The Artling Presents “House Of Strawberries” By JUJUWANG...
The Artling is pleased to present a solo exhibition, House of Strawberries, by acclaimed Shanghainese artist Juju Wang, opening on 30 April in our Shanghai private viewing space!
About the Exhibition
The strawberries in this site-specific installation work serve as a representation of a central motif for the way that we irrevocably have influenced our surrounding environment and impacted our planet. This is also an exploration into the effects of this on the core of our development, containing symbols of both motherhood and childhood in terms of the ‘self’, as well as the topics of cultural identification, belonging and the effects of globalization. These complex concepts are juxtaposed with the visual simplicity of the black and white minimalist palette and space.
Within the work also lies a personal and intimate message that is not immediately noticeable; Being the favorite fruit of the artist’s daughter, it references youth and infancy, the simple joys of life, the ease of picking from a multitude of options just by following your heart instead of getting lost in the multitude of variables and possible outcomes. At the same time, it is a statement of love from a caring mother looking after her child, in the most elementary and understandable manner, born out of intuition, rather than rationality.
The work also conveys an underlying message of a mother’s struggles to protect her child’s health and safety in relation to the state of fresh produce and its often ambiguous sources. The irregular shapes of the porcelain pieces recall an era where food wasn’t aesthetically-standardized and ‘perfect’, compared to present-day situations where harmful pesticides and genetically modified plants are the norms. The artist thus also questions the impact that our human species has over the planet and how future generations will never see, taste or feel the world as we know it today.
The individually unique hand-made pieces are constructed from Chinese porcelain, a material which evokes nostalgia and is a nod to the artist’s roots, whilst also celebrating the importance of craftsmanship and local traditions.
In the same manner that the strawberries are easily bruised and are very fragile, the installation focuses on the fragility of self and nature, identifying with a constantly changing society and the social, psychological and physical impact that our actions have upon us and everything that surround us.
To coincide with all these various underlying messages and concepts, there is also the manifestation of the idea of the passage of time i.e. how the environment is constantly evolving and changing. The strips of mirror within the space invite viewers to participate in the act of self-reflection. It is hoped that through this effect and implication of the infinite, we are reminded of the responsibility that we each have in order to preserve history, to respect our personal growth journeys and to protect our environment so that the future has the fighting chance to be a better version of what we’re living in today....
