Inside Out - Year of the Pig 2007

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Ealing curator hits Piccadilly Circus with a showcase of Chinese Art

Ealing Resident Valerie Chang is helping put artists of Chinese descent back on gallery walls with a mixed media installation in, wait for it, a shopping mall!

The Thames Valley University Curator has been working with the Trocadero Partnership since last October to get ‘Inside Out – Year of the Pig’ off the ground Four months on, and with some very gratefully received private funding the exhibition is now on the Trocadero’s walls. The concept has been such a hit Thames Valley University will be maintaining a permanent exhibition space at the Piccadilly Circus shopping centre once this installation comes down in mid-March.

“I’m really experimenting,” said Valerie, who has curated solo and group exhibitions including one at Pitshanger Gallery, Pitshanger Manor, Ealing. “I’ve never done something like this live in a retail space.”

“We’ve got 14 contemporary artists and all the contributors are of Chinese descent. On a political level this is quite significant. These artists are being passed over in favour of Chinese artists still over in China as part of the art world trend. They were coming to me and saying that galleries are only interested in importing from overseas.”

'Inside Out' is all about promoting non stereotypical Chinese art. The artists hail from a diverse range of backgrounds including London, Bournemouth, Glasgow and Germany.

The response has already surprised Valerie. At a glitzy launch which coincided with Chinese New Year, queues of guests watched a Chinese Lion dance, followed by a number of live art performances.

“This is a local initiative, gone London-wide, then International,” said Valerie. “I’ve done a lot of this sort of thing but my ambition has always been to take it on to another level.”

The exhibition also puts Ealing and notably Thames Valley University on the map. Thames Valley University Pro Vice Chancellor and Executive Dean, Chris O’Neil and The Worshipful Mayor of the London Borough of Ealing, Mrs Diana Pagan both gave speeches at the event.

Exhibiting artists

Huiwen Cheung

Tony Chung

Chang Dou Guo

Louise Hagger

Edwin Barrington Lui Shung

Hi Ching

Ying Mei Duan

Lijia

Pamela So

Liyun Wang

Adam Wei

Xing Xhang

Fong Kuen Ho

 

February 22, 2007