Waiting for Qin Feng, 2016
Solo Exhibition, Venice Architecture Biennale, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice
About
Waiting for Qin Feng was a solo exhibition of work by Qin Feng that created a cross-cultural dialogue between European Renaissance art and contemporary Chinese art. Installed in three locations in Venice, the exhibition was presented in collaboration with the Fondazione Giorgio Cini and was curated by Achille Bonito Oliva and Ambassador Umberto Vattani.
This was the first exhibition of contemporary Chinese art in the Monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore. Known for his emotional and explosive images that blend ancient Chinese calligraphy with modern Western abstract art, Qin Feng is an irreverent and iconoclastic artist dedicated to sweeping away the formulae of classical Chinese ink painting and intent on revitalizing the tradition so it can be relevant and meaningful today.
The exhibition’s cross-cultural theme was manifested in several ways including an on-site ink brush painting performance on the floor in front of Paolo Veronese’s The Wedding Feast at Cana, a copy of which is in the Refectory of the Monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore, an installation of traditional Chinese Jingdezhen porcelain in the historic Armenian Catholic Monastery and other ink brush paintings at Venice International University.
The exhibition took place at the Monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore Island, at the Armenian Catholic Monastery in San Lazzaro Island and at Venice International University, in San Servolo Island.