星空间丨康好贤个展『离宫别馆』将于12月8日开幕

离宫别馆

PEACE OUT

艺术家 Artist

康好贤

Kang Haoxian

策展人 Curator

刘翰文

Liu Hanwen

展期 Duration

2023.12.08 - 2024.01.21

星空间欣然宣布，将于2023年12月8日呈现艺术家康好贤个展“离宫别馆”，将展出康好贤近两年来创作的全新作品，展览由策展人刘翰文担纲策划。在展览期间将同步推出由一千遍工作室设计的出版物《写虚》。

Star Gallery is delighted to announce the presentation of Kang Haoxian's solo exhibition PEACE OUT on December 8, 2023, featuring the latest works by Kang Haoxian from the past two years, and the exhibition is curated by Liu Hanwen. The publication WRITE VIRTUAL, designed by One Thousand Times, will also be released during the exhibition.

Friday Night 2

亚麻布丙烯

Acrylic on linen

255 × 185 cm 

2023

离宫别馆

文 / 刘翰文

引

从纽约TriBeCa夜场走出的时髦厌世者们，迎着六月初纽约清晨的第一缕朝阳阔步向上城走去。一只只精致的墨镜也难掩一夜狂欢后的倦容，这群年轻多金的男男女女左顾右盼、嬉笑交谈，在找到一家街角商店后，他们一拥而入随后人手一杯黑咖啡信步而出。他们中间走在最前面的女孩将嚼了两下的口香糖粘在了咖啡杯盖上，并领着这群嬉闹的男女继续向北走了两条街。最后，一行人走进了一栋大厦，在上到16层后，他们来到了此行的终点——一家名为ReVit的治疗机构。这是最近几年兴起的静脉注射疗法 (IV therapy)，这种健康保养方式时髦又快捷，在城中年轻人中颇为流行。在这家治疗机构的大堂里，整齐地摆放着两排蓬软的躺椅沙发，夜行动物们找好位置后开始点选今日的注射疗程。疗程清单的选项玲琅满目，比Atera餐厅的菜单还要繁复。不出所料，这群人不约而同地选择了解酒和NAD+治疗。等到所有人落定，他们又开始了新一轮的欢快交谈。但突然间，好像有一个幽灵经过，所有人停止了交谈瘫坐在沙发里，目光空洞地等待着疗程的结束。治疗机构的大堂恢复了短暂的安静。两小时后，这群套着明媚皮肤的年轻人看起来精神焕然一新，并一头扎进了中城的轰鸣中，开始他们新的一天。

在康好贤眼中，当代社交生活、生活方式、以及人们的交互模式都是流行文化及社会状态的表征，是反应当代社会症结的通道。以上这则虚构的社交生活片段是对康好贤此次展览中新作品的一种提喻，也是对艺术家所描绘的当代社交生活神话的总结式书写。通过这个片段，我们可以看到一种被社交媒体肆意传播的当代人的社交方式与生活状态，而这种社交文化与生活方式从流行文化衍生出来，又回到流行文化中去，成为了流行文化的一部分。这一部分奇谈般的社交文化像野史一样隐匿在当代生活的暗面，但却如寓言般反映着人们的行为模式和生活状况。

离宫别馆源于古代对于有闲阶级所使用的享乐和休闲场所的描述。但在此处，离宫别馆是一种杂糅的、复合式的遐想，是弥漫在康好贤此次展览中一系列新作品中的叙事氛围。它同时对应着两个概念，首先是当代人在进行社会活动时持续经历的即时性空间场景。这种离宫别馆式的空间概念游离于被规定的日常空间之外。离宫别馆的空间在前现代的环境中，充当着构筑有闲阶级基本特征的重要作用；但有趣的是，时至今日这样的空间概念被打散，并以不同的形式弥散在当今社会中。在离宫别馆中，没有特定准则去指导人们的活动或思维方式，生产活动被隐去，人们可以暂时获得行动的主动权。在康好贤的新作品中，我们可以看到许多这样的空间。艺术家将这样的空间进行构图上的简化，并使之作为符号舞台去摆弄画面中的人物。

