SLOW: Zhu Yingchun, Carlos Jiménez and Aaron Distler
china exchange, london
20.9.2016 – 24.9.2016
This joint exhibition responds to the subjects and visual systems within nature through media such as film, sculpture and the book form. Focusing on the process of conscious formation versus the pace of their actions, each artist uses the forces of nature – fire, steam, light and insects – to create their work.
The title of the exhibition “Slow”, is inspired by the sign 慢, displayed at the entrance to Zhu Yingchun’s studio in Nanjing. This sign greets visitors and reminds them to slow down and consider their environment carefully – setting the stage for discovery. Organised on the occasion of Nanjing Week and London Design Festival, the exhibition features newly commissioned works by the artists.
Curated by Fangfei Chen and Jaime Marie Davis
2015
Guangxi Normal University Press
Bugs’ Book is a major work of Zhu Yingchun’s and the result of several years of painstakingly observing the wildlife around his studio. Seemingly a textbook, the book does not in fact contain a single word. Rather it is a mysterious creation of the bugs themselves making Zhu Yingchun not creator, but discoverer and compiler.
The traces of snails, earthworms, stink bugs and other insects, to which many turn a blind eye, are the subject of Zhu Yingchun’s gaze and his ever-expanding curiosity and marvel. Like Chinese calligraphy or landscape painting, the work of each bug has a distinctive style, from the cursive script of the leaf-miner flies to the earthworms’ apparent seal script, the dry brushwork of the stink bug to the long-horned beetles and their dotted textures.
2017 The Best Book Design from All Over the World
Leipzig, Germany.
The UK edition is titled The Language of Bugs and published by ACC Art Books.