An Atlas of the Difficult World

2024.03.24—06.30

Artists: Mimosa Echard, Leelee Chan, Chen Wei, David Douard, Feng Zhixuan, Gong Jian, Jiang Pengyi, Liao Fei, Liao Guohe, Antoni Muntadas, Shao Chun, Sydney Shen, Vivian Suter, Wolfgang Tillmans, Inga Svala Thórsdóttir & Wu Shanzhuan, Yang Jian, Wu Tsang, Patty Chang & David Kelley.

The Macalline Center of Art is pleased to present the spring exhibition, An Atlas of the Difficult World, on view from March 24th through June 30th, 2024. Showcasing videos, paintings, installations, sculptures and other art forms, this exhibition will feature works across various mediums by 20 artists of different nationalities and spanning multiple generations. The title alludes to the poignant collection of poems by American feminist poet Adrienne Rich (1929-2012). The exhibition is a tentative response to the tumultuous and unfathomable conditions of today’s world, illustrating the deep-seated conflicts and anxieties of the times we live in while at the same time, summoning a hope sparked by individual activism and creativity.

Rich’s collection of poems vividly charts the genesis of a world rife with unsettling visions. Amidst that “fissured, cracked terrain”* lies the “wreckage, dreck and waste,”** and yet these ruins become, paradoxically and suitably, the very “materials” for her poetry. Like Rich, the artists of An Atlas of the Difficult World share a fascination with the ruins of reality they find in their surroundings. Whether pertaining to the body, emotion, technology, or nature, these fragments are snipped from diverse histories and marked by disparate textures and structures; nevertheless, as “materials” for artistic creation, they are extracted, refined, and reshaped into something new. An Atlas of the Difficult World prophecies an unstable poetics—a superimposed and polyphonic consciousness that allows the energy of art to cling to the images that refract light off one another: a segment of animal skeleton rendered in metal, a group of Filipina maids playing card games, a submarine that is incapable of sinking...Each carries remnants of the world’s secrets.

An Atlas of the Difficult World is a micro-universe that mirrors reality. Within this miniature world, the fragile, vulnerable, and insignificant find resonance with the solemn, grand, magnificent. Each work harbors a hidden narrative, an ever developing illusion, and a specific moment both indescribable and profound. During the exhibition, MACA’s gallery space will temporarily transform into a work-in-progress, inviting the audience to step into a time-space where rupture and connection coexist. Here, they are encouraged to lean into a certain deliberate sense of “loss” and “discomfort”, and when they are unsure of where to go next to turn their gaze inward to contemplate their own existence, allowing themselves to experience the revelatory power of art.

The works exhibited in An Atlas of the Difficult World are all from the collections of MACA and its founder, Che Xuanqiao. The exhibition is jointly curated by Yang Beichen (Director of MACA), Huang Wenlong (Curator at MACA), and Wang Jianan (Assistant Curator at MACA).

*and** are excerpted from the first part of the collection’s titular poem, An Atlas of the Difficult World.

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Exhibition Photos

An Atlas of the Difficult World, installation view, Macalline Center of Art, 2024. Photo: Yang Hao

Feng Zhixuan, Wind Chimes - Sousa Chinensis, 2024, aluminum, steel, dimension variable. Commissoned by Macalline Center of Art. An Atlas of the Difficult World, installation view, Macalline Center of Art, 2024. Photo: Yang Hao

Wu Tsang, We Hold Where Study, 2017, two-channel HD video, color, stereo sound, 19 min. Choreographers: boychild, Josh Johnson, Ligia Lewis, Jonathan Gonzalez. Music: Bendik Giske. An Atlas of the Difficult World, installation view, Macalline Center of Art, 2024. Photo: Yang Hao

Wolfgang Tillmans, Playing Cards, 2018, inkjet print on paper, 212.1×145.1×6 cm. An Atlas of the Difficult World, installation view, Macalline Center of Art, 2024. Photo: Yang Hao

