Cao Fei- Staging the Era

Cao Fei “Staging the Era”
UCCA – Until June 6, 2021 – Beijing (China)

Cao Fei’s first major solo exhibition in China. And the largest and most comprehensive career retrospective to date. Brings together the works of the artist’s two-decade career. Situating the threads present in his diverse practice amid the rapid development of contemporary society.

Experimental Theater.

As one of China’s most prominent contemporary artists. Cao Fei (born 1978 in Guangzhou) uses multimedia formats. Movie. Video. Virtual reality and installation. It surrealistically describes the dramatic social changes in a globalizing China and its conditions. “Staging the Era” brings together the vast array of works from Cao Fei’s two-decade career to date. The Experimental Theater has been working since its early years as a student at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. Until his last large-scale interdisciplinary research project on history. The echoes of the district of Beijing that she calls home today.

Popular culture.

Cao Fei constantly focused on the complex social pressures emerging from the tangle of popular culture. Technological development and urban change. Moving smoothly between documenting reality and creating fantasy in his art. Structured into four sections that reflect the flow of themes and places in her work. The South, The City, The Workshop and The Simulation. The exhibition places his practice in the context of his own artistic development. Often in symbiosis with its environment. The profound social upheavals in the country since the opening and reform four decades ago. Raised in a family of artists in Guangzhou. His early performances and Cao Fei’s experimental video works reflect his creative attitude. Bold and the new aesthetic and cultural sensibilities affected by the economic development of the city. The influence of Hong Kong mass culture during this period. Cao Fei was recognized early on for Imbalance 257 (1999). A short video shot while she was still at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. Considered the starting point of his career.