The opening night reception for Wallace Chan's exhibition, "Transcendence," in Venice
For Wallace Chan the physical and spiritual worlds; life and death; and the past, present and future are all one.
The Hong Kong artist opened his latest art project in Venice on Thursday titled, “Transcendence,” a sculpture exhibition that is on display till September 30 in the Chapel of Santa Maria della Pietà.
Wallace Chan says the face captures the moment of a creative epiphany
It’s the third in a series of sculptural works examining a similar theme of large, black titanium faces that are non-gender with nearly all having no expression. The three works have been revealed over four years in Venice. The latest exhibition is timed to coincide with the Venice Biennale.
The first exhibition, “Titan,” explored the extensive qualities of his material of choice, titanium, in new artistic ways. The second, “Totem,” addressed the idea of uncertainty.
The 10-meter Black Tulip is the last of Wallace Chan's four titanium sculptures in his exhibition
For this exhibition, which may be the last using this facial motif, Chan says he is transcending the limits or boundaries of space and time, and transforming conflicts into opportunities for growth and enlightenment.
The exhibition is both the smallest and largest in this series. It is the smallest in terms of the number of artworks, but its theme is even larger than the previous two, if that’s possible. It consists of four 10-meter titanium sculptures suspended from the chapel’s ceiling.
Chan made his mark as a high jewelry artist where he used titanium’s lightweight, strength and ability to change color, to create multicolored jewels that both replicated and transcended natural and organic flora and fauna; or he used the material to produce largescale elaborate pieces of adornment based on his ideals that combine eastern philosophies (including his training in Buddhism) with traditional western art themes and even a science fiction view of the future. His jewelry creations vaulted the soft-spoken, mild-mannered artist into a celebrity in the jewelry world. His jewels are in high demand among collectors throughout the world.
Wallace Chan in Venice
For his sculptural trilogy, his focus is narrower with the black titanium faces, but as mentioned previously, his artistic aspirations are greater.
“The 10-meter sculptures are integrated into different shapes,” Chan said in an interview two days prior to the show’s opening. “The viewers can go inside the sculpture and be part of the exhibition in order to show how humans can respect one another as well as contemplate nature.”
Wallace Chan's interpretation of Yin and Yang
When you combine this exhibit with the two previous ones “it becomes a trilogy of lifestyle swings … transcending beyond materials and reaching a state of greater love and unity. I call it the highest state of art.”
The black titanium sculptures are lined one-by-one in the narrow side chapel of the 18th century church where the Italian composer, Antonio Vivaldi, used to hold concerts. The aging venue combined with minimal pinpoint lighting for the sculptures designed by Chan heightens the mediative, spiritual quality of the exhibition. To add an even a greater spiritual context, the exhibit includes a somber soundtrack by renowned musician, Brian Eno, titled, I Dormienti.
The location of the exhibition and the soundtrack were chosen by James Putnam, an independent curator and writer who was the founder and curator of the British Museum’s Contemporary Arts and Cultures Program. The music by Eno was first used by Putnam for an exhibition he curated by Italian artist Mimmo Paladino in London. Putnam said Eno agreed to allow him to use the same music for Chan’s exhibition.
The 10-meter black titanium tulip has faces placed on the stem
Putnam has now worked with Chan on all three of his sculptural exhibitions in Venice. He describes Transcendence as the latest exploration “of the boundaries between the material and metaphysical,” saying the exhibition is a “highly contemplative series, providing viewers the opportunity to transcend from a corporeal earthbound form into the ethereal spiritual realm of Wallace Chan’s work.”
He describes the individual sculptures as not having “race or gender,” but as being an “amalgamation of when (Chan) was younger and was inspired by the sculptures in Christian cemeteries.”
Chan, who often mixes his metaphors, says the four sculptures also represent the four seasons (which also happens to be Vivaldi’s most famous musical composition). The first sculpture represents winter, and it is the most expressive. The eyes and mouth of the face appear in a frozen explosive form that he says mimics stones skipping in water. He adds that while the face appears to be in a state of horror or pain, the expression actually depicts a state of epiphany.
Inside the titanium sculptures are more face castings
“The form represents a stone that is thrown against the water. The water splashes so it has an impact. It’s like a reflection on yourself when you get an epiphany or inspiration. You look at the sculpture and you get that moment of impact.”
The second sculpture, Spring, consists of multiple large heads juxtaposed in a haphazard fashion. He says this statue depicts a state of being reborn.
“When the night comes, I sleep, and I die. When I wake up in the morning, the sunlight comes in, and I am reborn,” he said. “Spring symbolizes renewal and liveliness … like a transformation from a caterpillar to a butterfly. You become creative and you’re curious about things again. This is my journey from a caterpillar to a butterfly.”
A view of Wallace Chan's "Transcendence" exhibition prior to the opening.
The third sculpture, Summer, is represented by two heads that seem to be twisting and turning. It turns out to be one of Chan’s many representations of Yin and Yang.
The final sculpture, Autumn, is a 10-meter black tulip. A closer look reveals that the pedals are shaped into silhouettes of faces and while more faces are engraved into the stem of the flower.
In fact, a closer look at all the sculptures reveals smaller faces and parts of faces in the fronts, sides and the hollowed-out backs of each artwork.
Wallace Chan says this titanium sculpture depicts a state of being reborn
The exhibit ends with an artwork on the altar of the chapel. It consists of small statues of Jesus and Buddha with their heads juxtaposed. Chan says its meaning is “about great love and that all religions are interconnected to each other. There’s no beginning there’s no end. It’s a cycle that goes round and round.”
At the age of 67 and facing his own mortality, Chan says he is spending as much time as possible at work, creating art that will stand the test of time. This exhibition reflects this.
“I feel that I have to create something that outlives me.”
