Pearl Art Museum (PAM), Shanghai 01 Jul — 07 Oct 2023
Featuring artists; Jean-Marie Appriou, Iván Argote, Cao Xiaoyang, Chen Xiaoyi, Chen Yujun, Caroline Cheng, Ellie Davies, Ding Yi, Dong Xiaochi, Lionel Estève, Fu Bailin, Hu Xiangcheng, Inka & Niclas, Kim Chong-Hak, Liu Yi, Long Pan, Luo Dan, Qu Fengguo, Davide Quayola, Gabriel Rico, Shi Zhiying, Tong Wenmin, Un Sio San, Wang Huangsheng, and Yu Youhan.
Humans come from nature, so we will always be interested in the connection between art and nature. Our ancestors living in caves were the first to envision and depict nature. “After Altamira, all is decadence,” said Picasso after visiting the paintings in the Altamira Cave in northern Spain. Our ancestors’ unaffected, mysterious colors and lines whisper to us across time and space. In civilizations around the world, nature has inspired rich artistic and philosophical traditions. Western art’s return to landscape and China’s impressive achievements in shanshui and bird-and-flower painting and garden design are still engaging topics for people today.
With the surge in technologies like artificial intelligence, people worldwide have become even more concerned about sustainable development and protecting biodiversity. Humanity is now at a crossroads, vacillating between ecstasy and anxiety. Pearl Art Museum director and curator Li Dandan said, “People from all walks of life are once again feeling a love, longing, and concern for nature, through which we can see ourselves and society and seek comfort, inspiration, awakening, and enlightenment in nature.”