The Forebears are Born

Hong Museum, Wenzhou is pleased to present XU ZHEN®’s solo exhibition “The Forebears are Born” on August 26, 2023. Curated by Lin Zi, the exhibition will showcase XU ZHEN®’s latest paintings and sculptures. This is the artist’s first solo exhibition in Wenzhou and the opening exhibition of Hong Museum.

Xu Zhen (b. 1977, works and lives in Shanghai) has a career spanning over 20 years that dates back to 1998. Starting from his early expression of individual mentality and evolving towards a confrontation with social realities, his practice has embraced innovations in addressing the current state of the Anthropocene, while being constantly oriented around the dynamic energy and essence of culture. XU ZHEN® explores how art can create possibilities and offer new experiences when facing the changes of the times.

“The forebears are born by being trained. Training them is training a part of ourselves, the part that has been termed destiny.” The exhibition at Hong Museum continues XU ZHEN®’s interest in the transformation, iteration, and re-evaluation of cultural symbols in a post-globalization ecology. Through art, the exhibition seeks to galvanize people into reimagining the future and primitivity. “Today, our knowledge, civilization, and truth (i.e. the forebears) must feel fresh. Only knowledge that can be applied afresh to the new era can have meaning.”