In 2023, Long March’s main gallery ran concurrently with the Long March Independent Project, featuring extensive projects rooted in long-term research, as well as exhibitions, performances, and workshops in collaboration with emerging curators and artists.
At the outset of 2023, Long March Space unveiled Guo Fengyi’s solo exhibition, “Cosmic Meridians,” curated by Wang Huan. In partnership with “General Manual,” Long March Space will release a new catalogue for Guo Fengyi, extending support for her ongoing research and studies in early 2024. Guo Fengyi’s artwork has featured in several significant institutional group exhibitions, including “Bodily Reaction: Vitalizing the Bare Life” at Beijing Taikang Space, the 2023 Macao International Art Biennale, and “Green Snake: women-centred ecologies” at the Tai Kwun Museum of Contemporary Art in Hong Kong.
Installation view of “Guo Fengyi: Cosmic Meridians”, 2023, Long March Space
Installation view of “Bodily Reaction: Vitalizing the Bare Life”
Installation view of “Art Macao: 2023 Macao International Art Biennale”,
Installation view of “Green Snake: women-centred ecologies”, 2023, Tai Kwun Museum of Contemporary Art, Hong Kong, Photo by Kwan Sheung Chi, i
Co-curated by Michael Connor (Co-Executive Director of Rhizome), Iris Long (writer, independent curator, and Berggruen Fellow), and artist Ziyang Wu, “Fictions of Interdomain Routing” explored pivotal issues in contemporary digital culture. The exhibition featured seven groups of international artists whose works delved into real and imagined communication networks and infrastructure, highlighting our intricate connection with these technical systems. Many of the artists and their works made their debut in China, marking the first post-pandemic global perspective in Beijing, addressing the intersection of art and technology.
Installation view of “Fictions of Interdomain Routing”, 2023, Long March Space
In late summer, Long March Space presented Chen Chieh-jen’s solo show, “Detoxify Illusion with Māyā,” marking his return after six years since his last exhibition in Beijing. The exhibition showcased Chen’s latest video works from the past two years, continuing his exploration of how the multitude, which, increasingly ostracized by the acceleration of this centrifugal machine, now confronts the question of how to rebuild its subjectivity and reshape society in an era that pretends towards transparency, while effectively tightening supervision and control.
Installation view of “Chen Chieh-jen: Detoxify Illusion with Māyā”, 2023, Long March Space
The ongoing exhibition, “from paper to paper,” by artists Inga Svala Thorsdottir + Wu Shanzhuan, curated by Liu Tian, showcases 600 creative sketches on A4 paper selected from various stages of Thorsdottir and Wu’s artistic career spanning over thirty years. These works will serve as an index for their continuous research and institutional solo exhibitions over the next five years.
Installation view of “Inga Svala Thorsdottir + Wu Shanzhuan: from paper to paper”, 2023, Long March Space
The Long March Independent Project relaunched with curator Evonne Jiawei Yuan’s “Steadfastly Revise for the Standards in Nonproductive Construction (Part I: Solid Molds)” at the end of 2022, followed by “Part II: Liquid Circulates” at the beginning of 2023. From May to September 2023, Li Jia’s “Walking Guides” invited 15 groups of artists, incorporating their works into a tangled edifice of fire-resistant rock wool resembling both street and ruin, exploring their practice of “walking through the streets.” Throughout the exhibition, Long March organized several panels and workshops, aligning with its ongoing exploration on self-organized art initiatives. “Stop! Surfaced and Zone Out” Performance Series, presented from October to December 2023 and independently curated by three groups of artists: Tan Yingjie’s installation theatre “Don’t Let Things Come to You,” Beio’s three-act performance “In the Wilderness,” and the screening and performance installation “ME FOR YOU AND FUN FOR ME” by mollyrainmore.org, a collective artist identity of Tina Guo Tianyu and Vincent Zhang Yiren.
Installation view of “Steadfastly Revise for the Standards in Nonproductive Construction (Part I: Solid Molds)”, 2022, Long March Independent Space
Installation view of “Steadfastly Revise for the Standards in Nonproductive Construction (Part II: Liquid Circulates)”, 2023, Long March Independent Space
Installation view of “Walking Guides”, 2023, Long March Independent Space
Performance view of “Tan Yingjie: Don’t Let Things Come to You”, 2023, Long March Independent Space
Performance view of “Beio: In the Wilderness”, 2023, Long March Independent Space
