A solo exhibition titled “Where? The City U Never Feel Enough” by Dave Shao (邵梓維) is being held at the Macau Art For All Society (AFA) gallery, utilising seemingly random object installations as creative materials and challenges “the aesthetic standards of traditional artworks”, according to an AFA statement.
The exhibition’s installations also use everyday objects and domestic landscapes, inviting visitors to participate in a “conceptual art experiment that subverts established aesthetics”, the statement points out.
The statement underlines that the solo exhibition is the first part of this year’s “Randomly Intentional” – Conceptual Art Exhibitions Series, an AFA annual programme that explores the “connection and rationality of art as a ‘material form’ and an ‘invisible concept’ “ through experimental work.
According to the statement, Shao was born in Guangzhou in 1996 and moved to Macau in 2006. He studied and worked in Los Angeles and New York, where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from the School of Visual Arts in 2019.
During his studies, Shao, the statement points out, was inspired by “Relational Aesthetics”, which Wikipedia says is “a mode or tendency in fine art practice originally observed and highlighted by French art critic Nicolas Bourriaud”, which is playing a part in the exhibition.
Shao planned to pursue a Master of Fine Arts from the same school, but returned to Macau in 2020 to live and work due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The statement emphasises that towards the path of artistic creation, there is an experience of working hard to earn a living in Macau instead of an academic-style education.
From “destructive rebellion to unsatisfied disorientation”, Shao moved furniture from his home to the exhibition venue and rearranged it in the gallery, with the relationship between these objects given a new meaning owing to the “transformation of territory”.
The exhibition runs until September 11 and is open daily (except Sundays and public holidays) from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is free. Further details can be found at: https://www.afamacau.com/exhibition/427.
Photos of the exhibition taken yesterday by Rui Pastorin
