由北京全艺社主办的“Affairs  to remember朱焯信作品展”将於十月十五日(星期六)下午四点于北京全艺社开幕。本次展览将展出澳门著名艺术家朱焯信自2008年以来创作的四组装置作品。

澳门出生的朱焯信，从1990年於「视觉艺术学院勃度罗版画工作室」学习版画开始，至今从事创作已超过二十年，多年的努力和不断学习让他集艺术家、策展人、设计师等多重角色於一身，為澳门艺术界年青一辈较具代表性的人物。迄今為止，其於设计和艺术创作上所获得包括澳门及国际上的奖项多达三十餘项，澳门航空机身上的「2005东亚运动会会徽」等均出自他的手笔。同时他也多次参加澳门、内地以及国外重要展览，今年他的装置作品《五层楼》获选代表澳门参加“第五十四届威尼斯双年展”，目前仍在威尼斯展出。除了从事艺术创作外，朱焯信也扮演著艺术亲善大使的角色，他每年都在大陆和内地策划一系列艺术展览，在把澳门艺术家推广到内地的同时，他也把内地一些著名艺术家如向京、广慈、陈文令、曹暉、李红军等人的作品带到澳门展示，对澳门和内地的文化艺术交流做出了卓越贡献。他在艺术创作方面不拘泥於单一形式，绘画、雕塑、摄影、装置等这些形式都成為他表达观念的媒材和方式。从总体看，他的作品也许狠多变，观眾狠难发觉这些作品是出於一位艺术家之手，这种多变却恰好说明艺术家对於艺术创作方法上孜孜不倦的探索和实验。

本次展览展出的四组装置作品分别為《911 系列》、《介入﹣366天》、《洗脚》及《五层楼》。艺术家围绕著“remember”这一主题，通过装置作品将他个人对事件回忆的体验表现出来。与其他艺术手段相比，装置这种艺术形式常常能让观者置身其中，更容易让观者体会到“那时那情”的意境。对於艺术家為什麼会选择在911事件发生十周年之际展出这系列作品其实与他的个人经歷不无关係，十年前就在事件发生的十二天前，艺术家本人初次踏足纽约并登上了当年的地标建筑—世贸双子塔大楼。刚回到澳门，时差还未调整过来，便从电视机上目睹了震撼全球的911事件，这种强烈的震撼力以让他始终不能忘怀。十年后，在经歷重重阻挠之后，艺术家终於如愿展出了关於9.11的这组作品。

对於再往前的深刻记忆，朱焯信将它锁定在自己童年上。装置作品《五层楼》反映的是个人对城市化、现代化进程的无奈和感慨。这件作品由十三张来自全澳各区的七八十年代建成的五层楼房照片组成，它们被放置於一个特殊的自动装置裡面，灯光效果及展场氛围，使观眾置身于一个虚幻又真实的环境裡。《介入﹣366天》这件作品是艺术家2008年应上海证大美术馆之邀创作的一件行為录像作品。他以一种反其道而行之的方法探讨艺术是如何介入生活的。作品製作期间，艺术家在上海租了一辆计程车，并同司机一起上街“兜客”，通过艺术家与乘客之间的互动，让艺术真正“介入”到普通上海市民的生活中去，而本次展览现场放置的的士车座会让观眾更有身临其境的感觉。提到《洗脚》这件作品，它是艺术家本人把自己的双腿复製后，又浸在盛满澳门海水的木盆内，整个作品藏在一条跟展场环境一样的白色柱内，观眾从“防盗眼”往柱内望，会有一种自己坐著洗脚的错觉。对於这件作品的内涵，著名策展人冯博一先生评论到：“洗脚”作為一种日常享乐的行為，其实是两岸四地司空见惯的现实日常生活中消费文化的真实写照，也是根植於人们本能欲望的象徵。 “猫眼”的观看方式又仿佛是在诱惑和满足著人们窥视的欲望。从这一角度看，欲望所带来的消费与旅游文化在澳门社会无疑是一种挥霍的方式。”

本次展览获澳门特区政府社会文化司司长办公室及文化局赞助，展览将持续至11月27日。

Organised by AFA Beijing, Affairs to Remember – Installations by James Chu, will be held at AFA Beijing on 15th October 2011 (Saturday) at 4pm. The exhibition comprises four installations composed since 2008 by renowned Macao artist James Chu.

