亭台展览｜姚慕然：僅供淺嚐

7月16日至8月11日，由上海当代艺术馆、上海当代艺术馆基金会主办的姚慕然（中国澳门，2000）个展《僅供淺嚐》将在上海当代艺术馆·艺术亭台呈现。正值澳门回归25周年，该展览通过展示姚慕然的“食物”题材绘画作品，以光为引，讨论父权制背景下诞生的欲望载体形象如何被反复生产和吸收。

展览概念源自安哥拉女性诗人安娜·宝拉·里贝罗·塔瓦雷斯（Ana Paula Ribeiro Tavares，安哥拉出生，后长期工作生活于葡萄牙）在2001年出版的诗集《你对我说的话像果实一样苦涩》（Dizes-me coisas amargas como os frutos）中对于果实的描写。该诗集中，果实以生存为目的进行诱惑斗争，成为欲望的载体。由此出发，作为欲望载体的果实隐喻内容延伸至消费主义之下的生产及吸收维度。展览标题“僅供淺嚐”来自诗集中《枇杷》（A NêSPERA）一诗的最后一句：SABE A POUCO（仅供浅尝）。

展览共呈现艺术家姚慕然的5件“食物”题材绘画作品，并以欲望载体、扁平化、光的显现，“三位一体”搭建起作品之间的普遍联系。从中世纪绘画到虚拟偶像，我们对于二维图像的追求从未停止。消费主义下的二次元文化通过物化、分类，生成了一种可被轻易更替的救赎“形象”。虚拟形象没有人权、意识及道德观，它们作为物体的终极形态存在，是因为它们唯一的目的就是爱我们，并成为一个迎合我们口味的像素之神。扁平化的美少女、猫耳女仆等形象诉说了一种纯粹的、可供窥伺的深层欲望。

光，是整个展览成立的关键要素。此次展出的作品使用了大量需要光线折射的材料，如闪片、珍珠、碎钻，以便观众能够在不断位移的过程中，从多角度进行观看。中世纪经院哲学家罗伯特·格罗塞忒斯特（Robert Grosseteste）认为：光是一切美的源泉，作为上帝光辉的显现，其存在引起最大的愉悦。欲望的显现同样也需要光，并作为一种原始因和目的因被人感知和认识。光是她窥探欲望的方式，并且随着位置移动，欲望的多个“面”皆被诠释。

《我们为何为同一件事哭和笑》（2023）以马赛克的方式构建数字图像，通过将二维形象转化，使像素变得真实。电子屏幕努力将所有复杂且多维的空间平面化，虚拟与现实的维度在此刻被模糊，但欲望屹立不倒。这种恋爱空间中，每一种腮红的颜色都象征着不同审美的统治。

《猫耳娘幻想图》（2022）从艺术家想成为猫耳娘的幻想出发，通过生物解剖意义上对猫身进行解构，达到视觉画面的重组。可爱又具备侵略性的特质同时从画面中传达而出，这种矛盾分化往往被视为人类征服兽欲的游戏。

《星际曲奇》（2024）通过将物欲实体化的方式，建构一个存在于未知位面的美少女宇宙。二次元文化中的美少女形象往往以平面化的形式显现，并作为弱影像在传播的过程中被无情占有、私有化。幻想而出的美少女宇宙提供了一种可供选择的宗教空间，以求超越仅存于无限幻想中的二维乌托邦。

姚慕然对于欲望的多面阐述源自于她的成长经历。她曾就读于澳门天主教女子学校，宗教道德观深深影响着她，同时这也是她性别批判意识的缘起。在那一时期，她发现身边的女性都从“上帝”的全知全能中获得拯救、自由以及满足，但夏洛蒂·勃朗特（Charlotte Bront?）的《简爱》使她意识到命运应该掌握在自己的手里。

多元融合是澳门文化特征的关键词，发达的娱乐产业文化充斥着物质欲望，并编织着每一个个体，使其成为结构的一环。在复杂的欲望结构之下，她被生活中等待着的无限选择所摧毁。她既着迷又厌恶色情，因为它源自自我解放的渴望，但这让她相信自己会成为一个糟糕的女权主义者。

