NEW ARTWORKS

NEW ARTWORKS

POST HUMAN - 1ST/31ST MARCH 2008

DOLLS AND SCULPTURES

ALL BUT NATURAL - Wooden Portraits

ART MAP

BEFORE THE OPENING2

BEFORE THE OPENING

EXHIBITION POSTER

Post Human - SAUL ZANOLARI

POST-HUMAN
S A U L Z A N O L A R I
F2 Gallery
CaoChangDi - Beijing
March 1st - March 31st 2008


F2 Gallery is delighted to present a solo show Post-human by Swiss artist Saul Zanolari. will open at 3pm on Saturday March 1st running through March 31 st , 2008.

In 1992 Jeffrey Deitch invented the term “Post-human” to define an artistic current which now numbers, among others, Matthew Barney and Jeff Koons. Post-human is the world where we now live, a world of transformation, manipulation and contrivance which is a consequence of scientific and technological advancement, especially in the field of genetics: we are no longer bound to our original appearance, as we now have the opportunity to rebuild and totally change ourselves, passing from a natural human evolution to an artificial one.

The original art works of the young Swiss artist Saul Zanolari, who has absorbed the characteristics of the Post-human current to perfection, will be presented in his first solo exhibition in China at F2 Gallery in Beijing from March 1st to 31st, 2008.

Saul Zanolari’s technique, which cannot be placed in a common artistic language, takes the observer by surprise, since his works are neither photographs, paintings or digital designs, but an original combination of them all. He doesn’t confine himself to the realism of a picture or the stillness of a painting, but strays from the classical techniques into a personal artistic code. Starting from a simple figurative picture, Zanolari digitally transforms the photo into a whole new portrait in which the protagonist’s original identity is undermined by the one of his antagonist, a sort of avatar, who steals natural and human details in order to transform, exasperate or destroy them in a surreal balance between inner identity and exterior body.

The Beijing exhibition at F2 Gallery will present about 30 of Saul Zanolari’s works, including a selection of the Twilight of the Goddess series, showcasing celebrities such as Madonna and Sophia Loren. In addition, Zanolari will exhibit his 2006 series Dolls, a collection inspired by classic fairy-tale characters, reinterpreted in a contemporary way. With his “Post-human Dolls” the artist looks for new ways to report our childhood stories, showing a Little Red Riding Hood with wooden legs, a Princess and the pea who cries silently, and an Alice in Wonderland dressed up as a fetish waitress. Exclusively for this exhibition, Zanolari has also created three dimensional sculptures of a selection of 6 Dolls.

To complete the event two huge linked compositions will also be presented, symbols of the artist’s Chinese experience. Four big eyes, the artist’s own in one of the works and a pair of almond-shaped ones in the other, investigate and question a Chinese reality which is still at the centre of intense social, political and environmental debates. These two original works close an exhibition that puts together, for the first time, the greatest part of Zanolari’s artistic flair, featuring a young talented artist whose success is his own personal and bizarre artistic language.

Saul Zanolari was born in Mendrisio, Switzerland, in 1977. He has a degree in Philosophy. His work has gained considerable attention in Rome, Milan, Paris, London, New York and Miami.

For further information, please contact Nana at:
+86 10 64328831 or ＋86 13488709596

F2 Gallery
319 Caochangdi, East Dashanzi Road, Chao Yang District
Beijing 100015 – China
art@f2gallery.com
www.f2gallery.com


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新闻快讯

F2画廊很荣幸地通知各位,我们将于二零零八年,三月一日星期六下午三点, 举行年轻术家索尔·扎诺拉的个展<<后人类>>, 展期将至三月三十一日.

1992年，杰弗里·迪基（Jeffrey Deitch）发明“后人类”一词，用以界定一种艺术潮流，目前还包括马太·巴尼（Matthew Barney）和杰夫·孔斯（Jeff Koons）在内。后人类就是我们如今所生活的世界，一个变革、操控和发明的世界，这是科学技术进步的结果，特别是在遗传学领域：我们不再局限于原有的外表，现在有机会重造甚至完全改变我们自己，从一个自然人进化到一个人造的人。
瑞士年轻艺术家索尔•扎诺拉里完全汲取了后人类潮流的特色，2008年3月1日至31日，在北京F2画廊，他的原创作品将在中国举办的首次个展中呈现。
索尔·扎诺拉里的技巧无法归入常规的艺术语言，令观众大吃一惊，因为他的作品既不是照片，不是绘画，也不是数码设计，而是新颖地将它们完全综合起来。他并未使自己局限于图片的写实主义或者绘画的静态，而是偏离了正统派的技巧，逐步形成个人的艺术范式。从一幅简单的人物图片入手，扎诺拉里用数码技术将照片转换成一幅全新的肖像，照片的主人公最初的身份被他的对手之一破坏了，后者是某种化身，窃取了自然的和人类的详细资料，以便用一种内在身份和外在身体之间超现实的平衡来改变、恶化或者彻底破坏它们。
在北京F2画廊的展览，将展出索尔·扎诺拉里的三十幅作品，包括《女神的末日》中的部分作品，展现了诸多名人，如麦当娜和索非亚·罗兰等等。此外，扎诺拉里将展出他在2006年创作的《玩偶》系列，灵感来自于历久不衰的童话人物，用一种当代的方式进行重新诠释。艺术家运用“后现代人的玩偶”，寻找解读我们儿时故事的新方法，小红帽装上了木腿，豌豆公主默默地哭泣，身在奇境中的爱丽丝穿着仿如恋物的女招待。专为配合此次展览，扎诺拉里还创作了从六幅《玩偶》中选出的三座三维雕塑。
为使该事件更加完整，展览还将展示两幅巨大的彼此相连的画面，象征了艺术家在中国的经历。四个巨大的眼睛，其中一幅是艺术家本人的眼睛，而另一幅则是一双杏眼，探寻并质疑了始终处在激烈的社会、政治和经济冲突核心的中国现实。这两幅新颖的作品成为此次展览的结尾，展览首次梳理了扎诺拉里艺术才能的绝大部分，勾勒出一位年轻而有才气的艺术家，其成功之处在于个性化的、奇异的艺术语言。

1977年，索尔·扎诺拉里出生于瑞士门德里西奥（Mendrisio）。他获得了哲学学位。其作品在罗马、米兰、巴黎、伦敦、纽约和迈阿密引起广泛关注。

更多信息请联系张慧娜：＋86 10 6432 8831 或 ＋86 13488709596

F2画廊
中国 北京 朝阳区 草场地 319号 100015
art@f2gallery.com
www.f2gallery.com

SAUL ZANOLARI on Design 360

vol.13
ISSN:1815-9222

185mmx240mm, 192pages, color print, bimonthly
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