Artists
• Iñigo Bilbao • François Chalet • Thomas Charveriat • Christophe Demaitre • David Estes •
• Cyprien Gaillard • Lucas & Olivia Gurdjian • Heungman Kwan • Allard van Hoorn • Yan Peijie •
• Jean-Pierre Hurel • John Ingledew • Li Chuhui • Adam Magyar • Frank Plant • Qian Gang •
• Rose Tang • Alexandra Verhaest • Nadia Wagner • Wang Yin • Yang Longhai • Zou Linfeng •

Untitled Santa

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the island,
not a rat was stirring, the house was silent.
The artworks were hung with loving and care,
waiting for viewers with an interested glare.

Thomas wearing his bowtie and the crew with their hats,
had just settled their brains drunk as a sunk from the Christmas nightcap.
When out on the roof there arose such a clatter,
we sprang from our seats to see what was the matter.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave the luster of midday to the artworks on show,
When, what to our blurry eyes should appear,
but a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer.

Out of the sleigh came a man dressed jolly and good,
he was merry, from his head to his foot.
A bundle of ornaments he had flung on his back,
and he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
and hung all the tinsel, then turned with a jerk.
Laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up through the window again he rose.

He sprang to his sleigh, to his deer’s gave a whistle,
and they all flew like the down of a thistle.
We heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out into the night,

Come and see all the goodies, I left for y’ all
Indulge yourself a present, big or small
If there is nothing you like well,
at least they’ll feed you nice and swell.

Alexandra Verhaest, Shanghai 2006. [ ↑ ]

Artists

Iñigo Bilbao Lopategui
Iñigo Bilbao Lopategui (Oviedo, 1975 – lives and works in Barcelona).
Coldness, distance, loneliness, perfection and frustration are some of the emotions linked to the inhabitant of a metropolis. In his piece "White Collar", a life size self-portrait, Bilbao uses 3D software as a mean to express these feelings. In it, the artist appears alone, awaiting for something or someone that will never arrive, an occurrence that will never take place. His work was exposed in the Museo Barjola de Gijón (Asturias) and in the CCCB (Barcelona). [ ↑ ]

François Chalet
At the edge of animated film, the Swiss graphic designer François Chalet is inspired by Tex Avery, the rigor of Swiss graphics, techno and Japan. Chalet's ultimate weapon is humor. In 1998, he directed two spots for MTV which lead him to create the visual identity for the MTV Europe Music Awards 2001. Later, the prestigious German publishing house Die Gestalten Verlag paid tribute to his illustrations with a book entitled "Chalet". He has been commissioned for campaigns notably by Escolette, Mistubishi or Expo '02. His animations always tell a story and follow the rhythm of the music. In 2005, he took part in the "Serial Killer" show / installation (production Maison des Arts de Créteil). He presented a piece of visual music during the exhibition “D.Day” at the Centre Pompidou from June 29th to October 17th 2005. In his graphic work Chalet creates an expanding universe of minimal, often abstract characters, all based on a very tight geometric framework. Although he references a clear, almost archaic formal language, his characters radiate charm and loveable emotion. [ ↑ ]

Thomas Charveriat
ThomasCharveriat (Paris, France, 1974 – lives in Shanghai) creates animatronic installations with GPS, SMS, video, sound, electronic data and humor that interact with the viewer. Complexity and elegance are combined to create sensorial atmosphere associated with vulnerability and apprehension. The artist currently exhibits on a regular basis in international new media arts shows, such as Art Futura and Observatori, and has collaborated with various art institutions such as Museo de las Ciencias Prìncipe Felipe, Museo Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso and the Museo Maritimo de Barcelona. [ ↑ ]

Christophe Demaître
Born on December 19th 1968 in Courtrai, Christophe Demaître commenced studying arts in Courtrai and Ghent. He continued his education into photographic research during his travels which took him to Asia, South America and throughout Europe. In 1997, he moved to Italy, where he remained for six years. During this phase of his life he developed various academic techniques in painting. He undertook a year in Barcelona within the context of various international exhibitions. He's now based in Brussels, Belgium, where his photographic and pictorial research that led him to the concept of Metropolis flowered. [ ↑ ]

David Estes
David Estes is a multi-disciplinary artist interested in people and their relations to the world. Estes' most recent work amusingly explores the disparity between who we are and who we want to be. He is currently working on a project about happiness, So Glad You Are Happy to See Me and has recently exhibited his work in New York, San Francisco, and London. Estes lives in Ithaca, New York. [ ↑ ]

Cyprien Gaillard
Cyprien Gaillard (b. 1980) is a multi-disciplinary artist. His most recent work reconsiders our idyllic tendencies, a romantic vision of vandalism in the contemporary landscape. He has shows upcoming at the Laura Bartlett Gallery in London and the Jeu de Paume in Paris. Gaillard lives in Paris. [ ↑ ]

