Fish Head for Goya by Mao Yan

West Bund Art & Design

Past
Nov 8 – Nov 10, 2024
Shanghai
 
Art Fair Details

West Bund Art & Design
West Bund Art Center
Booth A128
Nov 8 – 10, 2024

Connect

(opens in a new window) West Bund
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(opens in a new window) @pacegallery

Above: Mao Yan, Fish Head for Goya, 2012 © Mao Yan
Pace Gallery is pleased to reveal details of its presentation for the 2024 edition of West Bund Art & Design in Shanghai.

The gallery’s booth (#A128) will feature paintings, sculptures, and photography by international and intergenerational artists across its program, including leading Chinese figures Mao Yan, Qiu Xiaofei, Sui Jianguo, Yin Xiuzhen, and Zhang Xiaogang. The booth will also spotlight works by Jean Dubuffet, Torkwase Dyson, Alicja Kwade, Yoshitomo Nara, Maysha Mohamedi, Robert Nava, Louise Nevelson, Kenjiro Okazaki, Marina Perez Simão, Kiki Smith, Mika Tajima, and other artists.

Highlights will include a large-scale painting by the renowned Japanese artist, critic, and theorist Kenjiro Okazaki, who investigates time, space, and perception through a language of abstraction in his work across mediums. The 2023 painting by Okazaki on Pace’s booth features the artist’s gestural forms across two canvases. Inviting a continually shifting visual experience that eschews any single overall impression or reading, this radiant, richly textured work is built up with mixtures of acrylic paints that, both reflecting and transmitting light, give each canvas a glowing appearance. The lengthy and elaborate titles of the artist’s paintings are works of art in and of themselves, offering poetic entry points into his abstractions. Concurrent with West Bund Art & Design, Okazaki is presenting work in A Personal View of Japanese Contemporary Art: Takahashi Ryutaro Collection, a group show at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo.

The booth will also feature a 2024 textile painting from Mika Tajima’s ongoing Negative Entropy series, a body of work that also figures in the artist’s ongoing solo exhibition at Pace’s Hong Kong gallery.In the Negative Entropy series, the artist contends with what is captured, preserved, concealed, and lost in the translation of ephemeral energy into material form, a process that speaks to the relationships between individual agency, humanity, globalization, and the rise of big data.

New paintings by Torkwase Dyson, Maysha Mohamedi, and Marina Perez Simão will be presented alongside a mixed media sculpture from Yin Xiuzhen’s Wall Instruments series and a brass abstraction created by Sui Jianguo using high-definition 3D scanning and printing technologies to capture the contours of his hands. Ceramics by Yoshitomo Nara, whose solo exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain will travel to the Museum Frieder Burda in Germany later this fall, will also be exhibited prominently on Pace’s booth.

 

Featured Works

Marina Perez Simão, Untitled, 2024, oil on linen, 19-11/16" × 15-3/4" (50 cm × 40 cm)

Marina Perez Simão

b. 1980, Vitória, Brazil

Brent Wadden, Untitled, 2020, hand woven fibres, wool, cotton and acrylic on canvas, 114 cm × 130 cm (44-7/8" × 51-3/16")

Brent Wadden

b. 1979, Nova Scotia, Canada

Kenjiro Okazaki, 「あんなところに鳥の巣が」きっと巣にはまだ羽も生えない生れてやつと四五日位の不恰好な雛たちが四五羽。「どんなに可愛いいのかと思つたら」、爪先き立ちで首を伸ばし巣の中をのぞき込んだ、彼女はびっくりしたようにそう言った。  このまま私たちがここに住んでいるのだったら!だが何だつて、小鳥たちは、こんな私たちの手の屆く近さで、たくさん花を咲かせる、野茨の茂みの枝を選んだのだろう。莫迦といへば莫迦だけど、なんだか小鳥たちがいじらしい気がした。/ In such a place, a bird’s nest… 4or5 misshapen, featherless, 4or5 days old chicks? They were supposed to be cute,” she said in wonder as she stood on tiptoe, craning her neck to behold the nest. We could stay here! But what drove these little birds to choose a branch of this wild rose bush, so adjacent to us and blooming with flowers? They were rash, but I felt a strange tenderness for them. (From Tatsuo Hori's "The The Leaving Nest"), 2023, acrylic on canvas, 208 cm × 117 cm × 6 cm (81-7/8" × 46-1/16" × 2-3/8")

Kenjiro Okazaki

b. 1955, Tokyo, Japan

Mika Tajima, Negative Entropy (Seishoji Priest Prayer Drumming, Teal, Quad), 2024, cotton, polyester, nylon, wool, wool acoustic baffling felt, and white oak, 72" × 54-1/2" × 1-5/8" (182.9 cm × 138.4 cm × 4.1 cm)

Mika Tajima

b. 1975, Los Angeles

Maysha Mohamedi, Playhouse, 2024, oil on canvas, 33" × 28" (83.8 cm × 71.1 cm)

Maysha Mohamedi

b. 1980, Los Angeles

Alicja Kwade, A year (2022) and 275 missing days, 2024, watch hands on cardboard, brass, framed, 205 cm × 311 cm × 7 cm (80-11/16" × 10' 2-7/16" × 2-3/4")

