PIFO Gallery is going to present Teng Fei’s Ctrl+S from November 18, 2011, to December 24, 2011. PIFO prospectively hopes that Teng Fei’s unique art practices will lodge within and move your innermost heart.
With the constant passing of time, we become accustomed to the way time flies. The fleeting moments of our existence—the present, the past, the future—become lost in the clutter of daily life, but through artist Teng Fei’s clear emotions and still thoughts, they are caught in her creations.
Curator of this exhibition, Jiang Yuehong has interpreted Teng' art in her essay titled Jewellery as a Contemporary Art Practice, "When Teng Fei is molding a piece, the relaxed, excitable and malleable elements are consciously plucked out, while the restrained, peaceful and unspoken components are retained. Within her rules of self-design, she makes it “an obstacle” for herself in order to accomplish pieces that can effectively cause interaction with the viewers. The complete process of Teng Fei’s works show that the core of art practice is not the outcome proposed, but the method provided for unpredictable effect. "
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Teng Fei has long been thought of as the one who “opened up” Chinese art jewelry, and China’s “first Conceptual Jewelry artist”. She has given us a definition for jewelry’s “new” meaning, channeling her experiences with contemporary jewelry into contemplation on her own place in contemporary art—what is contemporary art as adornment? Here, jewelry and Teng Fei’s art practices are intertwined; here, contemporary art and everybody’s life experiences are interrelated.
As commented by Lv Shengzhong in his A Life Shouted Aloud from “细软xìruǎni”, " 'Flowers and leaves bear one’s emotions as gifts to others'— this concept of how jewelry can become an objectification of people’s emotions is what she bases her creation upon. Flowers in themselves are devoid of emotion, but human emotion is conferred through the offering of flowers, as jewelry confers meaning through its beauty. Jewelry is a poem of figurative art, its agile and expressive imagery, cadence and rhythmic language an essay that exposes the inner world of the narrator’s emotional imagery."
They are there, blossoming, still murmuring to us, making us stop, reflect, reckon; we can’t help ourselves wanting to touch them, stroke them; we can’t restrain from wanting to pick them up, collect them on our fingers, hold them in our chests; carefully scrutinizing them, listening to them, sharing the gentleness that through the heat of our bodies, through our stories, will be nourished—it is saturating the space and time of our secret hearts, effortlessly becoming our mildest, calmest and most vivid selves. Facing Teng Fei’s work, we must gasp at the differences between “family heirlooms” and these things – the characteristics of their pure individualism and artistry.
Professor Teng Fei is the founder and current head of the Jewelry Department at China Central Academy of Fine Art (CAFA). She has received many remarkable honors, such as Gold Award for Jewelry Design in the 10th National Fine Arts Exhibition, New Century Outstanding Talent Award by the Ministry of Education, and the title of Jewelry Design Master of China. She has also orchestrated a series of jewelry exhibitions, including the First International Jewelry Exhibition in 2002, Beijing Olympics in 2008, Once upon a Time: Chinese and Australian Jewelry Exhibition and Traditional Craftsmanship Reconstructed: China Contemporary Jewelry Exhibition in 2007.
i细软（xìruǎn in Chinese pronunciation）: as a phrase, traditionally means jewelry or any expensive but portable valuables. Here the author uses it as a pun of two associated meanings, implying jewelry overtly and the mental valuables contributed by the artist’s creativity metaphorically.
Title: Teng Fei 2011 : Ctrl+S
Artist: Teng Fei
Curator: Jiang Yuehong
Duration: November 18th ～December 24th 2011 10:00～18:00(Except Monday)
Open Reception: November 18th 2011 16:00～18:00 (Friday)
Address: PIFO Gallery B-11, 798 Art Area,No.2 Jiuxianqiao Rd, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China
Courtesy of the artist and PIFO Gallery.