扶手电梯、直梯、阳台、没有会议的会议桌、以及轿车的内外部。这些康好贤描绘的场所充斥着急促感，没有人在这样的空间内长久停留，它们像被挤压在两个功能性空间之间的一个喘息，稍纵即逝。一个喘息间，也没有人会在这样的非主体空间内去达成目的性的生产或是思想的输出，这使得这样的空间被简化为一个通道或是一种被悬置的虚无空间。进入这种空间的行为本身已经完成了这个空间的功能使命，在这个空间内的停留、等待和如何消耗时光的权力则被交还给了人们。 因此，这样的空间概念在康好贤的作品中是值得被言说和描绘的，因为正是这种虚无、以及对这类空间的不抱幻想给予了空间无限的可能性，并逐渐塑造当代人们的活动方式。康好贤敏锐地捕捉到这种空间的特征，在他的观察和随后的创作中将这种空间变成一种无意识的社交场景。

于是，离宫别馆式的空间成为了康好贤新探索的故事场景，作为一种引言，使得康好贤得以叙述他长久以来所关注的当代社交生活的状态。这样一来，离宫别馆也就对应着康好贤在展览中描绘的一个被挤压的、有关当代人们活动状态的概念。在被精准安排的活动日程中，离宫别馆为人们提供了一种全新的社交生活和行为状态。正如引文中所总结的那个虚构的场景一般，在每一个行程都是一场正式社交的状态下，每一个夹缝中的场景也都在提供自我行动的土壤。在非正式的夹缝场景的等待中，不存在刻意的社交场面，就像在进行IV治疗时，人们可以选择集体缄默也可以突然开始一场新的对话或是新的社交。只有在这样的场景中，注意力的缺失才被允许，真正属于自我的时刻才得以浮现；也就在这时，由缺失的注意力所引发的无意识交谈和互动才变得鲜活。

这样的行为状态一直潜藏在我们的社交生活中，康好贤在离宫别馆的场景中利用人物群像去捕捉这种状态。因此，像在《蓝夜》、《Friday Night 2》、《看！远方》等多件作品中，三五成群的时髦人士簇拥在一起，这些人物有的在交流互动，有的在纵情嬉闹，但更引人注意的是在花团锦簇的社交场面中那些出神的人们。一个出神、或是一个纯粹的自我沉醉在离宫别馆中会得到赞许，它们赋予了个体行动雕塑般的美感，既僵硬又生动；它们又像薄雾一般附着在如荒原的个体之上，形成了超脱于行动本身之外的某种姿态。倚靠在高级轿车后座的男人全身泻力，颓唐地无视车内进行的交谈。头戴俏丽丝巾缓步下车的名人，沉浸在自己下车过程中的每一个动作里。卧倒在会议桌旁的黑人女子，可以无所顾忌地展露疲态。而在搭乘扶手梯时的等待中，面向不存在的观众摆出造型的丽人也显得那么的可爱，因为就在此刻，在不被安排的、无目的的、注意力涣散的此刻，我们看到了一个因沉醉而真实的自我。

当周遭的欢闹还在继续，无意识的交谈与互动也在发生，精心装点的社交生活和出神中的行动交织在一起，形成了当代社交文化和行为活动的症状侧写。在康好贤内化互衬的人物群像中，人们如同要完成某种任务一样去社交，我们想去偷听上流人士的低语与秘辛，也想去探查成功商人在社交场面中的大声密谋。与此同时，随意间的攀谈与互动所能引发的不可知的结果或是合作更是令我们倍感兴奋。然而，懵然回眸间，我们又望见被康好贤放置在人群中的两位女性在夕阳下忘我地相互凝望，一对男女出神间下意识地牵手，如此浪漫，令人心驰神往。这些人温吞地挣扎着、点到为止地对抗着，在成为欢腾时拨开欢腾出神，像一场嬉闹的宣言，誓要在玲琅的社交生活中夺回掌控生活节奏的权力。但没过多久欢闹再起，他们又一头扎回快活之中。

