RED SEA 红海

The first edition of “The Red Sea” is made with the waste bricks of the demolished artist studios in the Heiqiao village, which is located in the southeast of the Cuigezhuang Town, inside the Great Ring Railway. The Circular Railway is the former national railway experiment ground, which was founded in 1958 and fell into disuse afterwards. The infrastructure of the urban villages lagged behind, resulting in low rents in the neighborhood. One could still find big yards and warehouses suitable for converting to art studios. Therefore a large number of artists moved in, and they have formed various art districts. Many renowned artists set up their studios there. Heiqiao is the center is these art districts, close to the 798 Art District which is the exhibition center of Chinese contemporary art. Its geographical location contributes to its popularity. Zhang Zheyi collected a large number of red bricks, cement blocks and ceramic tiles, even small spoons and coins scattered in the rubble. He lifted them up with fishing lines and carefully formed a sweeping wave. Although Zhang Zheyi used found materials, he didn’t simply pile up the fragments, but spent lots of energy remolding them and solidifying their innate symbolic meanings. Art critic and professor of Peking University Peng Feng, named Zhang Zheyi’s style as “New Populism”. There is no threshold to select materials, but the artistic language pursues a high level of fun and curiosity, thus formed another art form besides Pop Art. “The Red Sea” has become an important physical installation which made a direct record of a critical period of Chinese contemporary art history -- the stories of Heiqiao village.

In 2018, "The Red Sea" became the only work at the opening of the "A Museum" public art project which was initiated by several scholars and institutions. It aims to instill the concept of "museum" in the public domain. This work has received positive social feedback. Subsequently, another two works "Background Story: Lushan Mountain" by Xu Bing and "Sky Garden: Handbook No. 3" by Sui Jianguo were also included in the project. The "A Museum" project continues as a benchmark for Chinese public art. The reason to choose "The Red Sea" for the opening exhibition is that we are in an era defined by the real estate market, where public spaces in China are always undergoing dramatic changes. This work is the most illustrative of the era. The second edition of "The Red Sea" was placed in an even more important position, broadly speaking-- a skyscraper near the Temple of Earth in Beijing. The Temple of Earth was built in the Ming dynasty (1530) for future emperors to worship the God of Earth in both Ming and Qing dynasties. The building next to The Temple of Earth was called Sanli Building, which was a landmark architecture surrounding The Temple of Earth. It bears memories of a Beijing generation. After its demolishment, new public areas were built on the site to form a compound of skyscraper and square -- COFCO Landmark Plaza. A private collection of art is held in this building. Since its opening to the public, the organization has been working with various professional art institutions, media, scholars and renowned artists, to organize art-related forums, lectures and exhibitions in contemporary art. For example, in 2019, it worked with a number of professors from CAFA and SDX Joint Publishing Company to organize the lecture "The Era to Embrace Aura". These outstanding creators and researchers in art and literature made their impactful mark on the COFCO Landmark Plaza in terms of professionalism and pioneering of Chinese public art. Zhang Zheyi collected 100 thousand pieces of bricks from the ruins of Sanli Building, and used 3105 steel cables to lift "The Red Sea" which weighs 8 tons. The sea wave in the second edition is even bigger while hung in the patio of the square. The enormous volume and oppression seems to solidify the tragic beauty of the moment where a building is demolished. The optical illusion which time and space look misaligned makes the audience reflect on the inevitable waves of urban transformation to which individuals could only submit.