Had my bit of daily adventure this afternoon when i took a taxi to go to the Arario Beijing art gallery. Buildings are popping up on every square meter available so fast that several people born and raised in Beijing told me that they sometimes have problems finding their way around. The same goes for taxi drivers. I handed mine the address of the gallery in chinese (complete with the name of the district, etc.) yet, we spent twice as much time as we should have because he was lost, had to stop to ask his way, turn around, double-check the address, etc.
Self Shot and Robert No.1
But hey! we made it and the exhibition of Peng Lei’s works was well worth the odyssey. The gallery is located in the so-called “Jiuchang (liquor factory)”, renovated in 2005 as a complex dedicated to contemporary art galleries (a few images of the area online.)
Potty Store
The horny and ugly heroes of Peng Lei’s art works, “MiMi and GaGaâ€? are some kind of Mickey Mouse + Donald Duck meet Beavis and Butt-head. Taking the Americanized images as a platform, the artist engages into a satire of popular culture, complete with boredom, gadget overload, and egomania.
Morning Rest
Peng Lei’s exhibition goes beyond the paintings, installations and films as the gallery space has been decorated and painted with strong colors and cheap decorations similar to the ones of Mimi & Gaga’s flat.