Volta NY 2017

The individual’s relationship to society may be a tenuous, fragile bond. Society provokes anxious interrogation of the self: are we different or the same? Does our sameness bind us together or prevent us from making a true connection? And how do other countries and cultures wrestle with this challenge?

At this year’s Volta NY, artist Zhang Yanzi will evince both a distinctly Chinese approach to considering our humanity, and a recognition that our origins and basic needs are common to humans globally.  The acknowledgement of this common heritage will be a starting point for the journey of healing which the display will bring.  The curation will build on our recent exhibition of the artist’s work at the Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences, allowing visitors the chance to acquire pieces are of both artistic and current cultural significance.

Bei Dao, the Chinese poet of solitude, described Zhang Yanzi’s works as representing “a subtle balance between art and healing” – viewers of the show will be faced with the challenge of separating the two.