The inaugural Tsinghua Alumni London Art Exhibition, co-organized by the UK Tsinghua Alumni Association and JD.com, is about to kick off! The global call for submissions, open to Tsinghua students, alumni, and professionals in the art industry, has been successfully completed.
With the theme "Ubiquitous Technology: The Science of Aesthetics," the exhibition encourages artists to explore the role of science and technology in artistic creation, and how aesthetics evolves under the influence of technology.
Our exhibition aims to elevate the recognition and prominence of Asian young artists in the global cultural and artistic arena. It will showcase works by these talented young artists, including paintings, sculptures, installation art, video, ceramics, and glass.
This exhibition will take place from October 9 to November 18, 2024, at 20 King Street, London SW1Y 6QY, a prominent Grade II listed building in central London, located near famous landmarks like the Royal Parks and Buckingham Palace. The exhibition will feature over 40 works of art, offering visitors a feast for the senses, with the theme of technological aesthetics running throughout the newly designed exhibition space.
Preview
Artworks
Painting Samsara, by Edward Hongyi JIA
Edward Hongyi JIA, a young interdisciplinary artist who graduated from the Royal College of Art, has received several accolades, including the '2021 New Star Award' and was a semi-finalist for the RBA Rome and RBA Rome Scholarships. Samsara, created by Edward in 2019, is a piece that explores the themes of machinery, eternity, and love. It was completed using Chinese painting pigments, acrylic, ink, and a brush on paper. The artwork depicts the conflict between nature and the artificial, illustrating how technology drives the alienation between humanity and nature, evoking an apocalyptic sense. Samsara reflects concerns about how technology exacerbates the disconnection between people and nature, revealing how humanity, in the process of development, gradually distances itself from the essence of nature due to technological advancement.
3D painting Symbiosis, by Ziling WANG
Ziling WANG, a graduate of the University of the Arts London, has participated in numerous projects with international museums and art organizations. Her works have been exhibited and collected by various museums, and she has won or been shortlisted for multiple art awards. She was also awarded a special prize at the Society of Women Artists Exhibition by Princess Michael of Kent and placed fourth in the art competition organized by the Italian International Association of Art Critics. Ziling invented a hardened paint that can float off the canvas without a frame or be suspended within or between frames. This innovation allows her to transform flat images into three-dimensional sculptural paintings, modernizing pointillism. Symbiosis utilizes this original painting method, sculpting the 'body' of the artwork. The result is a painting-sculpture that extends into three-dimensional space, leading the audience into a space full of dynamic evolution, exploring how nature and technology interact to shape humanity.
Ceramic works Oscillating (left) and Crimson Triplet (right), by Fan JI
Young artist Fan JI earned her master’s degree from the Royal College of Art and is an alumna of Tsinghua University's Academy of Arts and Design, specializing in ceramic art and design (Class of 2015). Ji Fan has won the GCB Prize at the Korea International Ceramic Biennale and was listed among the 99 Future Blue-Chip Artists by Artsted in 2024. Her work End, Begin won the Silver Award at the 3rd Blanc de Chine International Ceramic Art Award. Through techniques like firing and pasting, Fan attempts to integrate various materials into a single object, some derived from nature, others from industrial production. In her works, all materials coexist equally, regardless of value. During the firing of Oscillating and Crimson Triplet, metal and ceramic clay corrode and press against each other, creating both visual and chemical reactions. The ultimate goal of her work is to create an astonishing symbiosis of materials, depicting the significant transformations in the relationship between humanity and nature in the Anthropocene, while also symbolizing the interconnectedness of human life and all living beings.
Glazed ceramic paintings Manifestation - Moire Vision (left) and Manifestation - Mist (right), by Xindi TONG & Ting SHEN
Xindi TONG, a graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Ting SHEN, a graduate of the China Academy of Art, are a young artist couple. Their work combines traditional ceramic craftsmanship with CNC technology, representing a collision of tradition and innovation. Due to their unique techniques and expressive methods, these works garnered widespread attention from the ceramic art community and art museums both domestically and internationally upon their debut in 2020, and they have been honored to be collected by the V&A, the world’s largest museum of decorative arts. In their series Manifestation, Xindi and Ting utilize a custom droplet glazing device to apply traditional Tang Sancai glaze colors onto porcelain plates in a “liquid crystal” manner. The process begins with converting parametric design sketches into machine-drawn paths, guiding glaze droplets to fall precisely onto the ceramic plates while accurately controlling their thickness. This manipulation alters the refraction of light through the glaze layer, creating variations of light and shadow on the surface, resulting in a moiré pattern effect. Their work integrates traditional ceramic techniques, computer algorithms, and CNC technology, achieving a deep intersection between tradition and technology.
