ChinaSquare proudly presents, She & I: Sculpture of Xiang Jing and Guangci, curated by Gao Shiming and Lilly Wei. On view from Sept. 7 through Oct. 6, the life-sized pieces explore and narrate Chinese cultural discourse. Both Xiang Jing’s and Guangci’s work, made of industrial strength synthetic materials, investigate the social and political changes surrounding China.

Xiang Jing’s sculptures, satirical but not cynical, raise questions surrounding the plight of post-feminist women. Shedding light on everyday personal exploration, whether showing humility and emptiness or reflection and vulnerability, Xiang Jing exemplifies inner psychological workings and emotions, turning the personal into the political. Scenes from daily life become full of turmoil and self-doubt, portraying the instability of adolescence and aging, all the while showing the beauty of life itself.

Guangci’s sculpture, more objective and explicitly political, directly confronts the ideology and imagery of revolutions past. Guangci turns Mao, Red Guards and other iconic figures into life-sized toy like objects, exportable bubble gum colored commodities. Parodying realism and official art, Guangci ultimately asks if there is anything left to commemorate from the Cultural Revolution.

Xiang Jing and Guangci both studied sculpture at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and currently work and reside in Shanghai.

Dr. Gao Shiming, curator and art historian, is an active contributor to numerous publications, journals, and exhibition catalogues. He teaches in the Department of Criticism and Art History at the China Art Academy and was Assistant Curator of the 2004 Shanghai Biennale.

Lilly Wei, a New York based independent curator, essayist and critic, writes regularly for Art in America and is a contributing editor at ARTnews and Art Asia Pacific.