Metamorphosis of Rhythm
Himalayas Museum | Dec 2022 - Jan 2023 | Curator
These 35 works, guided by the feminine writing spirit based on women's own experiences and sensory practices, extend expressions and discussions on women's bodies, identity recognition, gender power, and female narrative modes through different media.
From December 17 to December 25, 2022, the Shanghai Himalaya Museum presented the feminist group exhibition Metamorphosis of Rhythm in the 4D/4E exhibition hall, focusing on showcasing 35 works by 17 feminist artists in China, covering a variety of artistic mediums: oil painting, printmaking, photography, video, installation, publications, poetry, etc. "Metamorphosis of Rhythm," where "transmutation" can be broken down into femininity and naturalness, also refers to transmutation and succession. The exhibition theme focuses on the feminine writing in feminism, reinterpreting this topic from the curatorial perspective, using rhythm as a brush and feeling as language, projecting women's self-consciousness back into the public eye through a diverse creative language. These 35 works, guided by the feminine writing spirit based on women's own experiences and sensory practices, extend expressions and discussions on women's bodies, identity recognition, gender power, and female narrative modes through different media.
​
The exhibited works tell the story of women's personal experiences in a calm yet powerful way, also serving as a silent protest against the difficulties women face. Broken hair clips, surgical instruments, contraceptive rings, images of home archives, peeping corners, scattered pill boxes… these images calmly and sharply reveal the situations faced by women. Fragments of words, lines, pieces, and colors interwoven with feelings and rhythms vividly demonstrate the free and unbound qualities of contemporary feminist artists, attempting to dissolve the rules of mainstream logical narratives, a reconstruction of the narrative mode of women.
Feminine writing regards the female body as the source of consciousness, and the related artworks involve the interpretation of female body consciousness and trauma. Weiyi Li's Wives transforms shocking national social events into a series of photographic works, with the artist powerfully expressing female trauma through metaphorical visual symbols. Wenjing Zhou's Red Series N°5" discusses the encounters of the female body on a biological level through surgical instruments, contraceptive rings, and the relationship between diseases and women. Works focusing on similar topics include Ruiwei Yu's Disrepair, exploring the connection between scars and the body.
Expanding to the negative narratives of women in society, family, and other issues, gender power relations are also closely intertwined. The work 157 cm is an exploration by artist Rong Bao on equality, discrimination, and contemporary societal invisible violence. Zhejun Huang projects her understanding of female objectification in Light Veil, while Qianqian Li's Family Album focuses on intricate details of private domain violent incidents. Yunqi Peng organizes gazes into a collection in Abyss Staring, using these photos and typewriter-written text to hint at potential crises in the public domain. Responding to a sense of security, Duoduo Huang's Until I Fall.
​
To break the uniformity of social discourse and writing expression, reshaping a linear narrative model is an inevitable part of women's writing. In Re-enter Cycle Time Time by Wenqi Zou, the film combines personal narratives of chronic illness experiences, tracing historical objects symbolizing women's time perception to reinterpret narrative models under "circular time"; Jie Qin, Yexin Li's Mire Theater combines experimental writing by women with mixed materials to shape pure self-awareness and forms of real opposition, inspiring women in society to reflect on the importance of self-feelings and expression; a similar narrative structure can also be seen in Lunhua Kong's Awakening on the 21st Day, where through a combination of painting and a quasi-murmuring diary format in her work, she narrates various inseparable yet individually free individuals in everyday female experiences; using individuals as carriers of small narratives, Yunqi Peng's Rain Duplicate; through a dream-like narrative structure, reprojecting women's self-awareness and spiritual world on screen and canvas in Brief Notes (Yimyiwah) and Blue 01 - A Fall (Yexiangdeye).
Furthermore, the negative writing for reshaping female identity plays a driving role. Li Chen's Hibiscus Series and Yuhui Jiang's Fingertip Memory reflect on women's identity and current situation from multiple dimensions, where based on women's life experiences in the artwork Life Cycle, Yanting Huang analyzes the intricate relationship between women and nature. Lunhua Kong's Rivers and Thorns also attempts to reveal the hidden relationship between female bodies and rivers, even nature, using abstract language.​
​
The opening preview was held at 3:00 pm on the 17th, with guests including curators Yanting Huang, Yan Xie, Wenqi Zou, artists Weiyi Li, Li Chen, Qianqian Li, Jie Qin, Yexin Li, Yexiangdeye, Yuwei Yu, the artists' families and friends, and people from various fields.
​
​The opening was initiated by curator Yanting Huang: "Thank you very much for the support of the Himalayas Museum and the attention to academic exhibitions, giving young curators a platform to showcase ourselves. The purpose of this exhibition is actually to hope that women can recognize and establish their own artistic expression system, awaken women back to themselves, and empower women to have their own voice. In this exhibition, 17 artists depict women's life experiences through different media, placing them at the forefront of artistic creation, presenting women's current status and dilemmas through their own experiences and life feelings, calling on women to listen to their own voices."
Curators Yan Xie and Wenqi Zou, who are in London and unable to attend the opening preview, delivered their speeches remotely. Yan Xie stated: "This exhibition also aims to encourage the public to recognize and accept the inherent self-rhythm of women's expression, because this rich perceptiveness should not be suppressed, nor should it be limited by mainstream logical expressions. At the same time, you can see that the themes of the works we exhibit are not limited to common forms. In addition to excellent paintings, photographs, installations, etc., the exhibition also features 3 publications and 1 piece related to experimental writing and 1 relevant installation. This is also in response to our call in the exhibition introduction for diversification in creative language and breaking the rigid creative systems. We hope this exhibition can bring a different voice to traditional discourses and mainstream culture."
​
Wenqi Zou added, "I hope the audience will view this exhibition as a collaboration, a dialogue and communication among women in different forms. It's no longer just about thinking about the current situation of women, but about how we can still actively provide mutual support in a fragile and unbalanced context, and envision caring and mutual aid models that could develop in the future. I hope the audience can think about what it means to work with the body in art practice, rather than against it, in the works, and see how creators overcome and transform external fluctuations and disturbances of themselves through artistic efforts, so as to break free from the confinement of the gender pronoun ‘women' while striving to express 'oneself'."
​
Artist Weiyi Li, in a remote dialogue, shared her insights on participating in the exhibition: "Thank you very much to the three curators for presenting an entirely feminist exhibition and also paying attention to the fact that the participating artists are very young and outstanding. I also thank the museum for providing these young artists and curators with a good platform to showcase their work. Actually, the issue of gender, bringing it out separately sometimes feels awkward. Why emphasize that one is a woman? But actually, it is an issue. So the opportunity to discuss it is also very good, thank you."
The exhibition highlights the innate self-rhythms of women and showcases a different perspective of the power of contemporary women through the theory of feminine writing. Most artists in the exhibition use non-traditional narrative forms to diverge from mainstream logic and inspire audiences to understand the current situation and challenges of women through a more diverse path. The exhibition will run until December 25th, welcoming everyone to experience the beauty of feminine rhythms at the Himalayas Art Museum. The exhibition "Metamorphosis of Rhythm" is co-curated by Yanting Huang, Yan Xie, and Wenqi Zou.
​
​Exhibiting artists include: Weiyi Li, Wenjing Zhou, Rong Bao, Li Chen, Duoduo Huang, Yanting Huang, Zhejun Huang, Yuhui Jiang, Lunhua Kong, Qianqian Li, Yunqi Peng, Jie Qin, Yexin Li, Yihua Yan (Yimyiwah), Yexiangdeye, Yuwei Yu, and Wenqi Zou.