Moth-eaten Books: Jiang Chao Solo Exhibition

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TEXT：Sue Wang DATE： 2012.4.13

Moth-eaten Books 03, 2009-2011; aquatint, 30x16x1 cm

Moth-eaten Books is the newest series of woodblocks in aquatint created by the young printmaker Jiang Chao. Each set of works consists of a small library of 84 books and each of these books is composed of hand-woven ribbon, Phoebe Wood letters and soft rice paper. Each book is inscribed with a different wooden plate and formed its own unique pattern and texture an each page of these books describe the story of books when they are gradually etched by worms, water marks, tears and stains as time goes by. In the process of printing, the wood is polished a little by little while the printed patterns on the paper become increasingly blurred, and ultimately they disappear at the end of the books. This book tells a touching story about the beauty of Chinese civilization, which also manifests as it fades away.

Moth-eaten Books 01; 2009-2011; aquatint, 30x16x1 cm

Moth-eaten Books 02, 2009-2011; aquatint, 30x16x1 cm

New City Series Photo, 2009; aquatint, 76x54cmx16

The elegance of Moth-eaten Books lies in Jiang’s profound creative thinking and his consummate skills. Each element in his creation has undergone comprehensive and integrated consideration. It took him two years to accomplish this huge project, and during this time he spent a lot of time in Suzhou and worked with senior printmaking workers who did not do much but are experienced in the control of the watermark pigment. Jiang Chao has completed a total of 10 sets of works with nearly 900 individual works in the past two years.

Jiang Chao

Organized by the Yun Gallery in association with the January Contemporary, this exhibition is the first solo exhibition of Jiang Chao and covers many of his representations so far, which have mostly been created after 2007 when he graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts. The highlights of this exhibition include his graduation work—“Landscape” the silkscreen printing which won the first prize of the Gradation Exhibition at CAFA in 2005, “Stories” and “New City” series which presents fencers used in construction fields in China.

About the Exhibition

Dates: 21st to June 20th, April 2012

Opening Ceremony: 3:00pm on 21st, April

Address: Yun Gallery, 3818# 798 Art District, 2 Jiuxian Qiao Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing

Tel: 8610-8459 9329 13366860824

Courtesy of Jiang Chao and Yun Gallery, for further information please contact yungallery@sina.com.