Time Difference at INITIAL ACCESS - New art from the US and China

31 March–26 July 2007

Artists : Xiao Bo, Matthew Day Jackson, Zeng Fanzhi, Zheng Guogu, Evan Holloway, Matt Johnson, Terence Koh, Li Qing, Li Songsong, Banks Violette, Liu Ye, Feng Zhengjie

 

Time Difference is the second exhibition at Initial Access of new works from the Frank Cohen Collection. It presents important works from the last three years, by some of the key painters and sculptors currently working in the US and China, and almost all the works are on display in the UK for the first time.

 

The World spins from east to west. If we fly west from New York, over Los Angeles, towards Beijing we cross the International Date Line and go back in time by a day. If we fly east, of course, the reverse occurs. This imaginary line travels roughly down the middle of the Pacific Ocean, on one side of which lies China on the other, the USA. If it is Thursday in Los Angeles it is Friday in Beijing. Los Angeles and Beijing face each other across the Pacific Ocean, and are focal points for two opposing cultures. In recent times these two iconic powerhouses have emerged as nuclei for the production of contemporary art in their respective societies. After the dominance of New York on the American and international art scene since the end of the Second World War, LA began to emerge in the late 90s as a centre for new young artists.

 

The Art World, always conscious of new developments, turned its attention to the West Coast where seminal figures like Paul McCarthy had been teaching, and influ- encing a new generation of artists. At the same time, on the other side of the Pacific, a relaxation of conditions in China allowed artists to travel to the West and Westerners to visit China. In LA and Beijing artists, hitherto unknown to Western audiences and collectors, were ‘discovered’ and a new generation of interest began.

 

Time Difference is a representative exhibition from the Frank Cohen Collection of some of the painters and sculptors from these two art worlds. From completely dif- ferent ideological roots and trained in manifestly different ways, the artists from these two countries nevertheless represent powerful sociological and political (with a small ‘p’) forces that dominate the globe today. Sometimes standing in opposition to the prevailing values of each culture, they still depict underlying principles that encapsulate significant forces in their different worlds. The term ‘celebrating differ- ence’ has been overused and discredited but it is the clear distinction between the art that is produced in China and the US and the similar dynamism that propels it out into the world that this exhibition acknowledges.

 

Initial Access opened on 19 January 2007, as a space to present exhibitions from Frank Cohen’s internationally important collection of contemporary art.

 

It is sited on the outskirts of the millennium city of Wolverhampton, in two refurbished warehous- es that provide 10,000 sq feet of exhibition space.

 

Initial Access presents different aspects of the Collection in a series of exhibitions curated by David Thorp. The pro- gramme is designed to mount shows of new acquisitions to the collection, explore themes among works that may not have been seen before and give the public an opportunity to see more of the collection currently in store.

 

David Thorp is the former director of the South London Gallery and curator of con- temporary projects at the Henry Moore Foundation. Frank Cohen grew up in Manchester, and has been collecting art for thirty years.