I Was Glad to Print This Sentence
Time: March 18-May 21,2023
Location: Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art (No.27 Duolun Rd.)
Host: Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art
Curator: Shi Hantao
Visual Director: Li Zhiqian
Participant Institutions/Artists: Grilling Park, Bananafish Books, Xiao Longhua, Jiazazhi, 51 Personae, La Maison de Z, fuyin.info, Prickly Paper, Woodcut Wavement, Imageless, Arbre, btr, 3type
I Was Glad to Print This Sentence will be on display at Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art from March 18 to May 21, 2023. The exhibition is organized by Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, with Shi Hantao as curator and Li Zhiqian as visual director, inviting participant institutions/artists: Grilling Park, Bananafish Books, Xiao Longhua, Jiazazhi, 51 Personae, La Maison de Z, info, Prickly Paper, Woodcut Wavement, Imageless, Arbre, btr, 3type.
Self-printing book as an artistic practice can be traced back to print art and Zine culture that came to life in the middle of the last century, thanks to the ease and low cost of production and the ability of the creator to do it on his own. In the last decade or so, self-printed works with strong personalities and various forms, with the creator taking the lead in the production and dissemination process, have become a regular practice for Chinese artists, designers and cultural workers of all kinds. Among which are assemblages of illustrations and video works, narrative expressions that unfold in graphic form, and literary creations or oral histories and collations of folk images. These works are not limited to one type as far as form and technique are concerned, and the contents are also mostly directly related to the artist's personal life, thoughts and feelings, reflecting a strong and genuine social concern in some cases. This kind of artistic practice also bears the characteristic of collective work, and shows richness in narrative and profoundness in sociality. This exhibition presents and discusses the boom in the practice of self-printing art in China today, and through the discussion of this art phenomenon, it is hoped that some cultural and social issues in contemporary China will be explored.
In the context of the 20th anniversary of Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, and as the first exhibition of Twenty Years of Iteration project, this exhibition reflects our hope that we, as a non-profit academic institution, can always maintain an attitude and position of sensitivity and awareness of the art scene, and we expect that through our ongoing concrete work we can provide a positive force to promote the richness of contemporary art and cultural practice.