Vivian Suter, Untitled, undated, mixed media on canvas, 238.8×177.8 cm. An Atlas of the Difficult World, installation view, Macalline Center of Art, 2024. Photo: Yang Hao

Vivian Suter, Untitled, undated, mixed media on canvas, 233.7×195.6 cm. An Atlas of the Difficult World, installation view, Macalline Center of Art, 2024. Photo: Yang Hao

Liao Fei, A Straight Line Extended, 2015, marble, steel plate, concrete base, 275×70×160 cm. An Atlas of the Difficult World, installation view, Macalline Center of Art, 2024. Photo: Yang Hao

Inga Svala Thórsdóttir & Wu Shanzhuan, Bracketed Spiral and Its Three Layers of Personality, 2011, acrylic on canvas, 200×200 cm. An Atlas of the Difficult World, installation view, Macalline Center of Art, 2024. Photo: Yang Hao

Sydney Shen, Moi Même Moitié Le Momo, 2021, iron, wood, 33×200×4 cm. An Atlas of the Difficult World, installation view, Macalline Center of Art, 2024. Photo: Yang Hao

Yang Jian, 170160, 2021, Acrylic on linen, fire hose, 170×160 cm. An Atlas of the Difficult World, installation view, Macalline Center of Art, 2024. Photo: Yang Hao

Liao Guohe, X Work Hard Steadfastly Ingeniously (Slave Ship), 2019, acrylic on canvas, 168×247 cm. An Atlas of the Difficult World, installation view, Macalline Center of Art, 2024. Photo: Yang Hao

Chen Wei, Lost Hotel, 2016, archival inkjet print, 150×187.5 cm. An Atlas of the Difficult World, installation view, Macalline Center of Art, 2024. Photo: Yang Hao

Leelee Chan, Navel, 2018, scavenged polystyrene packaging, cosmetic container, found seashell, jesmonite, fiberglass, resin, pigment, epoxy putty, 151×30×30 cm. An Atlas of the Difficult World, installation view, Macalline Center of Art, 2024. Photo: Yang Hao

Patty Chang & David Kelley, Flotsam Jetsam, 2007, single-channel video, color, sound, 30 min. An Atlas of the Difficult World, installation view, Macalline Center of Art, 2024. Photo: Yang Hao

Antoni Muntadas, On Translation: Himnes, 2016, single-channel HD video, color, sound, 5 min 55 sec. An Atlas of the Difficult World, installation view, Macalline Center of Art, 2024. Photo: Yang Hao

Gong Jian, Goddess No. 4, 2015, acrylic on canvas, 220×165 cm. An Atlas of the Difficult World, installation view, Macalline Center of Art, 2024. Photo: Yang Hao

Mimosa Echard, Sap (iDeath), 2020, glass beads, light bulbs, bracelets, chain, fabric, latex glove, silver necklace, gourd plant, electrical wiring, 298×12×12 cm. An Atlas of the Difficult World, installation view, Macalline Center of Art, 2024. Photo: Yang Hao

Wu Tsang, Untitled (Window #3), 2017, stained glass, light box, 200×150×40 cm. An Atlas of the Difficult World, installation view, Macalline Center of Art, 2024. Photo: Yang Hao

Shao Chun, The Drowning – The Windy Part, 2022, silicone fabrics, epoxy resins, synthetic hairs, pearls, beauty supplies, mini fans, 200×150×90 cm. Commissioned by UCCA Edge. An Atlas of the Difficult World, installation view, Macalline Center of Art, 2024. Photo: Yang Hao

Jiang Pengyi, Sun! Sun! No. 8, 2019, archival inkjet print, 184×148×5 cm. An Atlas of the Difficult World, installation view, Macalline Center of Art, 2024. Photo: Yang Hao

Sydney Shen, Gunne Sax, 2021, wood, metal hardware, 95×30.5×5 cm. An Atlas of the Difficult World, installation view, Macalline Center of Art, 2024. Photo: Yang Hao