Opening - A YEAR FROM MONDAY: Recent Work by Wenhua Shi

BUFFALO, N.Y. - May 25, 2016 - PRLog -- Opening: Friday, June 17th, 6pm-9pm
Screening: Saturday, June 18th, 7pm
Closing: September 3rd, 2016

"Not knowing exactly what day a year from Monday-the day eight of us had arranged to meet in Mexico-would be, I decided it was early June 1967." -John Cage

Taking its title from a collection of writings by John Cage, Squeaky Wheel presents a mini-survey of recent work by Wenhua Shi. Cage's quote refers to a travel meet-up set by him and friends-unstable but with poetic determination-that never came to fruition. As the date approaches, and friends drop out, Cage's resolve loosens and finds nuance: "We don't have to make plans to be together… Circumstances do it for us."
Shi's work-utilizing newer technologies like video mapping, video games, and real time computer generation-tread a balance of determination and chance, creating circumstances within which his audience can explore their relationship to the works. Influenced by Chinese culture and avant-garde art and film, Shi's work evokes egalitarian relationships between viewer and art, creating spaces for pleasure and meditation. Singing to the Sky (2015) is an interactive installation where visitors can vocalize into a microphone, which is then interpreted live as Chinese symbols in video projection. Fishing, Those Who Are Willing to Hook (2015) takes a Chinese proverb and transports it into a meditative video-game. The exhibit will also see the unveiling of two new pieces, the video mapped work Wave Line (2016), along with the real-time computer generated Computer will not make any more boring art (2016). A commissioned essay by Evan Meaney accompanies the exhibition. On Saturday, June 18th, Shi will present a selection of his work made for the black box, followed by a conversation between Shi and curator Ekrem Serdar.

Originally trained as a doctor in China, Wenhua Shi departed from the medical field and began working in radio and TV in his hometown of Wuhan. In 2000, he came to the US and began studying with with the experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage and Phil Solomon at the University of Colorado, Boulder. There he began making and exploring film/ Sound as and earned his BA & BFA. In 2009 he graduated with MFA from Art Practice at the University of California, at Berkeley. Since then his new works integrate new media, sounds, and installations. His work have been screened or exhibited at Pacific Film Archive, European Media Art Festival, Black Maria Film Festival, Smithsonian Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, the National Museum of Film, Photography and Television (UK) ,Experiments in Cinema, Albuquerque, Denver Contemporary Museum of Art, Beijing Film Academy, Berlin International Directors Lounge, The Jack Kerouac School of Naropa University, and dozens of international film festivals, including Ann Arbor, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Bradford, and Mexico City.West Bund 2013: a Biennale of Architecture and Contemporary art, Shanghai, Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism, International Arte Laguna Prize, Finalists Exhibition,The Arsenale of Venice, Venice, Italy.

A pdf and stills from this announcement can be seen here: https://goo.gl/YdOfyx

This event is supported by: The Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts, City of Buffalo - Arts & Cultural Funding, Erie County Arts & Cultural Funding, M&T Charitable Foundation and New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA).