Magazzino is pleased to present Treatise on Ancient Design, by Yan Xing. This is the Chinese artist’s first solo exhibition in Italy. It will be on view from September 26th through November 9th, 2018.

Yan Xing is known for his multi-component, interdisciplinary projects that combine diverse media such as performance, video, photography, installation and painting. He has built a complex, compelling body of work that reflects critically on how history is manufactured today. Through the intensive investigation of literature, history, and art theory, he has worked out an artistic narrative governed by its own logic. His works circulate around large themes such as negativity, resistance, and order, exploring their complex interrelations.

In his exhibition at Magazzino, Yan Xing focuses on the value of ancient aesthetics and its permeation into modernity. Starting out with an investigation into the history of modern classical architecture in Europe, he traces how this architecture has transformed the consciousness on the graphic designing process in Northern Africa, especially in Lybia and Tunisia. Referencing the clear neo-classical connotations in the visual language of totalitarian regimes, the artist will embrace the space of the gallery with an environmental installation that includes sculpture and a series of works on paper reflecting the ambiguous nature of his subject. Through this installation, Yan Xing aims to show how a certain aesthetic is bound to dominate the space, both through the architectural layout and by its choice of elements that will generate tension with the viewer and his/her perception of space. The work reflects the dark and obscure signs of domination and control implied by the use of a design scheme.

A comprehensive text by Cecilia Canziani (art critic and curator based in Rome) will accompany the exhibition.