Lost In a Spectacle–Group Exhibition Selected by Saša Bogojev : Beijing

For the inauguration of their new 200sqm space in Beijing's Blanc Art Space, WOAW gallery is proudly presenting a group exhibition Lost In a Spectacle, featuring vivacious works by 9 international artists. Pointing at different tones of the connection between human nature and nature at large, the exhibition was conceived by the writer and curator Saša Bogojev and is comprising paintings and sculptures by Laurent Proux, Zachary Ochoa, Gabriel Cortese, Horacio Quiroz, Charles Shedden aka OWVBICS, Jade Thacker, Emilie Stark-Menneg, Josh Jefferson, and Kiko Miyares.

“The spectacle of Nature is always new, for she is always renewing the spectators. Life is her most exquisite invention; and death is her expert contrivance to get plenty of life.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Starting with the term that's been standing for nature's grandeur and brilliance for centuries, Lost in a Spectacle is also suggesting humanity's growing struggle to find a harmonious place within its natural habitat. The many stages of this regression are portrayed with various approaches through which artists are touching the subject of complex interconnectivity with our inherent surroundings. These include cheerfully enjoying the lush surroundings (Cortese) or even blending with its elements (Quiroz), feeling baffled and displaced in the wilderness (Proux), repurposing its elements as superficial decoration (Shedden, Stark-Menneg), turning irrationally destructive towards it (Ochoa, Miyares), and eventually dissolving into its essence, the abstract organic forms (Thacker, Jefferson). Experimenting with the techniques and embracing the abundance of visual influences around us, these works are to some extent channeling everything from romanticism's idealization of nature to impressionism's urge to depict the changing qualities of life, all while keeping the awareness focused on the environmental and human condition concerns.

“How beautiful was the spectacle of nature not yet touched by the often perverse wisdom of man!” ― Umberto Eco

Conveyed through different styles of painting, technical approaches, and even mediums, the entire presentation is imbued with an atmosphere of pulsating vivacity and relentless growth. Growth, which at times is put to test by our mindless, self-centered actions, only to instantaneously remind us that we're nothing but speckles in its greatness. Struggling to make the best out of a blink of an eternity which we recognize as a lifetime, in a figurative and literal way we are more and more evidently lost in a spectacle of nature.