最终，在康好贤所刻画的离宫别馆中出现了这么一个喘息的时刻，无数的故事同时喷涌，那些有意的、无意的交谈和低语，散漫的、热烈的动作和接触，出神的、凝聚的姿态和表情，让这些作品成为一部社交生活的野史，播放着光鲜名流的B面。康好贤的眼光是刻薄的，他的视角在以一种手术刀式的尖酸和精准去捕捉当代流行文化现象，他将社交文化作为流行文化的表征去描绘。当曾经隐秘的社交生活和被刻意抹除的上流秘事，在网络的加持下，出现在大众视野中的时候，康好贤将它们收集到一起拼凑出夹缝中的故事片段。真假交织的人物和形象在离宫别馆内不会被记入史册，但它们就像幽灵一般，鬼鬼祟祟地塑造着正史的走向。那些窃窃私语、即兴的交往与交际潜移默化地影响着人们主动去安排的、个人正史中的生活，就像不被记录可是却被言说出来的证词，记录着当代人们的生活状态。

夜来香

As Fragrance at Night

亚麻布丙烯

Acrylic on linen

175 × 127 cm 

2023

PEACE OUT 

Text by Liu Hanwen

Introduction

Chic and disillusioned night owls emerge from the nightlife of New York's TriBeCa, striding uptown in the early June morning, basking in the first rays of sun. Their tired faces, concealed behind exquisite sunglasses, betray the night of revelry. These young, affluent men and women look around, exchanging smiles and conversation. Upon finding a street corner shop, they crowd in and exit with cups of black coffee in hand. Leading the group, a young woman places her barely chewed gum on the coffee cup's lid and guides the jovial crowd northward for a couple more blocks. Eventually, they enter a skyscraper and, after reaching the 16th floor, arrive at their destination—a treatment facility called ReVit. In recent years, intravenous therapy (IV therapy) has gained popularity as a fashionable and swift health maintenance option among young urban dwellers. The facility's lobby features neatly arranged rows of plush lounge sofas. Nighttime revelers settle in, selecting their chosen IV treatments for the day. The treatment menu offers a wide array of options, even more elaborate than Atera's restaurant menu. Unsurprisingly, this group unanimously opts for alcohol treatment and NAD+ therapy. Once everyone is settled, a new round of cheerful conversation ensues. But suddenly, as if a ghost passed by, everyone halts their conversation and sits motionless on the sofas, staring vacantly, waiting for their treatments to conclude. The lobby of the treatment facility briefly returns to silence. Two hours later, these young individuals with radiant skin look revitalized and plunge into the bustling city center, embarking on their new day.

In Kang Haoxian's eyes, contemporary social lives, lifestyles, and people's patterns of interaction, as signs of the popular culture and the social milieu, are all channels to expose societal problems. The fictional social scene described above serves as a synecdoche for Kang Haoxian's new works featured in this exhibition. It summarizes the myth of contemporary social life depicted by the artist. Through this scene, we can observe the social behavior and lifestyle of contemporary individuals, amplified and disseminated through social media. They derive from the popular culture and, in turn, become part of it. This peculiar aspect of social culture, like an unofficial history, remains concealed in the hidden corners of contemporary life, yet it serves as a fable-like reflection of people's behavioral patterns and living conditions.

The "Palace of Leisure" draws inspiration from historical descriptions of places where the leisured class would indulge in pleasure. However, in this context, the "Palace of Leisure" is a mixed and composite form of imagination pervading the narrative atmosphere of Kang Haoxian's new works. It corresponds to two concepts. First, it represents the transient spatial scenes that contemporary individuals continuously experience during their social activities. The space in the "Palace of Leisure" exists beyond the confines of everyday spaces. In the past, this kind of space played a crucial role in defining the essential characteristics of a leisured class within a pre-modern environment. Interestingly, this spatial concept, in its current form, has dispersed in various ways within today's society. In the "Palace of Leisure," there are no specific rules guiding people's activities or thought processes, and productive activities are obscured. Here, individuals temporarily gain autonomy in their actions. In Kang Haoxian's new works, many such spaces are portrayed, simplified and turned into symbolic stages for the artist to manipulate the characters he depicts.

