The Quiet Continuum: Contemporary Asian Artists

With‘The Quiet Continuum: Contemporary Asian Artists’, Opera Gallery is bringing together fifteen artists whose practices, across generations and mediums, reflect a shared sensibility shaped by time, memory, and a spiritual journey.  

A dreamlike atmosphere to bridge Western and Eastern traditions 

At its foundation lies the profound influence of lyrical abstraction. Zao Wou-Ki and Chu Teh-Chun, contemporaries who both forged their artistic identities between China and Paris, embody this bridge between cultural traditions. In his oil on canvas, 19.08.2006, Zao focuses less on lines and gesture, striving instead toward an ambient and dreamlike atmosphere in which foreground and background are entirely blurred. Chu Teh-Chun’s Matin de fête (1990), painted to commemorate the birth of his close friend Albert Féraud’s grandson, transforms abstraction into celebration. Rhythm, light, and chromatic intensity replace literal representation. 

Where traditional calligraphy meets contemporary performance 

The cyclical force of time is evident in Kazuo Shiraga's abstract paintings. The artist draws on both the traditional practice of calligraphy and a more revolutionary approach in which he uses his own body as a tool, applying painting with feet in dynamic performances. Shiraga's creative process inspired the Gutai movement that developed from 1954 onwards embracing a broad range of experimental art forms that combined painting with performance, conceptual, interactive, site-specific, theatrical, and installation practices. Its members explored these approaches in unconventional venues — from public parks to theatrical stages — seeking to break down boundaries between art, material, space, and audience. This work on paper reflects Shiraga’s gestural intensity in a more intimate format, emphasizing movement, spontaneity, and physical engagement.

Cynical Realism or how to use historical symbols for satire 

Continuity, however, is not presented as purely serene. Associated with Cynical Realism, Yue Min-Jun employs exaggerated laughter as a critique of social conformity and political ideology. Emerging in China in the early 1990s, Cynical Realism uses irony, humor, and caricature to respond to political disillusionment and the rapid transformation of society under Mao’s economic reform. In his painting Everywhere (2002) and sculpture Contemporary Terracotta Warriors No.5 (2003), repetition becomes satire. Identical faces multiply, suggesting both collective identity and loss of individuality in Chinese society. Min-Jun combines elements of Socialist Realism, Pop Art, and Surrealism to create propaganda-style imagery infused with cynical humor. 

The Forever Bicycle paradox: a means of transport and progress locked in immobility 

The idea of collective memory emerges differently in Ai Wei-wei’s Forever Bicycle (2010). Composed of stainless-steel bicycle frames, the sculpture references the iconic “Forever” brand, mass-produced in Shanghai since 1980. Once symbols of mobility and personal freedom, the bicycles are now fixed and interlocked. The contrast between movement and immobility reflects the complexities of contemporary Chinese society. An everyday object becomes a sculptural motif of repetition, history, and shared experience. 

Repetition as an artistic practice 

Throughout the exhibition, circles, dots, layers, and repeated forms recur, suggesting continuity, erosion, and renewal. Repetition reaches its most distilled and iconic expression in Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Dots (2003). Kusama’s dots dissolve the boundary between self and cosmos, reflecting her concept of self-obliteration, the idea that individuality expands into infinite space. Each dot is singular; together they form an endless field.  

The use of material imbued with memory