Lucas & Olivia Gurdjian
Lucas & Olivia Gurdjian like to define themselves as "un-static & creative people".
Based in Shanghai, the team covers graphic design, photography, video, fashion and performance art. Together they co-founded Warehouse Studio as the extension and evolution of what they have developed for more than 10 years. They combine image, sound, and conceptual ideas into a flowing stream of fresh work with a strong personal vision. [ ↑ ]

Heungman Kwan
Heungman Kwan was born in China, brought up in Hong Kong and currently lives in Shanghai. He studied at the California State University (BA) and then later studied photography at the Art Center College of Design in California. In this show, using the naked body as "eternal truth" and the Cultural Revolution as the "recent past," Heungman attempts to discover answers to our present moment in Chinese history. Heungman has been working as a photographer in New York for 12 years. His work has been published in RollingStone, Spin and WallPaper magazine, amongst others. He is currently working on two photography projects: 100women 100motors 100yrs of Harley-Davidson and TeaAfterMao. Both books are being published in the United States. [ ↑ ]

Allard van Hoorn
Allard van Hoorn creates a visual language made of signs, symbols and demarcations that indicate alternative routes in contemporary society. It is a visual code he co-develops with people he works with in all parts of the world and, specifically, in local communities. His complete body of work is aimed at assisting mankind in obtaining an other way of looking and seeing, discovering that we now have the option to make it work for all of humanity. His work has appeared in publications like the book On Barcelona, in the streets and in exhibition venues like the Stedelijk Museum CS in Amsterdam in November 2005 and CCCB in Barcelona in 2003. He has intervened with special projects during the biennales of Venice in 2003 and 2005 and has taken part in activities like the Design Science Summer Lab 2005 organized by the Buckminster Fuller Institute and the United Nations and has given lectures and organized workshops, like the one on temporary and mobile architecture and exhibition spaces, executed with kind support of Hans Ulrich Obrist for UIC / ESARQ in May 2005. With his Platform for Urban Investigation he participates as Project Collaborator of Urban China Magazine in Documenta XII's project Journal of Journals that is to be exhibited in Kassel in 2007. [ ↑ ]

Yan Peijie
Yan Pijie (born 1981 in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China) lives and works in Shanghai. He received a Bachelors degree in Sculpture from Shanghai Normal University. Yan has shown extensively all around China in Art institutions and international galleries, some of his exhibitions include "Gui Lin Shan Shui Sculpture Exhibition" (Shanghai Sculpture Space 2006), "We Are Doing" Modern Art Exhibition (Duolun Art Gallery, F6, 2005), and "Say Me, I Say" Sculpture Exhibition (Immateriality Art Gallery 2002). [ ↑ ]

Jean-Pierre Hurel
Jean-Pierre Hurel is a visual artist born in Paris in 1973. He studied Art at the University of Saint-Denis (Paris). Initially preferring drawing, he experimented with different media on paper. In 2000 he started practicing black and white photography and two years ago, adding to his great repertoire of media, he started engraving linoleum and zinc. Apart from his daily practice of painting, he set up a project of 80 photos on the statuary of the monumental cemetery of Milan (Italy). Recently he wrote and illustrated a children's book. Jean-Pierre is currently living and working in Paris where he exhibits in several cultural centers. [ ↑ ]

John Ingledew
Head of Photography at Central St Martins College of Art and Design, the University of the Arts London and a visiting Visual Communications Lecturer at Raffles Design Institute, Dong Hua University Shanghai. He has run projects and workshops with students in Europe, America and Japan and instigated projects with leading creative companies and magazines including Diesel, Illy, Jigsaw, Getty, Vogue and Elle. His book of pictures A View From the Bridge was published in 1998. His book Photography was published in the UK and USA last year and will be published in Spain, Holland and Italy in 2006. [ ↑ ]

Li Chuhui
Li Chuhui (Gaomi, Shandong Province, China) lives and works in Shanghai. His practice includes sculpture, photography, drawing and site specific installation. Li has shown extensively in China. Recent shows include, "Jiangnanchunxiao__ born in da'70s", 55 gallery (Shanghai 2006), "Hybridism in Chinese contemporary art", DDM Warehouse (Shanghai 2005) and the third Shanghai Youth Biennial. Li also curates exhibition, such as "Memory Space___ and then…" and "Guilinshanshui". Li is the head of the sculpture department of East China Normal University. [ ↑ ]

Adam Magyar
Adam Magyar (Debrecen, Hungary 1972) is a graphic designer. Recently, Magyar has been experimenting with the concept of urban people depicted in confined spaces such as taxicabs, waiting rooms and elevators where there is nothing special that they can do. His projects consist of photogaphs shot from strictly geometrical perspectives, and show how common and frequent non-action is in our lives. Magyar has had several exhibitions in Budapest like Kashi Vishwanath Express, TaxiJam and Comearound. [ ↑ ]

