Local artists have stars in their eyes

The Consolation of Constellation, a work by Guan Wei

New York-based curator Mathieu Borysevicz hopes to illustrate narrative expression through a multimedia exhibit that opens this weekend at the Shanghai Gallery of Art.

Titled "Allegorical Aftermath", it features the work of five contemporary Chinese artists: Guan Wei, Gao Shiqiang, Wu Junyong, Zhuang Hui and Dan Er.

Specifically choosing artists with similar styles, Borysevicz described the pieces as a complimentary collection of images that not only tell stories but also convey ideas.

Guan Wei's epic painting "The Consolation of Constellation" serves as the centerpiece of the exhibit. Made up of two dozen acrylic-on-oil paintings, it stretches nearly seven meters in length. Borysevicz said he chose this as the main piece because its image resonates not only of Medieval times when nave scientific illustrations explained the world in terms of its subservient relationship to the heavens, but also of the Bible's Last Judgment, popularized by Michelangelo's momentous Sistine Chapel murals.

"The biblical Last Judgment conjures up images of eternal suffering and apocalypse which shares a relationship with Guan Wei's work as a soft, symbol of hope for a world that may be headlong for destruction," he said.

Another work on display is meant to convey "a feeling from above" through a video piece shot in northwestern Qinghai by Gao Shiqiang.

"It's shot from a high plateau, so you get the feeling you are near heaven," said Borysevicz.