Ikon Gallery Director Jonathan Watkins
Ikon Gallery Director Jonathan Watkins is to co-curate the Fourth Guangzhou Triennial alongside Jiang Jiehong, Director of the Centre for Chinese Visual Arts at Birmingham City University.
The Guangzhou Triennial is the second largest art event in China. The main exhibition, entitled The Unseen, will include the work of up to 75 international contemporary artists from over 30 counties, many of whom have previously exhibited at Ikon such as Ignasi Aballi (Spain), Giuseppe Penone (Italy), On Kawara (Japan) and Cornelia Parker (UK) plus the work of other artists including Ham Jin (South Korea), Shen Shaomin (China) and Chen Chieh-Jen (Taiwan). Birmingham-based installation artist Ruth Claxton will also feature in the Triennial, which opens on 28 September 2012.
Watkins’ appointment strengthens Birmingham’s cultural links with Guangzhou, its twin city. Earlier this year, the 48 Sheet project, made by EC Arts in collaboration with the Guangzhou Triennial, saw Birmingham’s billboards transformed with works of art created by international artists including MadeIn (China), also showing in Guangzhou.
Jonathan Watkins said: “It is a pleasure and a privilege to be working with Jiang Jiehong towards the realisation of this exhibition for the Guangzhou Triennial, such an important fixture in the art calendar. It is a bonus that we benefit from the affinity between Birmingham and Guangzhou.”
Read more about the Guangzhou Triennial at www.gdmoa.org
The Unseen
The Fourth Guangzhou Triennial
Guangdong Museum of Art
Guangzhou
China
28 September – 16 December 2012