姚慕然，2000年生于中国澳门，目前工作生活于澳门、重庆。她于2019年就读于美国纽约大学工作室艺术专业，随后转学至罗德岛设计学院绘画系，并在2023年毕业。她曾就读于澳门天主教学校，后又至伦敦、纽约生活。宗教、殖民历史、消费文化的多元交融背景促使她与女权主义持续互动。她的创作关注到网络文化中的虚拟形象与二次元文化，主要探索“萌文化”对于东亚女性的欲望投射。

她曾在澳门、温哥华、罗德岛、纽约、重庆参加群展，其中包括2021澳门国际艺术双年展。主要参展经历：距离绕城两公里，罗中立美术馆，重庆，中国，2024，群展；那不可言说的感受原来叫爱 , 鲍威尔街, 温哥华, 加拿大，2023，群展；罗德岛设计学院油画系毕业展，罗德岛，美国，2023，群展；澳门国际艺术双年展，澳门，中国，2021，群展；澳门新女性群展，澳门，中国，2019，群展；USAO 展览, 纽约大学, 纽约，美国，2019，群展。

周星宇

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周星宇，策展人、研究者，1998年生于中国重庆，目前工作生活于重庆。他在意大利米兰新美术学院（NABA）视觉艺术与策展研究专业获得策展硕士后，选择成为一名职业策展人。他基于艺术与视觉人类学的跨学科视角研究权力、生态、身份之间的交叉议题，并基于此进行当代艺术策展实践。

近期策展项目：距离绕城两公里，四川美术学院美术馆，重庆，中国，2024，群展；树状诗学，虎溪公社，重庆，中国，2023，群展；Con Voce Di Pura Cosa（纯粹之声），Motelsalieri，米兰，意大利，2023，群展；Donna Vita Libertá — Voci Della Rivoluzione Iraniana（女性享有自由—伊朗革命之声），NABA Building T，米兰，意大利，2023，群展。

MoCA Pavilion

No.215 West Nanjing Road, Shanghai

From July 16 to August 11, Mou In Yao's (Macau, China, 2000) solo exhibition "Thin Sheets of Needs" will be shown at the MoCA Pavilion. Marking the 25th anniversary of Macao's return to China, the exhibition "Thin Sheets of Needs" starts with artist Mou In Yao's "food" inspired paintings. By dividing, analyzing, and reorganizing the images of desire born under patriarchy, it uses light as a guide to reproduce and assimilate two-dimensional images, three-dimensional consumption, and multi-dimensional desires.

The concept of the exhibition is derived from the description of fruits in the poetry collection "What You Say to Me Is Bitter Like Fruit, Dizes-me coisas amargas como os frutos (2001)" by female poet Ana Paula Ribeiro Tavares, who was born in Angola and now lives in Portugal. In her poem "Loquat", fruit symbolism reveals an imperious romantic fantasy, where the countless desires of deflowering lives behind the facade of attentiveness. A fruit's survival battle can only be won through its seducements by becoming a desire-bearer. Such a metaphor could be extended to food culture under consumerism, pointing to the multi-expressions of desire through interpretations of the term 'consume'. The exhibition titled 'Thin Sheets of Needs' comments on the multi-definition of consumption through exploring the obsession one holds onto a two-dimensional fantasy in a three-dimensional world.

The exhibition presents 5 "food" themed paintings by artist Mou In Yao. Through a triad structure, the show aims to discuss the relationship between two-dimensional figures, desire, and the manifestation of light. From medieval paintings to virtual idols, our demand for two-dimensional images never stopped. Consumerism culture led to a rise for an easier and interchangeable figure of redemption. ACG culture provides such simplicity through its subcategories and objectification of anime figures. They have no rights, consciousness, or morals but exist as objects in their purest form, as their only purpose is to love us, a pixelated god catered to our taste.

Light is crucial to this exhibition. The works on display use materials that require light refraction, such as glitter, pearls, and diamonds, so audiences can view them from various angles during movements, delivering a pure, trespassable commentary on undiluted desires. According to the English philosopher Robert Grosseteste, light is the source of all beauty, a manifestation of God's divine through its blissfulness. As a prime matter in cognition, desire functions similarly to light. Light is her tool for perceiving desire, and as the subject moves across the surface, the multi-dimensions of desire are slowly revealed.

