Since the 1980s, Chinese contemporary artists have cultivated intimate relationships with their materials, establishing a framework of interpretation revolving around materiality. Their media range from the commonplace to the unconventional, the natural to the synthetic, the elemental to the composite: from plastic, water, and wood, to hair, gunpowder, and Coca-Cola.

Artists continue to explore and develop this creative mode, with some devoting decades of their practice to experiments with a single material. For the first time, The Allure of Matter brings together works from the past four decades in which conscious material choice has become a symbol of the artists’ expression, representing this unique trend throughout recent history.

The exhibition features approximately 40 monumental works that are complementary in form, material, and visual effect.

Artists

Ai Weiwei, Cai Guo-Qiang, Chen Zhen, Gu Dexin, Gu Wenda, He Xiangyu, Hu Xiaoyuan, Huang Yong Ping, Jin Shan, Liang Shaoji, Lin Tianmiao, Liu Jianhua, Liu Wei, Ma Qiusha, Shi Hui, Song Dong, Sui Jianguo, Sun Yuan and Peng Yu, Wang Jin, Xu Bin, Yin Xiuzhen, Zhan Wang, Zhang Yu, and Zhu Jinshi.

Chicago Presentation

In Chicago, the exhibition is co-presented at the Smart Museum and Wrightwood 659.

National Tour

• Los Angeles County Museum of Art (summer 2019)
• Smart Museum of Art and Wrightwood 659, Chicago (winter 2020)
• Seattle Art Museum (summer 2020)
• Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts (fall 2020)