Taocheng Wang at De Vereniging

Friends of S.M.A.K. show

19 May - 20 Jul 2019

Evelyn Taocheng Wang, Shirt Boat, 2017. Wood, Ink on Paper, Agnes b shirts, 75 x 60 x 153,5 cm. Courtesy Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam and Carlos|Ishikawa, London. Photo Gert Jan van Rooij.
EVELYN TAOCHENG WANG AT DE VERENIGING
Friends of S.M.A.K. show
19 May - 20 July 2019

With her Asian background, she looks at Europe, her current home and workplace, from an almost alienated perspective. Her work mixes autobiographical experiences with fictional inventions, often referring to stories from Chinese literature and philosophy, Western writers or stories from her friends and acquaintances.
In this exhibition, entitled Sensitive Attitudes, Evelyn Taocheng Wang (° 1981, Chengdu, China, lives and works in Rotterdam) shows a series of large works on paper on which various scenes from The Dream of the Red Chamber (Cao Xueqin, 1791) , a masterpiece from Chinese literature, are represented. The themes of these scenes are about sexuality, a common theme in Wang's oeuvre. Classical Chinese painting resonates in her paintings and drawings, with the artist on the one hand referring back to her training in China and on the other hand reinterpreting classical working methods and techniques in a very individual and contemporary way.

In addition, her solo presentation shows two pieces from the installation Four Woman Seasons or Woman Tragedy (2017). These sculptures form a metaphor for the female life cycle, in which small tragic moments occur. They are made by hand from precious wood and serve as a hanging system for clothes, all from Wang's wardrobe. In addition to Winter, the boat-shaped sculpture Shirt Boat is also shown.

This work builds a bridge to the third part of the exhibition, the video with the title Dusk. Here we see Evelyn Taocheng Wang taking a boat trip on the river of the city of Haarlem, an important place for the art history of the Low Countries. The artist is accompanied by a half-naked man and woman who symbolize the gods of classical antiquity. In this video, Wang reflects on the representation of the body in Western art history, creating a dream world in which she appears alienated and yet tries to grasp a possible en