Welcome to IKEA！

This is a statement of the exhibition, which describes the artist's expression and curatorial concept

In this project, I created an exhibition introduction and a guide map. I modified an original IKEA map into a map for an art exhibition, but it still looks similar to the original map. I printed out a large number of maps and dropped them off at the reception and various places on the opening day to replace the original maps. When visitors get the map, they unconsciously start an exhibition tour. On the map, I marked the location of the works. The audience can look for the products they need and browse my paintings at the same time. They can find them in different rooms.

This marks my inaugural collaboration with an artist on a curatorial endeavor. In my role as a curator, I orchestrate a deeply personal exhibition, utilizing an unconventional venue: a public space intersecting a shopping mall and the quintessential furniture emporium, IKEA. At the heart of this showcase lies the theme of "falseness," a concept challenging traditional art spaces by blurring the lines between ready-made objects and artistic creations. I aim to bridge the gap between art and audience, rendering it challenging to discern between the two.

In this exhibition, I meticulously integrate the artist's oeuvre with the venue's spatial dynamics, endeavoring to fuse the inherent qualities of the space with the artistic vernacular while simultaneously dismantling the gravity often associated with art. The artist's pieces reflect the lived experiences of individuals during the tumultuous era of COVID-19, juxtaposing emotions of apathy and anguish. Within the consumerist dreamscape of IKEA, these works resonate with poignant irony.

Moreover, this exhibition serves as a personal exploration, a metamorphosis from artist to curator. It embodies my aspiration to transcend traditional artistic roles and redefine the boundaries of creative expression.

Inspiration

The spatial layout inside IKEA was my initial inspiration. At the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic, the Chinese government required people to isolate themselves in their homes to prevent the spread of the epidemic. At that time, the home space had become a cage. When the number of patients increased sharply and hospitals were overcrowded, the government began to renovate gymnasiums or exhibition centres to divide multiple compartments into mobile cabin hospitals. At the same time, IKEA’s space attempts to depict a false picture of a beautiful family in each model room. Each of these compartments seems similar to the isolation room during the COVID-19 epidemic, which symbolizes beauty and pain respectively. In this case, I wanted to replace the various decorative paintings that often appear in IKEA model rooms with my paintings, and spread my ideas and images in this subtle but playful way.

Artworks

survivor II, 55×55cm

Details & Exhibition status

survivor VI, 100×120cm