The Unseen: the Fourth Guangzhou Triennial

Guangzhou Triennial

2012

Guangdong Museum of Art

Curated by Jiang Jiehong and Jonathan Watkins, 75 international artists from 24 countries.

Artists: Ignasi Aballi, Giovanni Anselmo, Vladimir Arkhipov, Angie Atmadjaja, Felice Beato, Thomas Bewick, Alice Cattaneo, Chen Chieh-Jen, Ruth Claxton, Michael Craig-Martin, Du Yun, Marcel Dzama, Harold Edgerton, Dan Flavin, Ceal Floyer,  Yukio Fujimoto, Gao Shiqiang, Franz Gertsch, Graham Gussin, Ham Jin, Ham Kyungah, Han Kyung Woo, Hu Yun, Huang Ran, Sofia Hulten, Ann Veronica Janssens, Jiang Zhi, Tim Johnson, Kan Xuan, On Kawara, Lee Seungae, Leung Chiwo, Liu Wei, Li Wei, Vladimir Logutov, Lu Yang, Lutz and Guggisberg, Madein Company, Miao Xiaochun, Francois Morellet, Kingsley Ng, Timur Novikov, Trevor Paglen, Cornelia Parker, Katie Paterson, Giuseppe Penone, Susan Philipsz, The Propeller Group, Josef Robakowski, Jadwiga Sawicka, Jonathan Schipper, Shen Shaomin, Shi Jinsong, Dayanita Singh, Sui Jianguo, Tan Ping, Ron Terada, Amikam Toren, Tu Weizheng, Rikuo Ueda, Wang Yuyang, Xiao Yu, Zhang Dali, Zhuang Hui, Colin Chinnery, Graham Gussin, Guest, He An, Li Wei, Madein Company, The Propeller Group, Tof, Wang Jianwei, Yang Zhenzhong , Zheng Guogu, Zhou Xiaohu, Zhuang Hui and Dan’er, John Cage, Du Yun & Claire Chase, Katie Paterson, Tashweesh

Cultural statement

The Guangdong Museum of Modern Art presents the Unseen, the theme exhibition of the 4th Guangzhou Triennial. The Guangzhou Triennial is one of the biggest art events in China and this year exhibits work by up to 75 international artists from 24 countries and areas. Curated by Jiang Jiehong and Jonathan Watkins, the Triennial will take place across three venues, from 28 September to 16 December 2012.

The theme of the Triennial is straightforward, despite its suggestion of obscurity. Its title, the Unseen, a simple term with easy access, is a point of departure for a vast range of possible meanings that touch on the complexity of ways of seeing, blindness, and envisaging, especially with respect to visual art. The Unseen refers to the limitations of our sensory organs, the narrow confines of human perception on the one hand; on the other, paradoxically, it gives rise to observations that transcend familiar experience.

The Fourth Guangzhou Triennial is set in three different areas, each area serving a different function: the Guangdong Museum of Art, as an exhibition space, the Guangzhou Opera House, as a performance space, and the Grandview Mall—one of the largest shopping centers in Southern China—as a public, non-museum space.