Pating Untitled, by Emmanuel BARCILON
French artist Emmanuel BARCILON has held exhibitions in multiple galleries, art fairs, and museums, showcasing his work in Paris, London, Basel, and New York. Emmanuel Barcilon employs a material made from a mixture of varnish and pure pigments, applying it layer by layer on wooden surfaces to create Untitled. Throughout his creative process, he often incorporates graphic elements such as skulls, anatomical diagrams, text, and newspaper clippings, before applying additional layers of paint. By the time the artwork is completed, various images, traces, or colors are subtly visible beneath the surface, some more deeply buried than others. Through this unique creative process, he constructs his distinct visual memory, evoking a sense that all elements are deeply embedded within the material while still being perceptible.
Oil painting 121.3 épistémologie origines, by Ni QIN
Young artist Ni QIN, currently residing in Paris, France, is an alumna of the Painting Department at Tsinghua University’s Academy of Arts and Design (Class of 2005). Her work initially stemmed from a fascination with ancient maps, particularly the various "sea monsters" depicted in them, which often represented "nonexistent creatures" arising from the cognitive limitations of that time. This interest led her to explore the theme of implanted false memories. 121.3 épistémologie origines is an oil painting created on wood. It features a fly with compound eyes that can perceive 240 frames per second, while an ordinary human can only process about 30 frames. Thus, human movements appear in slow motion to the fly. Ni uses images seen in daily life to create continuous collisions in her mind, forming a labyrinth of time and space. Sometimes her work is rooted in reality, while other times it intentionally implants false memories. Occasionally, these collisions produce elements beyond reality, reflecting the artist's method of creating worlds and her understanding of "art."
Video work Orbit Weaver, by Xin LIU
Young artist Xin LIU, a graduate of the MIT Media Lab, is an alumna of Tsinghua University’s Precision Instrument and Mechanical Engineering program (Class of 2009). She has received numerous awards, research grants, and residency projects. Inspired by the three-dimensional mobility of spiders, Orbit Weaver uses a handheld device to regain control of the body and allows for free movement in a weightless environment. This device can launch ropes equipped with magnets; when the magnets attach to surrounding surfaces, the device automatically retracts the rope, using minimal thrust in the weightless environment to pull the wearer forward. Through this device, the wearer seems to transform into a "Spider Woman," weaving her web in space. Xin's video work will take us on an experience of this marvel.
Video work Novelist，by Shan HUA
Shan HUA is a London-based digital fashion designer who graduated from the Fashion Department of the Royal College of Art and currently resides in London. She was a finalist in the 2023 Vogue China Fund competition. Her work often revolves around the symbiotic relationship between natural forms and human emotions, reflecting on our role within this dynamic. She excels at exploring and reflecting on broad societal shifts through a micro, almost alchemical, approach, revealing the hidden cultural and social meanings within everyday details. Her video piece Novelist, showcased in this exhibition, centers on the writing process of a novelist and unfolds stories of farewell in three different stages. By capturing subtle nuances and subtext in daily life, the artist tightly links the timeline with emotional fluctuations, creating an inner monologue akin to self-whispering that gradually enters and exits the frame. The use of intense colors and conflicting dialogues presents weighty themes, while the distorted, subtle, and evasive humor in East Asian style has become the artist's distinctive audiovisual language.
