Group show
Artists: McArthur Binion, Chen Wenji, Hans Op de Beeck, Luca Bull, Andrew Cranston, Mimosa Echard, Adrian Ghenie, Sayre Gomez, Gormley, Nick Goss, He Duoling, Angela Heisch, Hoo Mojong, Loie Hollowell, Roni Horn, Leiko Ikemura, Rashid Johnson, Izumi Kato, Anselm Kiefer, Yayoi Kusama, Mao Yan, Francesca Mollett, Lauren Quin, Marina Rheingantz, Caroline Walker, Wang Luyan, Wang Yuping, Yang Fudong, Yin Xiuzhen, Yu Youhan, Zeng Fanzhi, Zhang Xiaogang, Zhan Wang
As the opening exhibition of H+ Art Museum, “Roaming the Cosmos of the Heart” forms the overarching theme for the museum’s opening series. This concept draws from the Eastern aesthetic experience of “You Guan” (游观), where “roaming” signifies not only physical movement but also the flow and migration of the spirit; “the infinite” symbolizes the world’s diversity and boundlessness. Together, they suggest that the act of viewing art is not a singular act of seeing but a continuously unfolding spiritual journey within a defined space. Thus, “Roaming the Cosmos of the Heart” serves as a metaphorical pathway, pointing towards a dynamic experience intertwined within art and space.
Within this thematic framework, “Infinite” emerges as the key concept for the opening group exhibition. Beyond representing extensions of space, form, and style, “Infinite” also signals a transformation in modes of perception. In Western aesthetic tradition, Kant’s notion of the sublime (das Erhabene) reveals the tension experienced when confronting infinity; in the Chinese philosophical context, from Zhuangzi’s idea of “There is a limit to our life, but to knowledge there is no limit” to the spatial wisdom of Jiangnan gardens where “a vast world is contained within a few steps,” we are reminded that true infinity is not merely an unbounded physical scale but a spiritual process moving from the finite to the infinite. This exhibition embraces such a cross-cultural philosophical foundation, translating “Infinite” into a contemporary experience of viewing. By gathering artists from diverse regions and linguistic traditions, their works are enlivened through juxtaposition and weaving, creating a vibrant cross-cultural dialogue that reflects continuous growth and intertextual resonance.
Designed by Tadao Ando, the museum’s architecture provides a natural narrative path and structural framework for this experiential theme, unfolding across three chapters. The first chapter, “Between Worlds,” is presented in the expansive ground-floor space, where large-scale abstract works evoke a direct and multifaceted experience of the vastness of the world. The second chapter, “Echoes of the Deep,” draws visitors into the dimly lit basement, where contemplative works invite inward reflection, resonating with the depths of culture and spirit. The third chapter, “Roaming in Soft Light,” is spread across the second floor, returning to the delicate, everyday dimension of figurative art, capturing the gentle warmth found within the ordinary. This tripartite spatial progression allows visitors “roaming the cosmos of the hearts” to flow seamlessly between the vast and the intimate, the outer and the inner worlds.
As the inaugural group exhibition, “Roaming the Cosmos of the Heart—Infinite” marks H+ Art Museum’s first collective artistic response to the present moment. It stands alongside the solo exhibition by artist Liang Quan, “Roaming the Cosmos of the Heart—Illuminated,” together forming a dual expression of the museum’s opening. This duality encompasses both individual depth and collective breadth, introspective clarity and outward expansiveness. It is through this interplay of dimensions that H+ Art Museum defines its future cultural direction, grounded in space, centered on perception, and oriented toward the convergence of diverse cultures, charting its own path across the broad landscape of “Roaming the cosmos of the Heart.”
Curator: Zikang Zhang
Source: H+ Art Museum, Artfacts
H+ Art Museum
245 Shangtang Street, Gusu District, Suzhou, China
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