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Universal modernity
2021-11-26 
Market Scene, oil on canvas by Vicente Manansala.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Powerlong Museum is showing works of well-known Chinese and international artists, Zhang Kun reports in Shanghai.

From modern Chinese masters Qi Baishi and Huang Binhong to contemporary international artists Yayoi Kusama and Kaws, an ongoing exhibition at Powerlong Museum in Shanghai is seeking to delineate the historical trajectory of China's participation in the process of global modernization.

The Pulse of Modernity, which began on Nov 19 and will run through May 18, is the largest exhibition the private museum has held since its opening in 2017.

Zhang Zikang, curator of the exhibition, who is also the director of the Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum in Beijing, selected more than 150 artworks from Powerlong's collection for the exhibition.

Xu Jiankang, founder and chairman of the Powerlong Group, started out collecting mainly Chinese ink paintings and calligraphy works, and named the museum's collection after his father, Xu Shucang, from whom he inherited a love for art and culture.

Cymothoe Sangaris, butterflies and household gloss on canvas by Damien Hirst.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Over the past decades, the collection has grown to include outstanding pieces of Chinese and international art from the 20th and 21st centuries, Zhang said in a video message at the opening.

"We were surprised to see that the collection of Powerlong Museum was bigger and richer than what we expected before arriving here," Sun Dongdong, executive curator of the show, said as he guided the media on a preview on Nov 18.

The exhibition aims to present the evolution of ideas and dialogue in art over the past century between China and the world, Sun adds.

The exhibition features six chapters, and visitors are advised to start from the underground Hall No 7, where The Bund Without Us, a 27-meter-high and 4-meter-wide painting, created from the explosion of fireworks by contemporary Chinese artist Cai Guoqiang takes center stage. The work was created for the opening of Cai's solo exhibition at Power Station of Art in Shanghai in 2014, and represents his imagination of the Bund taken over by nature after the destruction of human civilization.

Liang Shen, the architect invited to design the exhibition space, built a wall in the hall to separate the giant artwork from other exhibits. A window on the wall gives the audience a different perspective, and when people turn around a corner, the spectacular artwork emerges in its entirety.

The Second Story, oil on canvas by Liu Ye.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Together with the works of other Chinese artists, this first section of the show, themed "internalized modernity", reflects the introduction of Western and "unconventional elements" into Chinese art, as well as the drastic changes in Chinese society and the art scene.

The second section, "universal world", occupies a large hall of more than 1,000 square meters at the museum, where visitors find themselves standing in the middle of the space surrounded by the creations of internationally renowned artists, such as Takashi Murakami, David Hockney and Damien Hirst.

The most striking part of the exhibition is arguably the fourth section, "whirling of time", which takes place in a circular hall where visitors can walk on a long ramp to the second floor, passing by small paintings, each no more than a meter tall, by Chinese and international artists.

The final two sections, themed "identity and empathy", and "paradigm and trend", are dedicated to Chinese ink paintings and calligraphy.

Visitors view works at the ongoing exhibition, The Pulse of Modernity, which features more than 150 pieces of Chinese and international art at Powerlong Museum in Shanghai.[Photo provided to China Daily]

"We hope this exhibition can introduce a new beginning to the study and research of the Powerlong art collection,"Sun says.

"You can feel the emotional connection between the artworks and the founder of the museum, and see how his love for art is immersed in his daily life and personal experiences."

Contact the writer at zhangkun@chinadaily.com.cn

Clear Mountains After Juran, ink and color on paper by Zhang Daqian.[Photo provided to China Daily]

If you go

The Pulse of Modernity: Powerlong Art Exhibition

10 am-6 pm, Tuesday-Sunday, Nov 19-May 18, 2022. Powerlong Museum, No 3055 Caobao Road, Minhang district, Shanghai. 021-6221-9111.

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