Escalators, elevators, balconies, empty conference tables, interior and exterior of cars—these spaces Kang Haoxian that has chosen are all fraught with urgency. Nobody lingers in such spaces for long; they act as fleeting respites squeezed between two functional spaces. In these brief moments, no productive goals or intellectual output will be achieved. These spaces are simplified into passageways or suspended voids, where the action of entering fulfill their purpose. It’s once again up the individuals within to decide whether to stay, to wait, and how to pass their time. Therefore, Kang Haoxian’s discussion and depiction of such a special concept is worthwhile, as it is the voids and our disillusionment that offer endless possibilities to these spaces, gradually shaping the action models of the contemporary. Kang Haoxian keenly captures the characteristics of these spaces and transforms them into unconscious social settings in his observations and subsequent creations.

As a result, the "Palace of Leisure" becomes a narrative scene for Kang Haoxian's new exploration, serving as an introduction that enables the artist to describe the state of contemporary social life that he has long been interested in. Amid the meticulously organized schedule of activities, the "Palace of Leisure" provides people with a new form of social life and state of behavior. As the fictional scenario described in the introduction suggests, if every line in the itinerary represents a formal social occasion, every interval offers fertile ground for self-directed actions. In these informal intervals, there are no deliberate social settings. Just like when they are waiting for the IV therapy, people have the liberty to choose collective silence or suddenly engage in a new conversation or social interaction. It is only in such scenes that the absence of attention is allowed, and genuine moments of selfhood emerge. It is in these moments that unconscious conversations and interactions triggered by a lack of attention come to life.

This behavioral state has always been lurking in our social lives. In the scenes of the "Palace of Leisure," Kang Haoxian captures this state through group portraits . In works such as "Blue Night," "Friday Night 2," "Look! Far Away," we see stylish individuals gathered in groups. Some are engaged in interactions, while others are immersed in joy. What's more intriguing is the individuals lost in their thoughts amid the colorful social scene. In the “Palace of Leisure,” being lost in thought or purely absorbed in oneself is acknowledged, as it endows a sculptural beauty to the actions of an individual, both rigid and vivid. It clings to individuals like a thin mist in the wasteland, forming postures transcending actions per se in a certain manner. The man leaning against the backseat of a limousine exudes a carefree aura, oblivious to the conversation inside the vehicle. The celebrity stepping out of the car with a stylish scarf wrapped around her head immerses herself in every movement of her exit. The black woman lying down at the conference table can freely reveal her exhaustion. And the lady striking poses for an imaginary audience while descending with the escalator appears so endearing, because in this moment, in this unstructured, purposeless, and distracted moment, we see her ego that is only revealed when carried away.

While the surrounding festivities continue, unconscious conversations and interactions unfold, and carefully adorned social lives blend with absorbed actions, creating a symptomatic portrayal of contemporary social culture and behavior. In Kang Haoxian's group portraits, individuals are integrated and set against each other, socializing as if on a mission. We want to eavesdrop on the whispers and secrets of the elite, or to overhear  the loud conspiracies of successful businessmen in the social scene. Meanwhile, the unpredictable outcomes or collaborations arising from casual conversations and interactions excite us. Yet, in a moment of bewilderment, we witness two women placed in the crowd by Kang Haoxian, gazing at each other with intensity under the setting sun, or a man and a woman unconsciously holding hands. How romantic and enchanting. These people struggle mildly and resist restrainedly, breaking away from the jubilation before becoming part of it by going into a trance, to declare that they intend to regain control of their life's rhythm in the splendid social life, like making a frolicking statement. But before long, as the merriment resumes, they will plunge back into the festivities.

