Utopian-Bands and Related Works by Mark Harris
January 25 - March 30, 2008
The Cincinnati Arts Association's Alice F. and Harris K. Weston Art Gallery in the Aronoff Center for the Arts celebrate the opening of three new exhibitions linked by their keen political and social observations of contemporary culture.
Through a variety of media that includes painting, video, photography and artist books, Mark Harris, director of the School of Art at the University of Cincinnati's College of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning, explores imagery of intoxication as a form of utopian representation. Harris's work imagines intoxication functioning as an alternative to the aggressively incursive strategies of the historical avant-garde.
Utopian-Bands and Related Works represents the culmination of work following a trip Harris took in the summer of 2006 when he traveled to Beijing to document six Chinese rock bands in an outdoor concert he co-organized with Beijing alternative music promoter Yang Licai. Harris's filming captures a glimpse of the cultural changes sweeping through China and celebrates Beijing rock bands as the return of the repressed-microcosmic utopian communities once stifled by a Chinese Communism focused on national social reorganization. The video debut of Utopian-Bands will be accompanied by a series of paper cutouts and photographs informed by Harris's experiences in China.
Mark Harris is an artist, critic, and curator living in Cincinnati, OH. His diverse approaches to making artwork include painting, installation, video, and photography. Harris's recent solo and collaborative exhibitions include Streets of London, a video installation with Peter Lloyd Lewis at 1 000 000mph, London (2003); the Trans Hudson Gallery, New York (2001); the Economist Building, London, with Carmel Buckley (1999); and Wall of Sound, with Jem Finer, at the Trans Hudson Gallery, Jersey City (1996). In addition, his work has appeared in exhibitions in London, Munich, Peterborough (Canada), New Zealand, and Vienna. He holds a doctorate in philosophy from Goldsmiths College, University of London (2005). Among his many publications are articles in Miser & Now, NY Arts, ARTicle Press, and MAKE Magazine, as well as articles and reviews in Art Monthly.
Utopian-Bands and Related Works is generously co-sponsored by The Kaplan Foundation with additional support from Andrew Stillpass.
2007-08 Weston Art Gallery Season Sponsors: Jackie and Mitch Meyers
2007-08 Gallery Talk Series Sponsor: Mary T. Mahler
All dates and times are subject to change.
Weston Art Gallery in the Aronoff Center for the Arts 650 Walnut Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-2517
tel 513 977 4165
fax 977-4182
Tues. - Sat. 10 am - 5:30 pm, Sun. noon - 5 pm (open late on Procter & Gamble Hall performance evenings)
WestonArtGallery@CincinnatiArts.ORG Admission is free.
"My 2005 fellowship hosted by Long March Project lasted 2 months. I was in Beijing the entire time. I returned in July 2006 to realize a final project finishing up remaining fellowship money and using a University of Cincinnati Research Grant.
I'd been surprised by the amount of public music in Beijing. After finding a translation of Mao Zedong's poems in a Beijing bookshop I began inviting performers to be videotaped singing one of Mao's Long March poems. The 35 recorded musicians included traditional folk musicians from Tiantan and Jingshan Parks, pop and karaoke singers from the bars in Hou Hai, street musicians from Dongzhimen, Xidan and Dongsishitiao subways, and rock-and-roll vocalists from clubs like Yu Gong Yi Shan and Nameless Highland, all filmed on location. Written between 1934-36, these poems predate the foundation of the Communist State. The future that they call for is not the one that came about. Musicians had very different responses to the invitation. Some declined on account of misfortune their families experienced during the Cultural Revolution. Others knew some of the poems from their youth and felt comfortable. The intention of linking these musicians to Mao's poems was to join a contemporary utopian project with a historical one. Hearing that Mao's position in contemporary China is so complex that people feel deeply ambivalent towards him, I hoped the project would reveal some of this complexity. While addressing Mao's reputation as a statesman, political theorist, poet and calligrapher, the project invites speculation on the wide range of feelings he arouses amongst contemporary Chinese.
"Mao Songs" was shown in London at "Year_06", Mary Ward House, October 2006 (with publication) and in "State Fare" at the Wexner Center, Columbus, Ohio (with publication). in Summer 2007. In May 2008 it will be shown in "American Idyll" at the Cincinnati Contemporary Art Center.
In 2005 it was difficult to engage contemporary rock musicians who saw participation complicating their professional careers. Instead of concluding the residency with an exhibition in 2005, I talked with some of those who'd helped with "Mao Songs" about involving rock bands in a concert project offering them more freedom in performance. Once back home I worked with Beijing-based independent music promoter Yang Licai on plans for "Utopian-Bands" to feature the six local bands likely to represent a range of contemporary utopian outcomes. The concert celebrated Beijing rock bands as the return of the repressed, as microcosmic utopian communities once stifled by a Chinese Communism focused on national social reorganization. Their appreciation for musical inventiveness, and for flexible or open communities of performers were considerations in choosing the bands.
"Utopian-Bands" took place on July 14, 2006, at 2kolegas club, Beijing. A successful concert was always the aim of the project. The video shown in exhibitions documents that evening. Since then I've made paper cutouts from photos taken of the bands that night and have developed a collection of 100 CDs of contemporary Chinese music that can be heard on listening stations in exhibitions. Work relating to "Utopian-Bands" was shown at the Wexner Center in 2007 and at the Weston Art Gallery, Cincinnati, from January-March 2008.
The 2005 international residency was an invaluable experience that expanded the field of my research into more complex representations of musical performance and history. I'd never been to China before and I wanted the work I did to retain some of my astonishment at Beijing's rich street life and adventurous music culture."
Mark Harris