Macao-born James Chu studied engraving under Professor Bartolomeu dos Santos, James Wong and Sou Pui Kung in 1990s at the Macau Visual Art Academy. Chu has been involved in art for 20 years and his work and lifelong learning has made him a versatile artist, curator and designer. He is now a luminary of Macao’s artistic community.

So far, James Chu’s designs and artworks have received over 30 awards in Macao and internationally. He is the designer of the “2005 East Asian Games” logo on Air Macau planes and has participated in numerous important exhibitions in Macao, the Mainland and overseas. This year, his installation work “Five-storey Mansions” is selected for the 54th Venice Biennale – Macau Pavilion. In addition to his art, James Chu also serves as a goodwill ambassador for the arts community and regularly organizes art exhibitions in the Mainland to promote Macao art and involve renowned artists from Beijing such as Xiang Jing, Guang Ci, Chen Wen Ling, Cao Hui, and Li Hong Jun. Chu is always keen to promote cultural exchange between Macao and the Mainland. The artist is never bound by a single form of expression, but seeks to explore a wide variety of media and genres including painting, sculpture, photography and installation art. As a consequence, Chu’s works are varied in style and viewers may strain to find common features across his work. This variability reflects James Chu’s persistent artistic exploration and experimentation.

This exhibition involves four installations: “The 911 Series”, “Intrude – Art and Life 366 ”, “Washing Legs”, and “Five-storey Mansions”. Around the theme ‘remember’, the artist seeks to express his personal experiences and feelings of particular events. Compared to other forms of art, installation art involves all the viewers’ senses through spatial and physical consciousness: ‘the mood of that particular moment’. But why did the artist choose to showcase this works on the 10th anniversary of the 911 attack? The tragic event relates directly to the artist’s personal experience. The artist visited New York City for the first time and climbed the landmark twin towers of the World Trade Centre just twelve days prior to the attack in 2001. Upon returning to Macao and still not having recovered from jet lag, Chu witnessed the 911 attacks on television. Even to this day, he remembers the haunting collapse of the twin towers. After a decade, the artist has arrived at last to showcase the series of works associated with the 911 attack.

James Chu associates the memories with growing up. “Five-storey Mansions” reflects a feeling of helplessness and emotions related to urbanization and modernization in the city. It is composed of twelve photos capturing different five-storey mansions in different districts of Macao, built in the 1970s or 1980s. They are placed on a special rotating device. As the device rotates in the lighting effects, the reflection on the wall is redolent of the 70s and 80s of Macao. “Intrude – Art and Life 366” is a video installation work composed in Shanghai by James Chua in 2008 at the invitation of the Shanghai Zendai Museum of Modern Art. Against conventional practice, the artist seeks to explore how art is entwined in life. During the production, the artist hired a taxi and solicited passengers on the street in an attempt to introduce art into the daily life of Shanghai people. The art focuses on the interaction between the artist himself and the passengers. A real taxi cabin will be displayed in the venue to give viewers a sense of reality.

In “Washing Legs”, the artist made a model using his legs. The model is placed on a basin full of water from Macao. The entire work, in a white cylinder, can only be viewed via a door viewer, creating an illusion that the viewer is washing their own feet. The renowned curator Feng Boyi commented, “as an act of daily pleasure, “washing legs” is, in fact, about the common consumption habits in the Cross-Straits, a symbol rooted in human instinct. The form of viewing - a “cat’s eye” – relates to the universal temptation to peep or be voyeurs. From this perspective, the consuming pattern of Macao, led by this kind of desire, undoubtedly creates profligacy.”

Sponsored by the Office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of Macao SAR Government and Cultural Affairs Bureau, the exhibition runs to 27th November 2011.