微妙
2008.8.30 － 2008.10.12
策展人：凯伦·史密斯
参展艺术家：艾尼瓦尔，何岸，胡晓媛，贾蔼力，仇晓飞，王卫，萧昱，徐若涛，庄辉
开幕酒会：2008年8月30日4：00PM
展览地点：站台中国当代艺术机构主展厅A & B
“……拒绝虚假或幼稚的解释与寻求更好、更正确的因果关系理论一样重要。我们只有首先扫清地面的垃圾才能再去建立。”[1]
没有人可以绝对地界定艺术。对于什么是艺术和什么不是艺术，每个人都有自己的见解；它可以是可接受或不可接受的形式，对它的界定可以接近但不应该雷同或交叉。后现代主义的理论大大突破了这些界限，正如现代主义在它的时代所做的一样。后现代主义又比它之前的任何理论都更进一步：在“什么是艺术”这个问题上解放“自由”——至此艺术可以是艺术家宣判的任何东西。今天，人们忍不住想到艺术家们那种无政府状态似的积极精神已经变得索然无味并且“自由无稽”。两者之间——如成功与不太成功，胜利与希望落空，保持常青和仅仅红极一时——界线非常完美：简直微妙至极！大多数人可能同意以下两点：1.艺术家是带着理解去创作作品的人；2.艺术品是被创造出来公开呈现给观众的。在第一条中，始终存在着辉煌，始终都有崇高的启示和光荣的创造。但是由于界限的转移和消失，一些它们曾经所界定的要素也随它们的消失而消失了。导致“艺术品被创造出来公开呈现给观众”的复杂过程得有一个趋势。现今，刻板正式的考虑并不如事件本身、环境、或作品暗示或时不时公开发表的问题更重要。概念性的作品都与稍纵即逝的瞬间和当下的事件分不开。艺术作品不再一味地寻求独立和超越它本身的时代说话，是这样吗？我们正处在一个日趋全球化和普遍认知的时代，难道不是吗？再次重申，是这样吗？也许不是，但回避不了这样的问题：什么是艺术的无限价值？眼下什么才是重要的？艺术家们都参与到一场正在进行中的、非常个人化的、他们认为正确的探寻，这正与他们不断清扫的新领地相符合。
《微妙》想要探讨的便是这个过程。从展出的9位先锋的当代艺术家的作品里，我们发现各种各样的想法、思维过程和敏感意识。这些作品将唤起观众的微妙本性，也引发人们对是什么将永恒的艺术与当下趋势区分开的思考：是探索的重要性，以及在已经逝去事物上有所建树的愿望。
[1]选自1991年企鹅出版社《艺术史的方法论——我们时间的主题》，作者Phaidon
Subtlety
2008.8.30 － 2008.10.12
Curator: Karen Smith
Artists: Aniwar, He An, Hu Xiaoyuan, Jia Aili, Qiu Xiaofei, Wang Wei, Xiao Yu, Xu Ruotao, Zhaung Hui
Opening Party: August 30, 2008, 4:00PM
Venue：Platform China Contemporary Art Institute Main Space A & B
"… [the] rejection of false or naive explanations is as important as the search for better and more correct causal theories. We must clear the ground of rubbish before we can build."[1]
No one can define art absolutely. Everyone has an opinion as to what art can or can not be; of the acceptable and unacceptable forms it can take; the boundaries it can approach but neither ought to touch or cross. Post-modernist theory did much to break through those boundaries, just as Modernism had done in its time. Post-modernism also went one step further than anything prior to it: unleashing a ‘freedom’ as to what art could be—anything the artist decreed. Today, one can’t help sensing that what began as a positive spirit of anarchy has descended into a vapid, untrammelled ‘anything-goes’. The line between the two—between success and not quite succeeding; between triumph and falling just-short-of-the-mark, between enduring power and temporal punch—is so very fine: so subtle. Most people would agree with the following (1) An artist is a person who participates with understanding in the making of a work of art. (2) A work of art is an artifact of a kind created to be presented to a public audience. In terms of the first, there is always brilliance, there is always sublime inspiration and glorious invention. But increasingly, as the boundaries shift and fade, certain elements they once served to define are fading with them. This has a tendency to result in a complex process of navigating these ‘artifacts of a kind created to be presented to a public audience’. Today, formal considerations are less important than the events, contexts or issues to which a work alludes, or blatantly illustrate. Many works pivot on concepts tied to fleeting moments and temporal events. Art works no longer seek to stand alone, to speak beyond their time. Does it matter? We are in an age of increasing globalisation and universal understanding, are we not? Again, does it matter? Perhaps not, but it does beg the question: what are the enduring values of art? What is important today? Each of these artists is engaged in an on-going, very personal search for what they feel to be correct, in line with which they are constantly clearing new ground.
"Subtlety" sets out to explore this process. In a group of commissioned works from nine leading contemporary artists, we find a diverse range of ideas, thought processes, and sensibilities. The works ask the viewer to respond to their subtle nature, and consider what distinguishes enduring art from temporal trends: the importance of the search, and a desire to build on what has gone before.
庄辉/描摹吴哥/纸本水墨/ 82x58cm / 2008
Zhuang Hui/ Describing Angkor/ Ink on Paper / 82x58cm / 2008
徐若涛/北京昌平七里渠收容所/动画/10分钟/2008
Xu Ruotao / Temporary Shelt/ Animation / 10'/2008
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