Piercing through Changing Times – Dialogue with Artist Xue Song 穿越時代變遷—對話藝術家薛松

For Attendees' Attention 注意事項

• The event will be conducted in Mandarin. Simultaneous interpretation will be available.
  本場活動以普通話舉行，另設即時傳譯。

• Seating is on a first come, first served basis.
  本場活動歡迎公眾人士參加。座位有限，先到先得。

Abstract

The lecture will focus on how Xue Song's artworks are evolved with China's social and cultural developments, sharing anecdotes in his career, and offering insights on positioning himself in the challenging global art market.

About the speaker

Xue Song was born in Anhui, China in 1965, and graduated in 1988 from the Shanghai Theatre Academy's Department of Stage Design. One of the key artists of the Chinese Pop Art movement, Xue Song's work is also representative of the "New Shanghai School". His art traverses East and West, historical memory and reality, as well as traditional culture and contemporary viewpoints.

Xue Song's initial artistic experiments began in the 1980s, a time when China was rapidly transforming and opening up to the world, and the modernisation of its art world was in full swing. Ideas that challenged traditional aesthetics, such as Pop Art, inspired many Chinese artists. Influenced by the early collage works of Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008), Xue Song began to experiment with collage in his graduation year, and his early works were predominantly executed in abstract and expressionist styles.

A studio fire accident in 1991 was the turning point for Xue Song's artistic career. Fire and collage consequently became his trademark techniques, with flames and ashes used to transform disparate printed fragments into an image that addresses wider issues such as society, politics, tradition, humanities, fashion and aesthetics.

His works form part of important collections, including the National Art Museum of China, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai's Long Museum, Hong Kong's M+, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, USC Pacific Asia Museum, Bonn Museum of Modern Art, Switzerland, the Guy & Myriam Ullens Foundation, the Uli Sigg Collection, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Fondation Cartier.

講座簡介

講座聚焦薛松的創作與中國社會、文化變遷之密切關係，分享其藝術生涯的軼事與起伏，以及他在全球化藝術市場的自處之道。
 

講者簡介

薛松於1965年出生於中國安徽，於1988在上海戲劇學院舞台美術系畢業。薛松被譽為中國波普藝術（Pop Art）最重要的藝術家之一，也是「新海派」藝術家代表人物，擅長將東方與西方、歷史記憶與當下現實、傳統文化與現代觀點連接起來。

薛松最初的藝術實驗始於1980年代。當時中國正值改革開放，現代藝術運動如火如荼，波普藝術等挑戰傳統美學的思想啟發了不少中國藝術家。受羅伯特‧勞森伯格（Robert Rauschenberg，1925-2008）的早期拼貼作品影響，他在畢業那年開始嘗試拼貼畫，早期作品主要呈現抽象和表現主義。

1991年在畫室的一場火災意外成為了他創作生涯轉變的契機。從此，「燃燒」和「拼貼」成為薛松獨一無二的藝術手法。薛松的作品，是以火焰和灰燼為媒介，通過拼貼手段，把形形色色的印刷品殘片組合成全新的形象世界，並廣泛涉獵社會、政治、傳統、人文、時尚、審美等不同議題。

作品獲中國美術館、上海美術館、龍美術館、香港M+美術館、美國波士頓美術館、南比爾現代大學亞太博物館、德國波恩現代藝術博物館、瑞士尤倫斯藝術基金會、瑞士烏利·希克收藏、比爾蓋茲藝術基金會、法國卡地亞藝術基金會等國際重要收藏家收藏。