Cao Fei, Splendid River, Secession 2015
Photo: © Oliver Ottenschläger
Splendid River is a real estate project located in the booming development region of Guangzhou, China, since 2001.
At the Vienna Secession, Cao Fei will show a selection of works, among them key works such as RMB City project (2008–11) or Haze and Fog (2013), a recent film project that depicts the struggles of the disoriented urban middle class in a dystopian zombie setting. The artist has also conceived new works especially for the exhibition, among them the eponymous intervention on the Secession’s façade, which creates a connection between the original building in Vienna and its copy, home to a real estate business, in Fei’s hometown, Guangzhou. In the video installation Stranger (2015), Cao Fei explores the phenomenon of internet dating platforms which,while individuals seem to feel more and more disconnected to their surroundings, are becoming increasingly popular. Instead of meeting common expectations,the artist as invisible protagonist of the video clips performs everyday activities as form of communicating with the often passive voyeur, while in the installation Rumba (2015) automatic household devices like cleaning robots perform a kind of random choreography set on a stage designed as an abstracted landscape. Here, again, communication as in “building bridges” seems to be an underlying theme.
An artist book with texts, drawings and sketches by Cao Fei will be published to coincide with the exhibition.
The exhibition at Secession is the artist’s first solo show in Austria.
Cao Fei, born in Guangzhou (China) in 1978, lives and works in Beijing.
Invited by the board of the Secession
Curator: Jeanette Pacher
Press
Press conference: July 1, 10am
For interview requests and any other questions please contact katharina.schniebs@secession.at.
Please find the press release and press images for download here:
http://www.secession.at/presse/pdf/Press_release_Cao_%20Fei.pdf
http://www.secession.at/presse/
Guided tours: Saturdays at 11am (in English) and 2pm (in German) by appointment
Permanent presentation: Gustav Klimt Beethoven Frieze
more info:
Secession Website
http://www.e-flux.com/announcements/laura-owens-and-cao-fei/