Description

About the exhibition
Entries accepted from June 2021 until the end of 2021.

Established and emerging artists representing all art mediums are invited to submit photos of their works with their focus being on the materials used to create the art piece. The exhibit will be presented online initially, and later, selected art pieces will be exhibited in art galleries and museums throughout China, as well as several other galleries in Europe and America.

The idea of ‘Material Art’ is related not only to the general contemporary art term ‘New Materialism’, but also refers to all artwork where ‘matter’ is the primary vehicle of philosophical, political, social, environmental, emotional, and aesthetic expression. To quote one of the professors at Tsinghua University: “Physical form is one of the most important carriers of art, and also the carrier of ideas.”

The brand new concept for the “Material Thinking” exhibit was developed on the occasion of the International Biennial of Art, organized by the Academy of Arts & Design at Tsinghua University. We wanted to showcase innovative works based on the uniqueness and originality of materials used. All works accepted to the exhibit will be inspired not only by an idea or theme, but by the diversity of the material from which they were made. Our primary intention of this exhibit is to re-emphasize the power of ‘matter’ in art – the power of the material being used! Some works may reject constructed forms altogether, and they may reverse or cloud the conventional relationship between medium and representation. In either case, the material (and related technology) becomes the message.