"Minimalism: Space. Light. Object.", the first exhibition of the most important Minimalism in Asia, presented by the National Gallery and ArtScience Museum Singapore. It explores the development of Minimal art from the 1950s to the present day, in some multiple perspectives, from New York, to Europe and the Asia Pacific region, and delves into Asian philosophy and meditate on notions of the Void and ‘nothingness’ exploring the impact these ideas had on Minamalism, contemporary artists across the world now. Tracing its shift from painting to photography, sculpture, to installations, immersive environments, Music, Video and multimedia, by more than 80 artists, 150 pieces of works, which features work by some of the most significant artists of the past 70 years, including Mark Rothko (USA, 1903-1970), Donald Judd (USA, 1928-1994); Anish Kapoor (India, 1954); Tatsuo Miyajima (Japan, 1957 ); Lee Ufan (Korea/Japan, 1936); Olafur Eliasson (Denmark/Iceland, 1967); Mona Hatoum (Arabic, 1952). TAN Ping (China, 1960), ZHANG Yu (China, 1959) and WANG Jian (China, 1972) from PIFO Gallery in China are invited to the exhibition with other Chinese artists: Ai Weiwei (China, 1957), Song Dong (China, 1966), etc. 

Minimalism: Space. Light. Object., ArtScience Museum Singapore, installation view, figure middle is Donald Judd's work, the left is Tan Ping's work

Artist - TAN Ping

TAN Ping  

+40m, 2012，Woodcut print，20 x 4000 cm

In this minimalist exhibition, Tan Ping presents two sets of woodcut prints, "+40m" and "60 x 60". In "+40m", Tan Ping gives full play to the expressive power of "line", this continuous "line" is not loaded with any narrative, it walks in the space, drawing the audience's line of sight. It not only dominates the meaning of the work, but also links the whole space, conveying an overall experience of the process, time and space, so that the meaning of the work has a resonance effect, and acts as a visual and conceptual centerpiece of the Minimalism exhibition at ArtScience Museum Singapore.

 +40m 

“When I was making these prints, I felt particularly like walking slowly on a bottomless waters, a profound space. There is not only a white line on the surface, but also a very micro space existing between black and white."

—— TAN Ping

Minimalism: Space. Light. Object., ArtScience Museum Singapore, installation view

Whilst creating the line, Tan Ping kept in one continuous gesture over a period of six hours, was fully immersed in the carving process and wrote that “all of my energy, experience, my understanding of art, and my internal struggles, all are sealed by the pivotal moment the knife collides with the panel”. While one end of the line can be seen the other cannot, suggesting both endlessness and formlessness. The work epitomises Minimalist aesthetics, but also carries with it an incredible emotional power, rooted in the spiritual approach of Chinese Maximalism. 

 60×60 

Since 1993, Tan Ping has a tendency to "rarely", pure and simple in simplicity. From the copperprint to space and time, the expression of conceptual art and the free and changeable combination within the framework of modular limitation, Tan Ping's art is committed to the exploration of abstract personal vocabulary and methodology. He further integrates time and process, accident and uncertainty, and daily routine in his creation. this woodcut  of "60 x 60" is a continuation of this idea.

When making the work of "60 x 60", Tan Ping cuted a huge plank of woodcut based on the proportion of 60 x 60cm, the contingency of the creation just is hidden in the picture cut with the proportion. After being cut, the picture created with the conventional approach the original habit of the composition and creation all art destroyed by this rules. The new work born under this condition is related to the original works, but specific appearance is created by chance. Space is the place where I create, also is the carrier my work created. The final form of every "60 x 60" exhibition is determined based on the specific exhibition space, which could be dispersed, aggregated or overlapped.

TAN Ping

60 x 60，2010

woodcut print, paper

60 x 60 cm

Minimalism: Space. Light. Object., ArtScience Museum Singapore, installation view, figure left is Donald Judd's work, the right is Tan Ping's work

 TAN Ping 

Born in Chengde, Hebei province in 1960, graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1984, awarded the German Academic Exchange Service（DAAD）and studied in Germany in the late 1980s’, received a master's degree and a Meisterschule degree. 

In the 40 years’ art practice, Tan Ping has been exploring in many fields such as painting, printmaking, multimedia, design and so on, in his continuous changes and his creation full of tension, many important points of contemporary art were run through consistently. On bidding farewell to realism for abstract art, to learning from the west and a retrospective path to the traditions, there have been two points of origin consistent in the artistic ideas of Tan Ping; firstly the reference system emerged from a standpoint in modern and contemporary western art that reflects on or rethinks the cultural traditions of China, and secondly taking context of cultural logics and art history of China' s contemporary art in a distance from the west to formulate individualized linguistics and expressions and to establish one' s own methodology. In the tensions of west versus east and modern versus tradition, Tan Ping is searching for an entry point of his own through constant explorations and experiments. Instead of endowing with too many meanings on the works, he has constantly aimed at "purification"and "deduction". In the simplistic and pure styles, he has entered a state of extraordinary individuality.

As an artist, educator, he also was the honorary doctor of Kingston University, dean of the Design Institute of China Central Academy of Fine Arts and vice president of CAFA. He is regarded as the leading figure of Chinese abstract art, the pioneer of the contemporary Chinese art design discipline and the promoter of Chinese experimental art discipline. Now he is the vice president of Chinese National Academy of Arts, lives and works in Beijing.

(courtesy of the  ArtScience Museum Singapore in part of photos and texts )

Exhibition Date: 2018.11.16 - 2019.04.14

Venue: ArtScience Museum, The National Gallery, Singapore

More information info: 

https://zh.marinabaysands.com/museum/minimalism.html

Related link: 

NEWS | Tan Ping,Zhang Yu,Wang Jian at Singapore Minimalism Show

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Also

Studio Olafur Liasson liked the work of Tan Ping~

关于画廊   About Gallery

偏锋新艺术空间成立于2006年，是中国专注于抽象艺术研究与发展的主要画廊。坚持对中国当代艺术进程的洞察以及对欧洲战后艺术大师的探索，并在两者的对话与碰撞中寻找各种可能的艺术力量。偏锋深信艺术的体验产生于一个又一个的变革中创造的新世界。艺术家的作品，正是探索世界的第三只眼睛。对于收藏家，我们为其提供专业知识，鼓励他们发掘个人独特的视角，只因两者的充分结合，才能构建卓越的收藏。我们希望更多的藏家可以秉持鉴赏家的心态，更深入的理解亚洲与西方的抽象艺术，以及欣赏画廊发掘、重塑并坚信的艺术家。

PIFO Gallery was founded in 2006. Which is China's premier gallery to present abstract art. PIFO brings together the works of contemporary Chinese artists with European post-war masters. At PIFO we believe that the experience of art is profoundly transformative. Seeing the world differently through the works of artists is an inspiration. We encourage our collectors to develop their individual vision and share our expertise in art to help them build excellent collections. The goal is to spread connoisseurship for Asian and Western abstraction in art and deepen the understanding and appreciation for the artists that we (re-)discovered and believe in. 

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作者：偏锋新艺术空间