“Why do we cry and laugh at the same thing? (2023)” re-constructs digital imageries through the artist’s use of mosaic. Two-dimensional images become grounded through pixels, while electronic screens strive to flatten all complex and multi-dimensional spaces. The blurriness between virtual and reality gazes at the untouchable stance of desire. In this tantalizing space, each blush color symbolizes the domination of different aesthetics.

“Defeat to hentai: Neko-Musume(2022)” discusses the artist's fantasy of becoming a cat-eared girl, deconstructing the cat's biological anatomy to achieve a collage-like vision, conveying the contrasting tone between cute and aggression. Such conflict is often seen in the human desire for conquering and domestication.

“Galactic Cookies (2024)” constructs a Bishōjo universe in an unknown dimension by materializing imaginary desires. The image of Bishōjo in ACG culture often appears two-dimensional, ruthlessly possessed, and privatized during its dissemination as a poor image. The fantastical galaxy provides an alternative religious space to transcend the two-dimensional utopia that only exists in infinite fantasy.

Mou In Yao's multifaceted explanation of desire stems from her upbringing in Macau and her background in Catholic Girls' School education. Her gender awareness stemmed from Christian moral values, as women around her have all been freed, saved, and gratified by the omnipotence of “God”. Charlotte Bront?'s “Jane Eyre” became a gateway for her to realize destiny is within her hands.

She became devastated by the infinite choices that awaited her in life. She is fascinated and disgusted with pornography simultaneously, as it stems from a desire for self-liberation while believing that it will make her a bad feminist. 

Mou In Yao

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Mou In Yao was born in 2000 Macau, China and is currently based in Macau and Chongqing. She enrolled in the Studio Art program at New York University in 2019, then transferred to the Painting Department at Rhode Island School of Design, where she graduated in 2023. Her early exposure to a Christian, single-sex upbringing in Macau is met with the diverse education of London and New York. The intertwined complexity of religion, colonialism and consumerism have contributed to her ongoing interaction with feminism. Her creative work focuses on virtual fantasies and ACG subculture, mainly exploring the categorical desires of "moe culture" and its impact on East Asian bodies.

She has participated in group exhibitions in Macau, Vancouver, Rhode Island, New York and Chongqing, including the 2021 Macau International Art Biennale. Major exhibitions: Two Kilometers Away From The Chongqing Belt Expressway, Luo Zhongli Art Museum, Chongqing, China, 2024, group exhibition; What I felt for you was love, 603 Powell St, Vancouver, Canada, 2023, group exhibition; Graduation Exhibition of Oil Painting Department, Rhode Island School of Design, Rhode Island, USA, 2023, group exhibition; Macau International Art Biennale, Macau, China; Macau New Women Group Exhibition, Macau, China, 2019, group exhibition; USAO Show, New York University, New York, USA, 2019, group exhibition.

Xingyu Zhou

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Xingyu Zhou is a curator and researcher born in 1998 Chongqing, China and is currently based in Chongqing. After obtaining a master's degree in curatorial studies in visual arts from the New Academy of Fine Arts (NABA) in Milan, Italy, he chose to become a professional curator. Based on the interdisciplinary perspective of art and visual anthropology, he studies the intersection of power, ecology and identity, and conducts contemporary art curatorial practice based on this.

Recent curatorial projects: Two Kilometers Away From The Chongqing Belt Expressway, Luo Zhongli Art Museum, Chongqing, China, 2024, group exhibition; Arboromorphic Poetry, Huxi Commune, Chongqing, China, 2023, group exhibition; Con Voce Di Pura Cosa (Pure Voice), Motelsalieri, Milan, Italy, 2023, group exhibition; Donna Vita Libertá — Voci Della Rivoluzione Iraniana (Women Enjoy Freedom — Voice of the Iranian Revolution), NABA Building T, Milan, Italy, 2023, group exhibition.

MoCA