Frank Plant
Frank Plant (Baltimore, Maryland, US, 1969 - lives in Barcelona) is primarily involved in creating drawings out of welded steel. These are simple and direct studies of the forms and compositions of everyday objects and patterns both natural and man-made. Welded steel has always been the principal medium for Plant's work, whether in his two-dimensional pieces such as his fingerprints series or his earlier three-dimensional kinetic metal sculptures that incorporate found objects. [ ↑ ]

Qian Gang
Qian Gang was born in Shanghai in 1958 as the son of famous painter Qian Da Si who created numerous advertisement and artworks during the Cultural Revolution. In 1976, Qian Gang graduated from middle school and was sent to the countryside to be reeducated. In 1980, he returned to Shanghai where he passed entrée exams for the Shanghai Light Industry Training School. He graduated as an interior designer. In 1986, he started up his own Interior Design Company. In 1988, he left China to study at the San Francisco Art Academy in the United States. He arrived in New York in 1991 and was engaged in the artistic design work of the VIAMAX atelier. Finally, in 1997, he established his own art studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Since then, he has been engaged in different artistic creations. His inspiration led him to Germany, France, Holland and even Mexico. In 2004 he returned to China, where, one year later he started up his studio. Qian has been exhibiting in Shanghai ever since. [ ↑ ]

Rose Tang
Rose Tang was born twice; first as a boy on the beautiful hills surrounding Taichung (Taiwan) in 1967, and then, in Shanghai, at the turn of this century as the most promising Chinese artist of her generation. Rose is extravagant, rebellious and fearless, and she indiscriminately touches on all aspects of Chinese culture. In her work, Rose tries to understand the impact and influence that culture, relationships and family values had on the development of her sexual identity. Rose Tang's work captures much of the essence and uniqueness of her identity journey by presenting a delicate balance of sociological analysis, social perception, facts, style and history. [ ↑ ]

Alexandra Verhaest
Alexandra Verhaest received a BA in photography from Sintlukas school of Arts, Brussels. At the moment, she is fulfilling her MA graduating project in China. In her work, she explores the thin line between the collective history and the personal past. She questions authorship as well as the importance of photography as a medium to depict history, using urban legends, internet blogs as well as duff history books as a source of inspiration. In the past three years of her education she has been focusing on documentary photography. She is strongly searching for a new image language rebelling against documentary tradition.
Her graduating project is investigating the concept of Red Tourism. This new form of tourism is promoted by the Chinese government and encourages people to visit sights of revolutionary importance. She examines the relations between modern China and the bases on which it was founded, at the same time questioning the way in which tourism works. Completing the project, she is working in residence at Island6 Arts Center. [ ↑ ]

Nadia Wagner
Richard Wagner (1813-1883) who is concidered as "the most German of men", "the German spirit" is not only known because of his 13 operas and numerous other compositions but also because of his inevitable influence on our understanding of German culture and history. He has been classified as an anarchist and a socialist and, simultaneously, as a proto-fascist and nationalist, as a vegetarian and an antisemite... In fact, his name has appeared in connection to almost all major trends in German history of the 19th and 20th centuries. As well as Richard, Nadia Wagner (Sydney, 1983) is a graphic designer, an artist, a traveller, a vegetarian and a philosopher, she's a multi-disciplinary and multi-talented artist whithout limits. [ ↑ ]

Wang Yin
Wang Yin (Shanghai 1986) is a young and emerging sculptor. Wang Yin received a B.A in sculpture from East China Normal University under the supervision of Li Chuhui. He recently participated in a collaborative sculpture exhibition entitled "Gui Lin Shan Shui". Wang Yin is currently researching through his sculpture the idea of multiples, or individuals as part of a larger whole, to create site-specific installations. [ ↑ ]

Yang Longhai
Yang Longhai, (Born in 1978, Guizhou, China), graduated from the Guizhou Institute of the Arts in 2000. Longhai has been collaborating on the organization of 4 contemporary art exhibitions for Island6 Arts Center. In the beginning of 2006, he founded the Chinese contemporary Art Files Project (CCAFP) [ ↑ ]

Zou Linfeng
Linfeng was born in china, in 1977. He Graduated as master of fine arts at guizhou university in 2004. In his work he questions the self, trying to find a different way of experiencing identity. Through different media such as video art, laser installations and soundscaping, he dances on the thin line of the public representation and inner spirituality; During his education he set up Mandone Art Studio in 1999 with other five school fellow artists. [ ↑ ]

Special thanks to all who have helped to make this exhibition a reality.
Especially: His Royal Highness the Prince of Monaco, Sean Connery, Christopher Charveriat, Irene Capriz, Claude Hudelot, Diego Raiteri, Margherita Salmaso, Zheng Guoyang, Kang Jingfang, Wang Junfeng, Yang Longhai, Yasmin Sabet, Nadia Wagner, Yu Wei, Zhu Yumei, Jerome Letens, friends and families.