Qiu Anxiong
Qiu Anxiong | China b.1972 | The new book of mountains and seas (part 1) (still) 2006 | Digital hand-painted animation, AVI file, 3 channel projection, continuous loop exhibited from PC, 4:1, black and white, sound, 30:15 minutes, ed. 1/10 | Image courtesy: The artist and Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong
b.1972 Chengdu, China
Lives and works in Shanghai, China
Qiu Anxiong works with film, animation and drawing, often combining these disciplines to create multimedia installations. Qiu has developed a distinctive and inimitable visual style that draws upon traditional Chinese scroll painting, landscape and ink-and-brush painting techniques. The passages of time, both real and imagined, and the prevailing conditions of the modern world, are recurrent themes in his practice. The new book of mountains and seas 2006–09 is a two-part video work that constructs a modern version of the ‘Shan Hai Jing’ (‘Classic of Mountains and Seas’), an ancient Chinese tale about evolution. Qiu has crafted a multi-channel animation from 6000 drawings that portray the contemporary world in a state of frenetic transition and metamorphosis. Using allegorical imagery to explore the impact of environmental degradation and social change, Qiu Anxiong offers an exquisitely crafted contemplation on the past, the present, and the relationships between the two.
Exhibitions (solo): Gallery 4A, Sydney, Australia, 2009; Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Japan, 2007. Exhibitions (group): 3rd Guangzhou Triennial, China, 2008; Biennale of Sydney, Australia, 2008; ‘China Power Station’, Battersea Power Station and Serpentine Gallery, London, United Kingdom, 2006. www.qiuanxiong.com
