Today I am talking about “Paper” at the Saatchi Gallery, Sloane Square, London.

“Paper” showcases works on paper from around the world. The work ranges from political, to surreal, to architectural, drawings, paintings, installations and more! It is colourful, and dull, detailed and base. It is all about paper and as an artists that has used paper in my work, the exhibition is both inspiring and motivating. I will be looking at a few of the artists over the next few weeks but the first is the one that I most enjoyed.

The work I enjoyed the most is Han Feng’s “Floating City”.

This piece of work is made of little tracing paper buildings, floating above the ground. There is something playful and dreamy, like a cloud of structures. It reminds me of stories, and exploring, of seeing a new place for the first time, hence the chose of word “enjoy”!

I found the muted pallet, and translucent elements of the paper, the little bits of detail with other empty areas, gave me this feeling that I was experiencing a space for the first time. It reminded me of a ghost tour I did in London last winter, and the guide pointed out that the lamp post have the Coco Chanel Logo, along with the Duke of Westminster’s, and he the story that this was a love symbol, now this may or may not be true, the point I am making is that I never noticed before it was pointed out, and now I see the symbols on every lamp post in Westminster. The way this work is constructed with some details of architectural or urban spaces printed onto some parts, and others left natural makes me think of how we only see part of the world at a time, usually the part that is pointed out to us. Here are a few more pictures (thank you Saatchi for having a photographing policy that allows us to take pictures!)

What do you think?

What the gallery says:

“Han Feng’s Floating City plays with deliberate contradictions from its title on down. Neither sculpture nor drawing, Feng’s piece is composed of hundreds of tracing paper buildings of various sizes, their laser- printed details deriving from images of city architecture, which are grouped in dense clusters and hung from the ceiling with transparent fish tackle thread. Hovering a couple of inches off the gallery floor, Floating City has an ethereal, almost spectral quality; it shivers and sways with the movement of visitors. Depicting a city – something we associate, especially in recent times, with population density, atmospheric pollution, architectural diversity and multicultural vibrancy – as something weightless, depopulated, semi-transparent and fragile, Feng’s work asks us to consider the city as something imagined, an idea as much as a place. This might be what a utopia looks like – a notion expressed in language, impossible to realise in reality.
The city’s pale palette certainly appears drained of life, as though emptied of occupants; the use of tracing paper implies preparation, a stage before completion. Looking down on this ghostly apparition, we’re separated from it both physically and conceptually: it’s perpetually distant, a mirage.

Text by Ben Street”

Exhibition reviews:
The Londonist: 19 JUNE 2013 | ART & PHOTOGRAPHY | BY: SARAH STEWART New Exhibition Shows The World Manifested Through Paper

The Independent

Posi+tive

The only thing I am upset about is I didn’t see it sooner! Recently I have not been hugely inspired to go back to exhibitions and because of this I didn’t go to see this exhibition before, note to self, go to exhibitions as they open, not as they close!

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