ABUNDANCE
SHELLIE ZHANG - MAY 1/JUNE 7 2020
A digital exhibition presented by Patel Gallery for Contact Photography Festival.
i
“Abundance is a new project by Shellie Zhang featuring sculptural, photographic, and installation-based works. The exhibition is a cyclical reflection on two actions: the artist’s relatives bringing her pieces of cut fruit in her youth, and her leaving fruit offerings at their graves.”
OFFERINGS TO BOTH PAST AND FUTURE
2018-2020
Shellie Zhang, ‘Still Life with Peach’, 2019, Chromogenic Print, 24" x 18", click through for pricing
Shellie Zhang, 'Still Life with Peach and Nectarines', 2019, Chromogenic Print, 18" x 24", click through for pricing
Photo Credit: Matthew Hayes
Shellie Zhang, 'Still Life with Bitter Melons', 2018-2019, C-Print, 24" x 18", click through for pricing
Shellie Zhang, ‘Still Life with Bitter Melon’, 2018-2019, C-Print, 24”x18”, click through for pricing
Shellie Zhang, 'Still Life with Lychee and Pomegranate', 2020, Digital C-Print, 18" x 24", click through for pricing
Shellie Zhang, 'Still Life with Lychee', 2020, Digital C-Print, 18" x 24", click through for pricing
Shellie Zhang, 'Still Life with Peach and Nectarines', 2019, Chromogenic Print, 18" x 24", click through for pricing
Photo Credit: Matthew Hayes
II
The project features different arrangements of both real and artificial fruits and vegetables displayed in bowls from the artist’s home and collection of family heirlooms. These serve as a metaphor for the dreams and labour that extends across oceans and generations.
cornucopias
2019-2020
Shellie Zhang, 'Cornucopia 1', (Apples, Pears, Lemons and Grapes), 2020, Plastic, steel, wire, rubber, adhesive, click through for pricing
Shellie Zhang, 'Cornucopia 2' (Apples, Peaches, Nectarines, Plums, Pomegranates and Grapes), 2020, Plastic, steel, wire, rubber, adhesive, click through for pricing
Shellie Zhang, 'Cornucopia 5' (Apples, Pears, Lemons and Grapes), 2020, Plastic, steel, wire, rubber, adhesive, click through for pricing
III
Vibrant piles of fruit were created from plastic and rubber replicas purchased from kitchen supply stores and home décor shops. Many of the fruits displayed cannot be grown or cultivated here. Combining visual cues from bowls of decorative produce displayed in restaurants, offerings at shrines/temples and elaborate presentations of fruits as gifts. Cornucopias examines how artificial substitutes are utilized as a stand-in for their organic counterparts.
Photo Credit: Matthew Hayes
IV
Combining visual cues from imagery of plentiful fruit in produce advertisements, still-life paintings, bowls of decorative produce displayed in restaurants, offerings at shrines/temples, and the tradition of gifting fruit, Abundance looks at how we connect to the spiritual and natural world through the objects that we imbue with meaning.
Shellie Zhang, 'Cornucopia 4', (Starfruits, Mangos, Pears, Oranges, Bananas, Berries and Grapes), 2020, Plastic, steel, wire, rubber, adhesive, click through for pricing
Shellie Zhang, 'Cornucopia 3', (Pomegranates, Dragonfruits, Soursops, King Mandarin and Grapes), 2020, Plastic, steel, wire, rubber, adhesive, click through for pricing
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Shellie Zhang (b. 1991, Beijing, China) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Tkaronto/Toronto, Canada. By uniting both past and present iconography with the techniques of mass communication, language and sign, Zhang’s work deconstructs notions of tradition, gender, identity, the diaspora, and popular culture while calling attention to these subjects in the context and construction of a multicultural society. She is interested in exploring how integration, diversity and assimilation is implemented and negotiated, how this relates to lived experiences, how culture is learned, relearned and sustained, and how things are remembered and preserved.
ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMING
Click image for full feature via BlackFlash Mag
PROCESS OF CREATING ABUNDANCE
AN IG FEATURE
Qingming FEstival & Abundance
AN IG FEATURE