EXHIBITION TIMES: 8 MAR 19 – 4 AUG19, 10AM–5PM DAILY
Continuing the National Gallery of Victoria’s engagement with contemporary art and design from China, SO–IL: Viewing China presents more than thirty white porcelain items from the NGV Collection within a vibrant architectural display designed by groundbreaking architecture practice SO–IL (USA/China). The project is displayed within Federation Court at NGV International for the opening of Melbourne Design Week in March 2019.
SO–IL (Solid Objectives – Idenburg Liu) is an architectural design firm established in 2008 by architect Jing Liu and Dutchman Florian Idenburg. Acclaimed for its innovative use of materials, the firm won the MoMA PS1 Young Architects Program in 2010 and designed the inaugural venue of the Frieze Art Fair in New York City, as well as the award-winning Kukje Gallery in Seoul. SO-IL is a key feature of the NGV’s display of Chinese contemporary art and design.
Comprising a large group of geometrically shaped vitrines constructed from brightly coloured dichroic acrylic, SO–IL’s design recontextualises and draws into focus a broad selection of white porcelain objects from the NGV’s Decorative Arts collection, ranging from the seventeenth century to the present day. The display creates a unique dialogue between historical artefacts and contemporary design, as the architects explain:
‘Through the organisation of colour, form and material, we seek to reduce the object-ness of the individual pieces … It is about a transition from object to experience, and the power of architecture to act as a mediator in that process’
View the full exhibition page here, ngv.vic.gov.au/so-il