Alicja Kwade

b. 1979, Katowice, Poland

Jean Dubuffet, Site avec 4 personnages, July 29, 1981, acrylic on canvas-backed paper, 26-1/2" x 19-3/4" (67.3 x 50.2 cm)

Jean Dubuffet

b. 1901, Le Havre, France
d. 1985, Paris

Robert Nava, Capybara vs Devil, 2023, acrylic and oil on canvas, 72" × 72" (182.9 cm × 182.9 cm)

Robert Nava

b. 1985, East Chicago, Indiana

In Capybara vs Devil (2023), Robert Nava presents a dramatic clash between a horned devil and a retreating capybara, set against a stormy seascape under a tempestuous sky. Three lightning bolts erupt from the devil as it leaps toward the capybara, whose form is outlined in echoing spray-painted lines, perhaps tracing its escape route. Rendered in acrylic and oil paint on a large-scale square canvas, the work bears components of Nava’s visual language: frenetic mark-making, vibrant colors, and raw energy form the foundation of this dynamic work. Driven by a desire to create “new myths,” Nava draws from a wide array of inspirations, including cartoons, religious iconography, and art historical references ranging from Goya to Picasso. The titular characters in the present work appear throughout Nava’s oeuvre in various forms, suggesting multilayered narratives rife with figures who call into question preconceived notions of good and evil, inviting viewers to explore their own interpretations. Nava’s paintings follow their own logic, existing in a realm steeped in possibility, where beings transform and interact, belying the complexity of their origins.

Qiu Xiaofei, Trotskyky Grew into a Tree, 2020, oil on linen, 38 cm × 46 cm (14-15/16" × 18-1/8")

Qiu Xiaofei

b. 1977, Harbin, China

Gideon Appah, A Love Song, 2022, Oil and acrylic on canvas, 180 cm × 160.7 cm (70-7/8" × 63-1/4")

Gideon Appah

b. 1987, Accra, Ghana

Zhang Xiaogang, Black Stone, 2014, oil on paper, 23-15/16" x 20" (60.8 cm x 50.8 cm) framed, 38-3/8" × 28-15/16" (97.5 cm × 73.5 cm)

Zhang Xiaogang

b. 1958, Kunming, Yunnan Province, China

Kiki Smith, Sleeping Woman with Peacock, 2004, collage, ink on Nepalese paper, 5' 4" x 9' 8" (162.6 cm x 294.6 cm)

Kiki Smith

b. 1954, Nuremberg, Germany

Sleeping Woman with Peacock (2004), a monumental collage nearly ten feet high and over five feet wide, demonstrates Kiki Smith’s career-spanning exploration of the interconnectedness of humans and the natural world. In the mid-1990s, Smith shifted her focus from the human form to include animals and the cosmos. The expansion from inner to outer world, from micro to macro, exists in the lineage of her ever-evolving oeuvre, and is exemplified by the entwined shapes of human and bird in the present work. Smith’s reconciliation of human and fauna developed from her drawing practice, as she explains, “One of the reasons I started looking at animals came from drawing skin and the hair follicles on the human body. Then I started drawing animals because I liked to draw their hair. I realized how similar we are to birds or to other mammals; the proportions change from one to the next, but how the hair and skin move on a face is the same as how hair patterns itself on an animal’s body.” [1] In the present work, a woman lies with her arms crossed over her chest, while a peacock rests on top of her, its feathers extending across the collaged piece of Nepalese paper, materializing the relation between human and animal on the drawing plane. Birds first appeared in Smith’s practice in 1992 and hold significant meaning for the artist as a symbol of the beauty of the natural world. The physical and visual ambiguity between the two figures suggests they are almost connected, retaining their individuality, yet expressing an emotional closeness. The peacock’s feathers, starting at the woman’s waist, resemble a skirt or train, or perhaps serve to protect her from the elements. Through an ongoing study of the relationship between humans and animals, Smith broadens the field of identity and perception.

  1. Kiki Smith quoted in Invention/Intervention: Kiki Smith and the Museums, (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Carnegie Museum of Art, 1998), n.p.
Kiki Smith, Sleep, 2018, bronze, 23-1/4" × 18-1/2" × 11-1/2" (59.1 cm × 47 cm × 29.2 cm)
Kiki Smith, Eclipse II, 2014, bronze, 10" x 12" x 3-1/4" (25.4 cm x 30.5 cm x 8.3 cm)
Kohei Nawa, Pixcell-Greater Kudu, 2012, mixed media, 163 cm × 100 cm × 98 cm (64-3/16" × 39-3/8" × 38-9/16") 212 kg (467 lb 6 oz)

Kohei Nawa

b. 1975, Osaka, Japan

Mao Yan, Fish Head for Goya, 2012, oil on canvas, 90 cm x 130 cm (35-7/16" x 51-3/16")

