Ten women are showcasing their art pieces at the Former Municipal Cattle Stable at the junction of Avenida do Coronel Mesquita (美副將大馬路) and Avenida do Almirante Lacerda (罅些喇提督大馬路) until April 19, challenging traditional gender roles and social expectations while aiming to redefine the “golden ratio” with a female perspective.
The exhibition titled “The Golden Ratio – Macau Exchange Exhibition”, which kicked off on Friday, features works created by artists from Macau, Beijing, Chengdu, and Shanghai.
From Macau are Bianca Lei Sio Chong, Hio Lam Lei and Zhang Ke. Chengdu artists Wang Lu, He Linlin, Xu Jing and Zhao Huan represent Sichuan’s capital city, while the artists from Beijing comprise Yue Mingyue and Zhou Wenjing, with the latter also representing Paris, and lastly, Shanghai’s Qian Lili. The exhibition’s curation was entrusted to Zhao and Macau’s Wendy Wong (黃詠思).
Throughout the gallery are a raft of works created using different mediums, all presented with a style or concept in accordance with their respective artist, giving visitors an atmospheric experience. Dissonant sounds from installations and videos play amidst the quiet background of the venue, which has warm and low lighting.
Videos are projected on the floor and on the walls, where paintings and photos are also among the works found, just to name some of the mediums employed by the artists.
Regarding its title, in art, the golden ratio is a compositional tool used to create balanced, harmonious proportions; it appears in backgrounds and layouts, and its applications extend to architecture and photography, according to AI chatbot Poe.
A statement from the exhibition organisers described the golden ratio as a gauge of beauty. According to the statement, standards like this were historically shaped mainly by men in different fields, not women. Focusing on appearance is often disconnected from women’s health, comfort, and lived reality. As tastes, traditions and values shift, women are subtly pressured to meet narrow ideals – affecting their sense of happiness, the statement points out. Over time, these expectations become difficult to break free from, limiting women’s freedom to define themselves. The works create a dialogue and redefine the idea.
In her statement displayed at the venue, Zhao pointed out: “The artworks presented in this exhibition do not comply with mainstream aesthetic expectations; rather, they constitute a feminist practice articulated through visual language. With the body as a medium, lived experience as foundation and choice as standpoint, the artists transform suppressed corporeal sensibilities, obscured personal narratives and appropriated claims to subjectivity into artistic texts of critique and reflection”.
One can view the works on display until April 19. The exhibition is open daily from 10 a.m. through 7 p.m.
Photos taken yesterday by Rui Pastorin
