YANG FUDONG IN ZURICH First European retrospective
Yang Fudong (born in 1971 in Beijing, lives and works in Shanghai) is one of the most important figures of China’s contemporary art scene and independent cinema movement.
“Estranged Paradise. Works 1993–2013”, curated by Beatrix Ruf and Philippe Pirotte, was Yang Fudong’s first major institutional survey exhibition in Europe, presenting film, installation as well as photography from the late 1990s until today, highlighting the formal aspects of the construction of cinema in the artist’s œuvre and its resonance in Film Noir aesthetics. Works from his “International Hotel” Series, which are also part of the Sammlung Zimmermann and hanging currently in the Uniplan office in Cologne, were also a prominent part of this exhibition. Following the exhibition in Zurich (6th April – 26th May 2013), the show travels to the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (21th August – 1th December).
On 6th April the Kunsthalle organised an artist talk with Yang Fudong in conversation with Philippe Pirotte, Adjunct Senior Curator, UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, and Beatrix Ruf, Director Kunsthalle Zurich. The talk was not only about the exhibition and Yang’s work, but also about the contemporary art scene in China.