Mao Yan

b. 1968, Hunan Province, China

Fish Head for Goya (2012) embeds Mao Yan in a rich tradition of still life painting while offering a deeply modern, personal take on the genre. The title and composition pay homage to Spanish romantic painter Francisco de Goya, whose oeuvre of emotionally charged and often darkly surreal works also contains lesser known still lifes, of which he is believed to have produced twelve. [1] These works, marked by their stark depictions of slaughtered animals— such as the shimmering pile of dead fish in Still Life with Golden Bream (1808–12)—represent a radical departure from the lush imagery typically associated with the genre, evoking deep pathos and reflecting the violence of his time. Working in the same medium, Mao mutes Goya’s palette, painting within the confines of greyscale, which the artist describes as his “compositional compass,” explaining, “I basically reduce saturations and colors in life to the lowest degree possible.” [2] This allows him to distance his work from specific cultural associations, instead rooting it in an emotional landscape that emphasizes mortality, isolation, and existential reflection. While Goya’s still lifes were influenced by the political turmoil of his time, imbuing his depictions of death with social commentary, Mao opts for a more introspective exploration of mortality that transcends specific contexts. Mao’s work pays tribute to Goya’s still lifes, bridging Goya’s profound reflections on mortality and existence with a modern sensibility.

  1. Peter Cherry and William B. Jordan, “Goya and the Still Life,” in Spanish Still Life from Velázquez to Goya (London: The National Gallery, 1995), 175.
  2. Mao Yan quoted in Emily McDermott, “Lost in Time: Mao Yan at Pace," (opens in a new window) Interview Magazine, 11 March 2015
Mao Yan, Broken Teeth No. 3, 2022, oil on canvas, 40 cm × 30 cm (15-3/4" × 11-13/16")
Mao Yan, Broken Teeth No. 6, 2022, oil on canvas, 40 cm × 30 cm (15-3/4" × 11-13/16")
Huong Dodinh, K.A. 270, 2022, Organic binders and natural pigments on canvas mounted on wood, 135 cm × 84 cm × 4 cm (53-1/8" × 33-1/16" × 1-9/16")

Huong Dodinh

b. 1945, Soc Trang, Vietnam

Torkwase Dyson, Undrowned 1 (Bird and Lava), 2024, acrylic on canvas, 64" × 72" × 2" (162.6 cm × 182.9 cm × 5.1 cm)

Torkwase Dyson

b. 1973, Chicago, Illinois

Louise Nevelson, Untitled, 1976-78, wood painted black, 84-1/2" x 36-1/2" x 7-3/4" (214.6 cm x 92.7 cm x 19.7 cm)
Louise Nevelson, Untitled, 1970, cardboard, metal, and wood collage on board, 30-1/4" × 20" × 1-1/4" (76.8 cm × 50.8 cm × 3.2 cm) 31-1/8" × 21-1/8" × 3" (79.1 cm × 53.7 cm × 7.6 cm), frame

Louise Nevelson

b. 1899, Kiev
d. 1988, New York

Brice Guilbert, Fournez, 2023, oil stick on wood, 23 cm × 28 cm (9-1/16" × 11")

Brice Guilbert

b. 1979, Montpellier, France

Brice Guilbert, Fournez, 2023, oil stick on wood, 210 cm × 250 cm (82-11/16" × 8' 2-7/16")
Brice Guilbert, Island, 2023, oil stick on wood, 210 cm × 250 cm (82-11/16" × 8' 2-7/16")
Sui Jianguo, Shape of Void · S, 2023, brass, 40 cm × 63 cm × 38 cm (15-3/4" × 24-13/16" × 14-15/16")

Sui Jianguo

b. 1956, Qingdao, China

Adam Pendleton, WE (we are not successive), 2015, silkscreen ink on mirror polished stainless steel, 46-13/16" x 61-1/2" (118.9 cm x 156.1 cm) letter W, 46-13/16" x 35-5/8" (118.9 cm x 90.5 cm) letter E

Adam Pendleton

b. 1984, Richmond, Virginia

Nina Katchadourian, Easy Magic for Evening Parties, from the series What I Know About Magic ("Sorted Books" project, 1993 and ongoing), 2022, c-print, print, 12-1/2" × 26" (31.8 cm × 66 cm) framed, 13-5/8" × 27-1/8" (34.6 cm × 68.9 cm)

Nina Katchadourian

b. 1968, Stanford, California

Nina Katchadourian, More Magic, from the series What I Know About Magic ("Sorted Books" project, 1993 and ongoing), 2022, c-print, print, 12-1/2" × 26" (31.8 cm × 66 cm) framed, 13-5/8" × 27-1/8" (34.6 cm × 68.9 cm)
Nina Katchadourian, Great Magic, from the series What I Know About Magic ("Sorted Books" project, 1993 and ongoing), 2022, c-print, print, 12-1/2" × 26" (31.8 cm × 66 cm) framed, 13-5/8" × 27-1/8" (34.6 cm × 68.9 cm)
Yin Xiuzhen, Wall Instrument No. 28, 2019-2021, porcelain, used clothes, 95.5 cm × 98.5 cm × 11 cm (37-5/8" × 38-3/4" × 4-5/16")

Yin Xiuzhen

b. 1963, Beijing, China

To inquire about any of the artists or works featured here, please email us at inquiries@pacegallery.com.