DANYSZ - Booth A203
Li Hongbo, Baronesse Sipiere I, Paper 65 x 45 x 28 cm 25 5/8 x 17 3/4 x 11 1/8 in, 2021, Courtesy of the artist and Danysz Gallery
Traveling with art the time of a fair, to promote the diversity of the Asian contemporary art scene, is the mission of Danysz and the artists from different and inspiring universes the gallery represents.
With Iran being in the limelight during this seventh edition of Asia Now, Danysz gallery puts the spotlight on the Iranian artists Icy & Sot, who reflect the truth of our times throughout their own language, turning it into an art that seeks and finds the shortest way to communicate. Through their unique visual language, they have been delivering powerful statements on the present-day human condition, tackling important issues. Their commitment is reflected in the materials they use: barbed wire, iron wire or oil can. All the raw materials that they divert and transfigure give life to artworks full of poetry and fragility.
Stopover in Indonesia with the artist Eko Nugroho, whose works echo those of Icy & Sot through a harmonious dialogue : the Indonesian artist makes art for the people and makes the people his source of inspiration. He perfectly explores the often absurd condition of human beings, which he illustrates through public murals, paintings, installations, animation and embroidery, populated by cartoonish figures with masked faces who dissemble, posture, argue, and struggle as the human beings they represent.
Abdul-Rahman Katanani uses barbed wire, corrugated iron and oil barrels. These are «domestic» recycled materials for Katanani who was born and raised in the Sabra refugee camp in Lebanon among a community of stateless people. Working with his bare hands these materials are essential to him. The artist plays with the way their shape captures and conducts light, inviting us into a living and positive thought. His work is presented in many institutions around the world.
Finally, rendezvous in China with Li Hongbo, whose great talent is to offer fresh perspectives while always challenging our understanding of sculpture and its possibilities. The artist is best known for his handmade works of paper which can stretch, unfold like accordions, behave like a foldable material that allows for all sorts of surprising and poetic shapes. Recreating for us the wealth and complexity of his world as an artist, Li Hongbo leads us to an adventurous experience, full of surprises, where our entrenched conceptions of reality and illusion may well begin to lose their footing.