In the end, in Kang Haoxian's delineation of the ”Palace of Leisure,” there is a moment of respite with countless stories simultaneously gushing forth, where intentional, unintentional conversations and whispers, scattered, passionate actions and contacts, absent-minded and concentrated postures and expressions, turn these works into an unofficial history of social life, playing the B-side of the glamorous celebrities. Kang Haoxian's gaze is sharp, and his perspective captures the contemporary pop culture phenomena with surgical precision. He portrays the social culture as a representation of pop culture. When the once-hidden social lives and deliberately concealed upper-class secrets are exposed to the public with the impetus of the internet, Kang Haoxian gathers the broken footage to piece together the stories. The individuals and images in the “Palace of Leisure,” real or made-up, may not be recorded in the annals of history, but they are like ghosts clandestinely shaping the course of the official history. Those hushed conversations, the impromptu interactions and social intercourse subtly influence the life that people intentionally arrange and record in the official history, just like the testimonies that can only be spoken rather than being documented, recording the present situation of contemporary life.

Dresser

亚麻布丙烯

Acrylic on linen

108 × 88 cm 

2023

关于艺术家

ABOUT THE ARTIST

康好贤 (b.1989)，生于中国山东，现工作生活于北京，2013年毕业于中央美术学院动画系。

他擅长在作品中挪用大众文化符号和流行元素，将高雅与低俗并置。他巧妙地将派对与神话融合，描绘出聚会中错综复杂的人物关系与情感。近来，其作品中所展现的时髦穿着和派对场景引起了时尚圈与潮流领导者的关注。艺术家以其独特的视角观察着自身周遭，配以出色的喷笔技巧，其作品被营造出一种介于生活却又疏离于世俗的质感。2018年和2019年艺术家两度于洛杉矶游历，这段迥异于以往的生活经验，让他开始将创作的注意力从古老的神秘领域转向了叙事性的现实主义创作。在他的画面中的人物通常杂糅了人种身份，以此讨论世界范围内普遍的文化霸权与现代社交文化下个人在社会中扮演的角色。

其近期个展包括：离宫别馆（星空间，北京，2023）；情以致幽（VETA画廊，马德里，2022）；美杜莎之眼（VETA画廊，马德里，2022）；游泳池与鸽子蛋（We Space，上海，2021）；顺义没有比弗利（星空间，北京，2021）；愚人之旅（星空间，北京，2018），金者预言（hiart space，上海，2017）。

Kang Haoxian (b.1989), born in Shandong, China, currently lives and works in Beijing. He graduated from the Animation Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in 2013.

Elements from fashion and pop culture are often seen in Kang Haoxian’s art, which usually contains a skillful juxtaposition of elegance and vulgarity. He is adept at depicting the complicated relationships and emotions of party animals with a subtle indication of mythology. Vividly portraying the party scenes and the latest fashion, his recent work has caught the attention of some opinion leaders and taste makers in the fashion industry. Observing the daily life from his own perspective, the artist manages to create an atmosphere with the quality of both worldliness and spirituality with his artful control of the air brush. Thanks to his encounters in Los Angeles during his two visits in 2018 and 2019, Kang Haoxian shifted his focus from the ancient occult realm to realism and narrativity. The figures in his paintings are usually a mixture of different races and strata, allowing the discussion of the world-prevailing cultural hegemony and the social roles of individuals in the modern social culture. 

Kang's recent solo exhibitions include: PEACE OUT (Star Gallery, Beijing, 2023); With Feelings in Silence (VETA Gallery, Madrid, 2022); Eye of Medusa (VETA Gallery, Madrid, 2022); Everythig All There Will Be (We Space, Shanghai, 2021); There’s No Beverly in Shunyi (Star Gallery, Beijing, 2021); A Journey of Fools (Star Gallery, Beijing, 2018); The Passed Future (hiarrt space, Shanghai, 2017).

关于策展人

ABOUT THE CURATOR

刘翰文，策划人，常驻北京。

Liu Hanwen, curator, based in Beijing.