Chen Zhen shows at Musee Guimet

The Cradle, 1995

When Chinese diaspora Chen Zhen from Shanghai first arrived in the Paris art scene in the mid 1980s, he took it as a compliment when the French press commented on his work as being "indicative of something incomprehensible."  It is true for most contemporary Chinese artists from his generation, they do not address problems head on.  They speak through allusions, evocations and metaphors.  This artistic language obviously had contributed to Chen's success in France and internationally.

He left behind a sizeable body of work when he passed away in 2000 at the age of 45.  Ten years on, I think his legacy still lives as he is the first artist chosen to show at Musee Guimet, a museum not known for featuring contemporary art, alongside its permanent collection of oriental art. The five works shown included The Cradle that refers to the permanence of the cycle of life.  Presented in the rotunda was the high-profile Round Table which symbolises the ideal human order of mutual respect, equality and multi-culturism.

Round Table, 1995

Chen's other works form an interesting dialogue, both formal and spiritual, with those objects in the dimly-lit Chinese gallery. Stele / The Coffin is one of his early works from the 80s. The Hibernation / Wandering and Altar 9 are from 1993 and 1994. The play of words and texts as well as typewriters and keyboards as media through which meaning is created, is evident in these works.   

Interestingly, his contemporaries in Mainland China at that time were also fervently exploring the complex relationship of the Chinese text and the production of cultural meaning. In the context of the significance of the written words during the Cultural Revolution, it seems likely that Chan was questioning the very nature of language.  Some texts are immortalised and preserved like those inscribed on ancient Chinese steles, while others are being relegated to everyday consumption.

Stele / The Coffin, 1989

 The Hibernation / Wandering

Altar 9, 1993