Featured Artists: Cai Weidong, Chen Weiqun, He Chongyue, Jia Youguang, Li Wenfeng, Li Wei, Liu Ren, Mi Yuming, Tu Shaohui, Xu Changchang

The nomadic attributes of civilizations hint at the transformation of reality and its division from our mental state. What is reality? How can we believe reality? Does it constitute the basics of how we understand ourselves?

Everyday, we are afflicted with the experiences of the world, the reality of life and society. We face the daily portrayals of the real world in a subdued manner amidst dull cerebral senses and reactions. Art acts as a reflection of our daily lives while constructing our cultural awareness and identity. For this reason, art is recognized as the conveyor of life’s reality. Deprived of the values inherent in art, society will fail to challenge the rules of reality. Art allows us to comprehend the realities we encounter.

The embodiment of reality is capricious and will alter with time. Cultural values are also experiencing changes as vast amounts of heterogeneous elements continue to fuse together. The harmony of a simple unified culture we once envisioned is disappearing. We no longer hold high the idealism of civilizations nor do we try to define it.

Reality is of the moment; its endlessness endures with time and its metamorphosis completely overturned society’s foundation. History became a utopian imagination, while reality became a rigid material world. Nonetheless, the people dwelling in it do not seem to give up the idealism finding self-orientation between confrontation and challenges.

This is due to the human need for escape and freedom because without the knowledge to construct and comprehend the world, our minds will be imprisoned, unable to transcend. We employ reality as a mirror and as a basis. We stick firm to reality in order to pursue a dynamic cultural creation. We deem reality as the object in order to express our irrepressible vitality. We do not perceive reality passively or acquiesced, rather with a proactive attitude to demonstrate our living and survival values.

Art is our preeminent leader, motivating us to break our inactivity and idleness. In society, it already has a strong capacity for interpretation and functional value. Unlike the complexity and rigidity of words, art uses direct, vivid concepts to objectify our knowledge and awareness. The materialization of art and culture can touch base with reality; only in the form of art, can reality be permanently grasped. We will embark on the path of art with the spirit of “reality”, enriching our existing foundations in the name of art.