Selected Artists
(by the first letter of the surname)
Artists
Emmanuel BARCILON
Enrique BRINKMAN
Rob and Nick CARTER
Si CHEN
Junhui FANG
Shang GAO
Shan HUA
Edward Hongyi JIA
Fan JI
Ao LEI
Yinglong Ll
Mi LIN
Bingqing LIU
Silin LIU
Weifang LIU
Xin LIU
Keita MIYAZAKI
Raoul MARKS
Bongsu PARK
Ezquiel PINI (Six N Five)
Ni QIN
Run Xin
Danyang SONG
SHEN Wei
Yiyuan SHI
Xindi TONG & Ting SHEN
Black Void
Zhigang WANG
Ziling WANG
Yaoyao XIN
Team
Team
Producer
Nancy Zetian Zhang
Director
Yuan Gao
Artistic Advisors
Xiaoxin Li (V&A Museum)
Lanyi Jiang (Christie’s)
Curators
Tong Zhao
assisted by Yiyuan Shi
Mi Lin
Fan Ji
Exhibition Operation
Fengning Yang
Chao Sun
Youran Ji (JD.com)
Rachel Ma (JD.com)
Lighting
Jiarun Duan
Yiyuan Shi
Marketing Lead
Tong Xia
Zhenzhen Chai (JD.com)
Exhibition Design
Bingrui Chen
Robin Yijie Zhang
Social Media
Yiyuan Shi
Shuyan Li
Fan Ji
Robin Yijie Zhang
Exhibition Website
Zhixiang Chen
Lifeng Zhang
Filming & Photography
Yi Zhao
Junkang Zhou
JEVA London
Xin Studio
Legal
Teng Wang
Compliance
Mi Lin
Zhenzhen Chai (JD.com)
Daisy Qing Yang
Bingrui Chen
Ya Liu
Yuanxiong Cao
Yi Zhao
Exhibition Assistants
Jiayu Song
Yiming Yuan
Special thanks to JD
for their strong support of this art exhibition:
Positioned as a technology and services enterprise with supply chain at its core, JD.com, Inc (also known as Jingdong in Europe) has expanded across retail, technology, logistics, healthcare, property development, industrial technology, private label, insurance, international business, and more. Committed to the principles of customer first, innovation, dedication, ownership, gratitude, and integrity, the company's mission is to make lives better through technology, striving to be the most trusted company in the world.
Thank you to our partners:
Founded in 1766, Christie’s is a world-leading art and luxury business with a physical presence in 46 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific, and flagship international sales hubs in New York, London, Hong Kong, Paris and Geneva. Renowned and trusted for our expert live and online-only auctions, as well as bespoke Private Sales, Christie’s unparalleled network of specialists offers our clients a full portfolio of global services, including art appraisal, art financing, international real estate and education. Christie’s auctions span more than 80 art and luxury categories, at price points ranging from $500 to over $100 million.
Every autumn Asian Art in London brings together leading international dealers and auction houses from the UK, Europe, USA and Asia. They specialise in a wide variety of ancient to modern Asian art, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Islamic and Middle Eastern, Himalayan and Central Asian, Southeast Asian. Asian Art in London focuses on galleries and auction houses in central London. Exhibitions showcase and offer for sale important Asian artworks, and are often accompanied by academically researched publications, while the many receptions, lectures and special events create a rich and fascinating schedule dedicated to Asian art.
TCL is a leading global tech brand in display panels, TVs, home comfort and mobile devices. Founded in 1981, TCL operates its manufacturing and R&D centers worldwide and has products and services in 160+ countries. At TCL, we are dedicated to improving people's lives and experiences with our innovative technology. Our products and services aim to solve problems, bring joy to families and friends, and create a safer and healthier world. We aspire to inspire and empower people to pursue greatness in their lives.
Shenzhen Aikesu Lighting System Co., Ltd. specializes in museum lighting, dedicated to providing high-quality lighting solutions for museums and art galleries worldwide. The company’s main products include museum track lights, art lights, display cabinet lights, and intelligent lighting control systems, which are widely used in renowned cultural venues both domestically and internationally. In China, Aikesu’s lighting products are extensively applied in major cultural projects such as the National Museum of China, the Palace Museum, and the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum Museum. Internationally, the company has participated in over a hundred projects, including the National Museum of India, the Royal BC Museum in Canada, and the National Gallery of Australia, earning high recognition from global clients due to its quality products and services. As an innovative enterprise that integrates R&D, design, and manufacturing, Aikesu continually drives advancements in the museum lighting industry with its leading technology and exceptional product quality, helping to reduce costs and improve efficiency while promoting Chinese museum lighting technology on the world stage.
NetMind.AI is a leading provider of AI solutions, offering cutting-edge technology to individuals and businesses worldwide. Committed to developing innovative and practical solutions, NetMind.AI’s expert team has extensive experience in big data analytics, machine learning, and natural language processing. The company strives to remain at the forefront of the rapidly evolving AI field, continually exploring new opportunities for growth and advancement. Founded by Tsinghua University alumni, NetMind.AI is an artificial intelligence technology company headquartered in London, UK, with subsidiaries in the United States, the UK, and China.
Hirsch & Mann is a full service creative agency based in London, on a mission to create bold digital and physical experiences for leading global organisations. Our mission is to conceptualise and bring to life captivating projects that engage customers, strengthening their connections to the brands we work with. We offer our clients a complete range of design & technology services, providing comprehensive solutions tailored to both short-term and long-term multi-sensory installations for retail spaces, pop-up activations, museums, galleries, corporate headquarters, event spaces and beyond.
内容 | 夏彤
海报设计 | 姬凡 陈冰蕊 张伊洁
校对 | 赵彤
审稿 | 高远 章泽天
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