Decadent Gaming

2012. 8. 16 - 2020. 9. 20

Opening: 4-6pm, August 16, 2020

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LINSEED is pleased to present a new group exhibition Decadent Gaming, featuring six emerging Europe-/UK-based Chinese artists/artists collective —— Guo Yage, artist duo Jin+Fan (Jin Qiaoer & Fan Bo), Li Hei Di, Xia Shafei, Xiao Yuhan, and Yuyu Zhitong. The exhibition will be on view from August 16 to September 20, 2020. 

In Homo Ludens, historian John Huizinha discussed the social significance of play-element as one of the early cultural phenomena evolving along with human development. He described “play” as a spontaneous activity that is self-imposed and creates binding orders and rules. It is distinct from “ordinary” or “real” life. It is not the opposite of seriousness, but often, a serious pretending, disguise and camouflage. 

Over the last century, the norms and rules in art have continuously been reshaped  and played with artists’ exploration. Whether it is Minimalist artists’ site-specific exploration of the gallery space or Land Art’s expedition of the Sites & Non-site, as avant-garde artists continuously blend the boundaries between art and life, a hyperreal “alternative reality” has been simultaneously constructed.

Self-isolation and quarantine now have become the new norm of life globally, working and playing at home let people spend more time in their private space more than ever. As the artworks created by the six artists/artist collective from our exhibition seemingly ramble across the living space, their contemplations and distinct realities collectively echo our current time. 

Artist duo Jin+Fan’s installation, reconstructed from readymade domestic artifacts, whimsically examines the function and subjectivity of domestic spaces. Li Hei Di’s works reveal a dreamlike world, marrying desire with the mundane. While lust is intertwined inherently in Xia Shafei’s ink paintings, the clash between sweetness and savagery is fierce, absurd, yet passionate. Guo Yage’s fascination with ephemerality gives rise to her constant capture of moments of instant. Derived from nostalgia and introspection, Yuyu Zhitong’s paintings continuously seek escape from stereotypes, embracing both childlike and mysterious tales. As retrospective influences being one of the impacts in Xiao Yuhan’s practice, his works playfully explore the mechanisms behind daily life. 

In the time of ever-changing and recurrently-redefined lifestyle, the negotiated place of freedom among the rules of games and the reality is constantly being reauthorized with struggles and reconciliation.