The Consolation of Constellation, a work by Guan Wei.(Photo: chinadaily.com.cn) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, August 2 -- New York-based curator Mathieu Borysevicz hopes to illustrate narrative expression through a multimedia exhibit that opens this weekend at the Shanghai Gallery of Art.

    Titled "Allegorical Aftermath", it features the work of five contemporary Chinese artists: Guan Wei, Gao Shiqiang, Wu Junyong, Zhuang Hui and Dan Er.

    Specifically choosing artists with similar styles, Borysevicz described the pieces as a complimentary collection of images that not only tell stories but also convey ideas.

    Guan Wei's epic painting "The Consolation of Constellation" serves as the centerpiece of the exhibit. Made up of two dozen acrylic-on-oil paintings, it stretches nearly seven meters in length. Borysevicz said he chose this as the main piece because its image resonates not only of Medieval times when nave scientific illustrations explained the world in terms of its subservient relationship to the heavens, but also of the Bible's Last Judgment, popularized by Michelangelo's momentous Sistine Chapel murals.

    "The biblical Last Judgment conjures up images of eternal suffering and apocalypse which shares a relationship with Guan Wei's work as a soft, symbol of hope for a world that may be headlong for destruction," he said.

    Another work on display is meant to convey "a feeling from above" through a video piece shot in northwestern Qinghai by Gao Shiqiang.

    "It's shot from a high plateau, so you get the feeling you are near heaven," said Borysevicz.

    Meanwhile a group of stainless steel sculptures of Chinese lovebirds reveal the different facets of love. The six birds, each 90 cm tall and greenish-blue in color, appear as fragile ceramic pieces even though they are tough and sturdy. The most eye-catching element is their eyes, which hold a gaze struck with lovesickness.

    "The contradictions about this artwork remind people about the double-edged quality of love," said Borysevicz,"It reflects new conditions and new problems."

    No stranger to China, the 38-year-old, also an artist, writer and filmmaker, has been involved in contemporary Chinese art for more than a decade and previously lived in China for seven years.

    He was a resident artist at the China Academy of Fine Arts in 2006, where he wrote a book about the urbanization of Hangzhou.

    Spreading Chinese art to the West, the former director of the Jack Tilton Gallery in New York spearheaded efforts from one of the city's first galleries to showcase contemporary Chinese art. His latest project is a documentary film that will feature the contemporary art scene in China.

    (Source: China Daily)