Conceptual artist Michael Zheng went to China two years ago with the notion that, among other things, upon his return he would curate a show in San Francisco for Mission 17 gallery of contemporary Chinese artists.

That project grew and grew, though, so much that it requires two different venues. "imPOSSIBLE!" opens this weekend at Mission 17 and at San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery. Two artists, Yang Zhenzhong and Shi Yong, both from Shanghai, will have work at Mission 17 and six others, including Zheng himself, will have work at the SFAC Gallery.

Zheng says that the subtitle of the show - "8 Chinese Artists Engage Absurdity" - distills the show's major themes of "theatricality and hyperbole."

"The show became focused on the commonalities that we found during discussions in China," Zheng says. "The sensibility of most of these artists is toward exaggeration and absurdity."

While all the artists work on different kinds of things, Zheng says that their focus comes from the obvious place - the enormous change going on in China. "China is going through such drastic transformation. There is a lot that has happened in a very short period of time - it's change happening right in front of your eyes - and there's not enough time to react. Somehow, that does something to how these artists respond to (their surroundings)."

Contradictions abound in modern Chinese life. "It is a very interesting clash of forces. On one hand, artists are able to say what they want to say like never before. On the other hand, there's a lot that is still being controlled. The best way to (respond) is to use more theatrical forms." While most of the artists use video in this show, Zheng says that they are not known primarily as video artists. Unlike other recent Bay Area shows featuring the works of contemporary Chinese artists, like "Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection" that opened at the Berkeley Art Museum in September, Zheng says that his focus was on younger artists.

"There is a palpable irony in this project," he says, "A lot of the impetus (that the artists had) for making art is the need to critique society and there are so many problems that come with the changes in China."

It's a viewpoint Zheng shares. He currently splits his time between San Francisco and Beijing. "I feel like there's a benefit (to living in both places)," he says, "They are so different in their energies."