Art+ Shanghai invites you to spend an evening with Mr. Modern, a playful exhibition exploring incarnations of the contemporary Chinese male artist through the eyes of three young men.
Archetypes that have traditionally served, as image-makers for men, giving them a sense of maturity and defining what it meant to be a man no longer exist. Shifting societal structures and gender roles have eroded the traditional barriers, liberating the average man to find his own sense of identity. Mr. Modern explores the works of three artists from Chongqing, Beijing and Shanghai, asking what defines the modern man in China today.
Is there an archetype that suits the young Chinese male of contemporary society? If so where does the artist fit? Using a playful parody of popular men magazines, the exhibition satirizes modern media and advertising, which advise men how to look and dress and feel in contemporary society. We are not highlighting a new archetype but instead breaking from the constructions of the old, both in terms of the art world and popular culture, to suggest a space where the new and rising generation of male artists creates and exists without the obstacles of conventional models.
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