Participating Artists:
Patty Chang, Rania Ho, Li Jinghu, Liu Chuang, Euan MacDonald, Dan Perjovschi, Wang Gongxin, Wang Wei, Yan Lei, Zhang Peili
The Arrow Factory Collection is currently held in private trust for the benefit of future generations of visitors. From modest beginnings, it has grown with increased ambition over the years—over ten works have entered the collection since our founding in 2008, with artists represented from all corners of the globe. The founders of Arrow Factory believe that every great city needs a great art collection to educate and inspire its population. They sought to build not only a space to show art, but also a public collection that could grow over time and represent the highest achievements of many different cultures. The collection cannot claim to be comprehensive, though it broadly represents key moments in the history of the Arrow Factory.
Highlights is drawn from what is currently in-situ and identifies major objects or videos excavated from Arrow Factory’s inventory as key milestones celebrating the collection’s depth and distinctiveness. From Patty Chang’s video “Touch Would” (2008) shot and produced on location in Beijing, to the rolls of toilet paper and packets of washing powder from Li Jinghu’s “Snowman”(2010), Highlights recounts key moments in Arrow Factory’s tremendous and episodic two and a half year history. Since most projects at Arrow Factory are site-specific in nature, the objects brought forth and presented here are exceedingly fragmentary and/or partially reconstituted and in some occasions point to the seamlessness between architectural space and art object. Only one work - "I Won’t Make Any Trouble for You" (2009) by Wang Wei is exhibited in its original whole form. Though the stories the collection tells are wide-ranging, this is not a definitive view of art history (if there is such a thing) but rather an illumination of Arrow Factory’s vast legacy that helps to shed light on the way towards the future. |