Very Addictive—Re-extension of Aesthetics in Daily Life

Opening at 3pm on April 9, 2016, MOCA Yinchuan presents the international animation art exhibition Very Addictive—Re-Extension of Aesthetics in Daily Life. The exhibition, curated by Suchen Hsieh, the artistic director of MOCA Yinchuan, co-curators Frankie Su, the director of Hong-Gah Art Museum, Taiwan, and Chieko Kitade, curator of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan, features creations by 41 artists from mainland China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea, including painting, sculpture, installation and video. We look forward to sharing the everyman aesthetic of animation with the public.

The anime aesthetic is the only aesthetic that crosses all boundaries of race, religion, nationality, gender and age. It permeates the space of everyday life. Contemporary art’s aesthetic response to life in this era has tended to be the presentation of a reclusive, satirical, imaginary literati stance, much like the literati painting of ancient China used the landscape as a carrier of emotions. Some artists have taken to anime characters and imaginary fields to convey their objective or emotional expressions of the environment. This trend for cultural products and games that find expression in the anime aesthetic is already firmly rooted in the vocabulary of the next generation. It is an outlook on art and society that represents carefree and alternative values.

The artists and works in this exhibition are not divided or arranged by nationality or age, because animation art evolves in the present continuous, and is subject to constant, fascinating change. It is difficult to enter into this wonderfully absurd visual realm through textual analysis. In this realm, text is an academic on the sidelines, and the vernacular shared between artists and audiences is, “As long as I like it, anything goes.” The simplification in this aesthetic strongly suggests an extension of Surrealist and Pop Art, but it is also deeply rooted in the life of the masses, straddling the boundary between art and design, and leaving the old gulf between capitalism and the art world in the past.

The anime aesthetic has grown the most rapidly in Asia in recent years, and the aesthetic markedly differs between mainland China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea. The artworks featured in Very Addictive—Re-Extension of Aesthetics in Daily Life are not divided by academy, academic definition or nationality. Instead, the paintings, sculptures, installations and videos are scattered across the four spaces of the exhibition, allowing visitors to take them in directly.

The exhibition will continue until July 10. To accompany the exhibition, MOCA Yinchuan will host the semifinal in northwest division for the 14th ChinaJoy Cosplay Carnival, with the preliminary match from April 30–May 1, and the final match  from June 9–11.

Curator: Suchen Hsieh
Co-Curators: Frankie Su (Taiwan, China), Chieko Kitade (Japan)
Organizers: MOCA Yinchuan, Yinchuan Municipal Administration of Culture, Press, Publication, Radio Film and Television

Participating artists: Andy Yen, Tseng Chiunya, Candybird, Chunliu, SeongTaejin, Chen Yichieh, Tu Peishih, Guan Saimei, Joyce Ho, Han Seunghun, Huang Zanlun, Washio Tomoyuki, Kim Junsik, Lee Seungkoo, Lee Dongi, Lin Chienjung, Suzuki Hiraku, Lin Chingfang, Lin Yuching & Wei Hsingyu, Lu Chihyun, Kimura Taiyo, Ma Dan, Umezawa Kazuki, Nara Yoshitomo, Nukeme, Pei Ziye, Hinoda Takashi, Sun Jin, Yoshitaka Amano, Wang Chienyang, Wu Zhengyan, Xin Haizhou, Xin Luoting, Yu Hua, Yan Shilin, Yan Yuting, Zhang Jinxi, Chang Tengyuan, TzengYongning, Mr. OGAY, Chou Chuwang