A FLOATING WORLD

Strolling through the Yang Gallery in Beijing’s 798 Art District, you may start to feel lost at sea. On view from December 31, 2016 to January 31, 2017, the exhibition “A Floating World” comes from the artist group THEY, made up of Lai Shengyu and Yang Xiaogang. Partners since 2002, they work together on their paintings in an attempt to bring in multiple perspectives and more conflict.

In this melancholic exhibition, you can see classic art masterpieces and well-known brands on placid seas and rivers, a reflection of a very human attachment to the commercial mechanism—but also evoking fear of the sense of futility it brings, like being left on a beach strewn with litter as the crowd melts away. THEY’S creations convey a strong sense of emptiness in which modernity grabs at history and belief with a desire for security and belonging, but always in vain. - SUN JIAHUI (孙佳慧)